Michael Rosenbaum Has Perfect Response to There Will Only Ever Be One Superman and One Hellboy

When it comes to movie and television portrayals of favorite and iconic characters, everyone has an opinion on who the "best" is. Ask a DC fan about their favorite Superman and you'll likely find a handful of opinions, all of them thinking that theirs is the "right" one. The same is true when it comes to Hellboy, with some fans having already decided there can be only one "real" Hellboy despite the new film not even hitting theaters for until next week. But when it comes to this idea that there can be only one "real" portrayal of a character by any specific actor, well, Smallville alum Michael Rosenbaum may have the best response to that yet.

On Wednesday, Greg Grunberg shared a tweet in which someone asserted that the only Superman was Christopher Reeve and the only Hellboy was Ron Pearlman with everyone else just trying to be them. Grunberg asked his followers for their thoughts and Rosenbaum was happy to offer his.

Don’t start saying that shit about Gene Hackman. ;)

— Michael Rosenbaum (@michaelrosenbum) April 3, 2019

"Don't start saying that shit about Gene Hackman," Rosenbaum replied with a winking emoji.

If by some chance you don't understand the reference, Rosenbaum played Lex Luthor on Smallville, while Hackman notably brought the villain to life in the Christopher Reeve-starring Superman films. If people were to start declaring that Hackman's Lex was the "only" Lex, it would invalidate his own long tenure in the role -- a role he still defines for many fans of Smallville even years after the series' end.

It would also invalidate Jon Cryer's current performance of the character on The CW's Supergirl. While many fans had their doubts when it was announced that Cryer, who is best known for his more comedic roles, would be taking up the diabolical villain, the actor has since won many fans over. Rosenbaum himself is among those who has praised Cryer's portrayal of the character. The morning after Cryer's Supergirl debut, Rosenbaum took to Twitter to profess that the actor "killed it" as the villain -- and even praised Cryer's bald head, an iconic Lex feature.

Rosenbaum wasn't along in his praise for Cryer's take on Luthor, either. When the episode "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" aired a few weeks ago, fans took to social media to express their pleasant surprise at Cryer's version of the character. In this case, fans generally still feel strongly that Rosenbaum is the "best" Lex, but Cryer was given credit for being an impressive villain, one they were eager to see continue to develop on The CW series.

What do you think about Rosenbaum's comment? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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