Tyler Hoechlin, former Teen Wolf star, is the latest actor to portray the golden boy of DC Comics, Superman. Hoechlin will be playing the role of Clark Kent/Superman in the upcoming second season of Supergirl – which has moved from CBS to The CW. He joins the ranks of actors like Henry Cavill, Christopher Reeve, Tom Welling, George Reeves, Dean Cain and Brandon Routh, who have all put on the red and blue tights in either film or television.
Mild spoilers for Supergirl up ahead.
Apparently, the choice to pick Hoechlin for the role was not a foreign notion for the producers involved.
“Greg [Berlanti] and I have wanted to work with Tyler for ages, so this worked out perfectly because Tyler is Superman,” according to executive producer Andrew Kreisberg . “We are so thrilled and humbled to add another amazing actor to the legacy of this iconic character.”
‘Supergirl’ officially has its Superman, and it’s a great choice: https://t.co/ByVCMZw1k3 pic.twitter.com/FUHvhj191l
— ScreenCrush (@screencrushnews) June 16, 2016
But now that Tyler Hoechlin is playing Superman , we’re ready to hear from the actor himself on how he feels about landing this iconic role. Hoechlin recently spoke with Daily Mail and offered up some of those details. Firstly, Tyler won’t be comparing his performance to any actor before him, that much he made clear upfront.
“I never try to compare and contrast performances because it’s such an iconic character already,” the actor said. “Superman is Superman, so I’m just going to try to carry on the tradition of that and play that part.”
Not only is the Fifty Shades Darker actor portraying Supergirl’s superhero cousin, he’s also playing his alter ego Clark Kent. Audiences only got to catch glimpses of the Man of Steel in the first season of Supergirl , including brief scenes where Kara would communicate with Clark via instant messaging. And according to Tyler, the big superheroics may not be the most enjoyable part of this whole experience.
“I think the fun is going to be finding where Clark Kent is in this world,” the actor revealed. “I’m just excited to find out Clark’s sense of humor.”
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The humor of Clark Kent is interesting to bring up. Christopher Reeves definitely had the most comedic bent to the Clark Kent portrayal, which is in stark contrast to the much more somber, grounded tone Henry Cavill helped provide for the character in Man of Steel as well as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice . The second season of Supergirl is sure to get a 20+ episode order, so the writers will have plenty of time to develop Clark’s sense of humor.
Now that Supergirl is at CW, this means there are more opportunities to see crossovers between the other CW superhero shows – The Flash , Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow . Fans are expecting to see Kara/Supergirl interacting with these other heroes, but will we be able to see Superman join her in these crossover adventures? It’s anyone’s guess at this point, and anything could happen.
Superman made an appearance in the season finale of Supergirl , when Non started the doomsday device Myriad. It will be interesting seeing how Superman and Supergirl’s relationship changes after this and during the second season. The news of Superman being brought onto the show should help bring in more viewers who may not have been watching the show previously. Something else that should be interesting to see is whether or not the presence of Superman on the show will overshadow its main character.
Wonder Woman Lynda Carter was recently announced to be joining the cast of Supergirl , playing the President of the United States.
Supergirl will return Mondays this fall at 8 p.m. ET. Tyler Hoechlin will also appear in Fifty Shades Darker , the sequel to Fifty Shades of Grey , as Boyce Fox, a co-worker of Anastasia Steele. That film will debut in 2017.
[Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for Vanity Fair ]