New Superman Henry Cavill for 2012's Superman: Man of Steel

The 27-year-old British Henry Cavill will be Clark Kent on 2012's Superman: Man of Steel. He is best known for his role of Charles Brandon on "The Tudors". The new reboot of the Superman franchise will be directed by Zack Synder, who directed 300.

Henry is said to have auditioned for the role as the clark for 2006's Superman Returns, but the role eventually went to US actor Brandon Routh. Cavill also auditioned to play Edward Cullen for the film adaptation of the book Twilight. Author Stephenie Meyer wants Cavill to become the actor for the role of Edward Cullen but by the time Twilight was filmed, Henry was 24-years-old and could no longer could portray a youth of 17. Robert Pattinson was cast instead of Cavill.

The late Christopher Reeve, who starred in four of the feature films of Superman in the 1970s and 1980s. Reeve had a horse-riding accident in 1995, which left him paralysed from the neck down. He later died of a cardiac arrest in 2004 at the age of 52.

Brandon Routh didn't achieve the same fame as Reeves. He starred in films such as 2010 comedy Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and the third season of action-comedy television series Chuck.