George Reeves' Superman Cameo in The Flash Was an Insult to His Memory
DC fans thought Reeves' CGI cameo was a heartwarming tribute to the actor... But he never would've wanted to be involved.
If you're one of the people who saw the second Superman 's cameo in The Flash and thought of it as a cute way to pay respect to the passed actor, we'll tell you a short story. By the end of it, you'll see why it was actually an insult — and an intentional one.
George Reeves was the second actor to have ever played Superman in a live-action adaptation: specifically, he played the Man of Steel in the series Adventures of Superman in the 1950s.
Before joining this TV series, George has gone through years of minor roles, World War II, and more years of virtual acting unemployment. This is why, despite disregarding television as much as everyone else back then, Reeves took the offer.
While the actor was taking his role model job seriously (he even quit smoking altogether to avoid kids seeing him do it which is one hell of an accomplishment for a WWII veteran), it was dooming his overall acting career. Reeves' contract was as restrictive as it gets.
George couldn't take part in any major project thanks to the four-week notice rule; any role that would interfere with the Superman filming was off limits; and the Adventures' shooting itself was rough with a tight schedule and at least two episodes filmed every week.
At one point, Reeves realized just how unhappy he'd become, killing his acting career in this show. He quit Adventures of Superman and tried to do his own thing but eventually ran out of money for production and was brought back with offers of better conditions.
The actor continued being the most unhappy Superman in history and was even promised a major movie with him in this role — but in the end, he was kicked off in favor of a reboot with a new Man of Steel actor.
Reeves found out he couldn't make money without being Superman as he was stuck with this role for too long. He had to do shows where he'd play Man of Steel for the first half and play guitar and sing in the second half — all just to make it through.
This miserable life led to George Reeves committing suicide in 1959.
Do you think this man would've wanted to be dragged out of the grave just to play the character he hated and tried to escape for his entire career? George Reeves took his own life just to stop being Superman, and Warner Bros. doing a CGI cameo of his Man of Steel is the most awful thing.
It's not like they didn't know about Reeves' story, after all.