Do or Do Not.

Warner Brothers has released the first official picture of Brandon Routh in the new Superman getup from Superman Returns. Two things to discuss here: one, the suit; and two, Routh himself.

The costume I like. It’s not necessarily the way I would have gone with it, but I like it. I especially like the fact that they didn’t do what I was most afraid they were going to: give it the the padded, latex sculpted-muscle look. It’s just a set of tights, which is as it should be for Superman. (If you’ve got to go the padded, sculpted route, then you’ve probably cast the wrong guy.) I like the deeper red for the boots and cape and I don’t mind the slight tweaks to the S-shield. The main thing I don’t like, and this is just a minor quibble and a personal preference, is the small size of the shield; I like the logo to be a lot bigger on Supes’ chest, at least in the comics. Maybe it would’ve looked ridiculous in live-action, and anyway, the smaller shield definitely keeps more in line with the obvious influence for the suit, the old Max Fleisher cartoon series.

(I wonder…will the comic books adapt to match the way the suit looks in the movie? Wouldn’t surprise me.)

About Routh…well, he definitely fills out the suit nicely. From the neck down, I can buy him as Superman. I don’t think Superman has to be huge; he’s not super because of the size of his muscles. Christopher Reeve certainly didn’t have the physique of a bodybuilder. But Reeve just plain looked like Superman, and that’s my main complaint with Routh–he doesn’t have the face of Superman to me. Maybe I’ll change my mind when I see some footage–all I’ve had to go on so far is stills, most of which haven’t been related to this production. We’ll see.