2) Brandon Routh
While Superman Returns is not remembered fondly by fans and is just not remembered full stop by the public at large, its star Brandon Routh was praised for nailing the character as best he could in the confines of the movie. Now is the perfect opportunity, then, to give a great number of fans what they want and put the actor back in the suit.
Hold on, we hear you cry, Routh is already in The CW-verse as Ray Palmer AKA The Atom. Well, to you we say that there is a handy explanation to get around that fact – alternate Earths. Just like Henry Allen’s Earth-3 doppelganger is The Flash, why can’t Ray’s Supergirl doppelganger be Superman? It makes perfect sense, in a comic book kind of a way.
Routh was cruelly denied another shot at the character (preferably in a better film) when the character was rebooted with Man of Steel, so this would be a welcome and unexpected return to the role for the actor. In fact, there is only one candidate who would excite Superman fans more…