Jesus Christ, Superman?

According to imdb, actor Jim Caviezel, best-known for his role as Jesus in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ and previously seen in the title role of The Count of Monte Cristo, is all but signed to play the Man of Steel in the forthcoming film, currently planned to be directed by X-Men's Brian Singer.

As noted in the imdb story:

...according to respected comic book author Mark Miller, Caviezel's participation is all but guaranteed. He writes, "You remember I told you to relax about Superman? That a very, very trusted and experienced director we'd all love was coming over? That everything would be fine? Well, my same good buddy has informed me that Jim Caviezel is officially the new man of steel and what a perfect choice he is. Expect an announcement shortly."

All I can say is: Nothing is definite in Hollywood until papers are signed (and maybe not even then), and I hope this story is wrong.

Nothing against Caviezel as an actor, but I think casting any recognizable movie star as Superman is a huge mistake. The role requires such an incredible suspension of disbelief on the part of the audience that anything that yanks them out of the movie--like the sense of "Hey, that's Jim Caviezel!" or worse, "Hey, that's Jesus!"--destroys it.

There are immensely recognizable actors who have stepped into superhero roles without that problem. Michael Keaton made it work in the first two Batman films--but he was all-but unrecognizable under the mask anyway. The film flopped at the box office, but Alec Baldwin was an admirable Shadow...and again, makeup hid his features when in costume. Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen made Professor X and Magneto into flesh-and-blood people in the two X-Men films so far, despite their instant recognizability--but I doubt Caviezel is in their class as an actor. And neither Xavier nor Magneto have to wear that incredibly iconic suit.

Will Caviezel be Kal-el? Boy, I hope not.