Some past ‘Superman’ movies, TV shows

• “Superman” (1941-1943): Animators Max and Dave Fleischer defined the Man of Steel’s art-deco look for generations with a series of 10-minute short films, Superman’s first screen appearance.

• “Superman” (1948): Kirk Alyn wore the cape in first live-action adaptation of the comic book, played out in 15 shorts. A sequel shorts-series with Alyn followed in 1950 as “Superman vs. Atom Man.”

• “The Adventures of Superman” (1952-1957): TV series starring George Reeves, whose suicide ended the show and launched the “Superman’s curse” legend.

• “The New Adventures of Superman” (1966-1969): Cartoon series with Bud Collyer (host of the game show “To Tell the Truth”) as the voice of Clark Kent/Superman. The half-hour program featured two six-minute “Superman” cartoons with a “Superboy” short between them.

• “Superman” (1978): “You will believe a man can fly” was the tag line for the movie that introduced Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel. It brought then-state-of-the-art special effects to the story of Superman and his efforts to thwart the scheming Lex Luthor (played with camp villainy by Gene Hackman). Marlon Brando had a memorable cameo as Superman’s doomed father. Box office: $134.2 million.

• “Superman II” (1981): Reeve returns to stop three bad guys from his home planet of Krypton from wreaking havoc on Earth. Box office: $108.2 million.

• “Superman III” (1983): More silly than super, this sequel co-starred Richard Pryor as a computer-programming scientist who creates synthetic Kryptonite. Box office: $60 million.

• “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace” (1987): The flop that killed the franchise. It pitted Reeve against Nuclear Man in a thinly veiled Cold War-era message about the dangers of nuclear weapons. Box office: $15.6 million.

• “Superboy” (1988-1992): Live-action syndicated TV series starring Gerard Christopher, who despite being 31 played a teenage Clark Kent studying journalism and fighting villains while in college. Fans still bristle at this show’s nickname, “The Boy of Steel.”

• “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” (1993-1997): Well-received ABC fantasy series starring Dean Cain as a modern-guy Superman and Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane. It was notable for focusing not only on weekly villains, but on Lois and Clark’s budding romantic relationship.

• “Superman: The Animated Series” (1996-2000): The WB Network’s after-school cartoon series with Tim Daly (of the sitcom “Wings”) voicing Superman and Dana Delany as Lois Lane. A return to colorful, animated brawls that live action could not simulate well with special effects.

• “Smallville” (2001-present): Tom Welling stars as farmboy Clark Kent – and the term “Superman” is never used. Kent cannot yet fly, but has super-strength and is practically indestructible. He hides his abilities in order to blend in with his high-school friends, among them Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum).