Why Christopher Reeve Was Cast As Superman, According To A DC Producer

Although not the first actor to play Superman in a live-action film project, and certainly not the last, Christopher Reeve is still held up by many as the Platonic ideal of the character. Reeve first portrayed Superman in Richard Donner's 1978 feature film "Superman," and that film bothered to present the Man of Steel as an epic folk hero, worthy of a gigantic budget, a sacred tone, and the type of outsize storytelling Hollywood typically reserved for Biblical epics. At the heart of it all was Reeve, an actor who managed to communicate the humility and nobility of the character, even as he flew around the sly in Superman's cartoon-friendly blue costume.

Reeve played Superman in three additional sequels, although it was diminishing returns with each progressive outing, both dramatically and financially. By the time "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace" came out, audiences no longer cared. Despite this, though, goodwill remained high for Reeve's performance, and director Bryan Singer more or less made a Donner/Reeve outcropping with "Superman Returns" in 2006, two years after Reeve's death. Reeve was also revived via CGI for a (rather embarrassing) parallel universe sequence in the 2023 film "The Flash." The memory of Reeve remains strong to this day, so prepare yourself for numerous articles in the near future comparing Reeve to David Corenswet, the actor playing the namesake of James Gunn's incoming "Superman."

The alchemy of Reeve's casting was discussed by "Superman" producer Pierre Spengler in the 2024 documentary film "Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story," which is currently available to stream on HBO Max and available to rent or purchase on various digital platforms. As Spengler explained, Reeve was selected over a panoply of potential celebrities specifically because he was unknown (a quality that would allow audiences to more clearly see the Superman character).

According to Spengler, the casting of Superman was a long and arduous process. Several of the actors he and the casting directors for Donner's film had considered were either gigantic movie stars or tall, buff athletes who could fill out a Superman suit. As Spengler put it:

"We were frantically looking for a Superman. The casting director had lined up many, many people, dozens of them. What was strange, like, Neil Diamond wanted to be Superman. Robert Redford, we made an offer, he immediately went, 'No.' [Caitlyn] Jenner [was physically] very good, but the acting, not so much. [Arnold] Schwarzenegger was running after us. He had theoretically the physique of the comic book, but we cannot have Superman: [Arnold accent] 'Truth, justice, and the American way.'"

Congratulations if you, just now, also said "Truth, justice, and the American way" in your own Schwarzenegger accent. And, yes, it's true: Neil Diamond really, really wanted to play Superman. Spengler didn't even mention all the other actors who were under serious consideration for "Superman," which also included Nick Nolte, Jon Voight, Christopher Walken, James Brolin, and James Caan. Meanwhile, Paul Newman was offered, but turned down, the roles of Superman, Lex Luthor, and Jor-El.

"[After that] the idea came: Rather than casting a well known Superman, we should go with an unknown and have stars around him," Spengler added. It seemed that Donner agreed, as he was fond of the idea of Superman being played by a fresh face. 

Reeve, meanwhile, was bitten by the acting bug when he was only nine and appeared in various stage productions for many years before making his big screen debut in the 1978 disaster movie "Gray Lady Down." "Superman" was only his second screen credit ever. It was a career choice for the ages.