10 Worst Things Superman Has Ever Done In The Films

Superman is the shining example of what every superhero aspires to be; he is good, morally pure, stands up when all others would fall, and has the power to destroy anything he wishes at will - yet he doesn't.

Supes might not be the brightest superhero - that honour would probably go to Batman - but it is by his leadership and image that brings The Justice League together to fight for the greater good.

However, Superman isn't perfect. He isn't somebody that cannot be corrupted, and that has shown on many occasions in the comic books. But we're concentrating on the big screen versions of Superman today, and even in those, he has been shown to be constantly wrestling with himself.

To date, only three actors have played Kal-El on the big screen (in live-action for those who might claim an animation): Christopher Reeve, Brandon Routh, and Henry Cavill. Each has brought their own feeling to Clark and to Kal individually, as well as tried their best to stay as close as possible to the virtue of the character.

So, whilst Henry Cavill's rendition of the Man of Steel is our most recent iteration, we shall start with the late great Christopher Reeve and work our way forward from there.

For a film made in 1978, Superman holds up remarkably well today, mostly because of just how excellent Christopher Reeve was as Superman. He was the Michael Keaton of Supermen, in that there are others to have played the role, but none were ever better.

1978's Superman is a classic Supes adventure filled with Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, and Lex Luthor. However, at the end of the film when Superman has been busy saving the day from Lex Luthor's missiles, he realises that Lois has suffocated after her car fell into a pit and trapped her underneath the rubble.

In a fit of anger and pain, Superman flies up and starts orbiting the Earth, going faster and faster until the Earth stops and starts spinning backwards - somehow reversing the flow of time.

Now, the ability of Superman to do this aside (because honestly, it is a touchy topic among the fans), he had been expressly warned by Jor-El not to do it at all - "It is forbidden" - Kal is reminded by his father as he does it anyway. The sequence showed that Superman was willing and capable of doing the thing he had been forbidden from doing if it meant sparing his pain.

As well as that, the truth is that stopping the Earth's rotation at all would kill everything on it - which should have been enough of an argument for Superman not to do it in the first place.