Brandon Routh: His 5 Best (& 5 Worst) Roles, Ranked According To IMDb

Appearing in multiple TV projects in the early 2000s, Brandon Routh’s breakthrough into the mainstream came in 2006 when he was cast as the Man of Steel in Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns. While the movie wasn’t quite as well-received as he’d hoped, there’s no doubt that Routh made a great Superman – even reprising the role in the Arrowverse’s Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline.

Though it would have been easy for Routh to be pigeon-holed as the Last Son of Krypton for the rest of his career, the actor has continued to flourish since 2006, attaching himself to a great number of high-quality projects with passionate fanbases. Still, not everything he’s appeared in has been well received. These are Brandon Routh’s five best roles – as well as his five worst – according to IMDb.

10 Best: Cold Case (2003-2010) – 7.5

Despite being one of his smallest roles to date, Brandon Routh’s guest appearance in “A Time to Hate” – the seventh ever episode of popular police procedural Cold Case – was impactful, nonetheless.

Playing a young version of lawyer Henry ‘Hank’ Phillips – whose boyfriend Daniel Holtz fell victim to a fatal homophobic attack in 1964 – Routh’s role is a tragic one, with his current-day counterpart remaining traumatized by the event. Fortunately, the team is eventually able to catch Daniel’s killers with the help of Henry, finally providing him with some long-overdue justice.

9 Worst: Dylan Dog: Dead of Night (2010) – 5.1

Adding yet another comic book character to his ever-expanding filmography, Brandon Routh plays the titular hero in Dylan Dog: Dead of Night – a movie based on the Italian Dylan Dog comics. Telling the story of a supernatural private detective who tracks down paranormal beings in Louisiana, the movie is a horror-comedy, relying heavily on its tongue-in-cheek humor and self-aware jokes.

Unfortunately, the movie wasn’t well-received by critics, and also flopped at the box office, making only $4.6 million on a budget of $20 million.

8 Best: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) – 7.5

Perhaps the most underappreciated movie of the last decade, Edgar Wright’s energetic masterpiece Scott Pilgrim vs. the World tells the story of twenty-something underachiever Scott Pilgrim, who falls in love with the colorful Ramona Flowers. Unfortunately, he’s soon tasked with defeating Ramona’s seven evil exes in order to win her heart.

Routh plays the role of Todd Ingram in the movie – a pompous, air-headed, vegan bass player who challenges Scott to a musical duel. He’s easily one of the movie’s most memorable ‘exes’ and brings an endearing edge to an otherwise despicable character.

7 Worst: 400 Days (2015) – 4.4

Starring alongside his Legends of Tomorrow co-star Caity Lotz and comedian Dane Cook in this underdeveloped science-fiction flick, Brandon Routh’s role in 2015’s 400 Days was met with critical scorn.

Panned for its lackluster script, thinly drawn characters and wasted premise, the movie follows a group of astronauts who undergo a 400-day space travel simulation with the intention of testing its psychological effects. As you’d expect, not everything is as it seems, and the team soon begins to suspect that what they’re experiencing may not be a simulation after all.

6 Best: The Flash (2014-) – 7.7

After having his time as DC’s premiere superhero cut short following the negative reception of 2006’s Superman Returns, Brandon Routh was given another shot at taking on an iconic DC character when he was cast as tech genius-turned-superhero Raymond Palmer – aka the Atom – in CW’s Arrowverse.

First appearing in Arrow, before coming into his own in Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash remains the highest-rated of the shows the character has featured in. As the Waverider’s resident optimist, Routh brings a bright, puppy-dog charm to the role, standing out as one of the Arrowverse’s most lovable characters to date.

5 Worst: Lost in the Pacific (2016) – 4.1

Exactly how Brandon Routh ended up in the dreadfully ill-conceived Chinese action movie Lost in the Pacific remains a complete mystery, but it can be safely assumed it involved several truckloads of cash.

The movie centers on a group of passengers aboard a luxury airline, who are attacked by mutated cat-like monsters when they’re forced to land in the Pacific. While it may sound like a joke, the movie’s terrible special effects, incomprehensible plot and painful attempt to imitate the traditional ‘Hollywood’ blockbuster are anything but funny.

4 Best: Gilmore Girls (2000-2007) – 8.1

Airing around five years before he got his big break as the Man of Steel in Bryan Singer’s 2006 superhero movie Superman Returns, Brandon Routh had a small role in The WB’s hugely popular comedy-drama Gilmore Girls.

Featured in the episode “Concertus Interruptus”, Routh plays a teenager named Jess, who attends a Bangles concert alongside Paris, Rory, Madeleine, and Louise. Sure, it’s far from Routh’s biggest role, but given where he’s ended up it’s interesting to see him take on such a minor role.

3 Worst: Incredible Love (2009) – 3.8

Titled Kambakkht Ishq in its native language, Incredible Love is an Indian romantic comedy about a stuntman who struggles to find true love, despite his massive success in Hollywood.

Featuring small roles from several Hollywood stars including Brandon Routh, Sylvester Stallone, and Denise Richards – all of whom play themselves – the movie was widely criticized for its nonsensical plot and cheap laughs. Still, Incredible Love took the Indian box office by storm regardless, meaning Routh was likely well paid for his minimal role in the movie.

2 Best: Chuck (2007-2012) – 8.2

With Brandon Routh more often than not adhering to the traditional ‘heroic’ archetype – possibly stemming from the actor’s breakthrough role as Superman – NBC’s fan-favorite spy-comedy, Chuck, took great advantage of Routh’s casting when he took on the role of CIA agent Daniel Shaw.

Starting out as the ideal, by-the-book super-spy with a heart of gold, a series of tragic revelations sees the character spiral into irredeemable villainy. Not only was this a great way to subvert the audience’s expectations, but it also resulted in one of the greatest, most compelling characters in the entire show.

1 Worst: Batwoman (2019-) – 3.5

While the vast majority of the Arrowverse’s individual shows have been relatively well-received by both critics and fans, Batwoman failed to strike the same chord with audiences, sporting a less-than-impressive 3.5 on IMDb.

Although Routh is primarily known for playing the Atom in the Arrowverse, the actor managed to reprise his role as Superman in the Crisis on Infinite Earths event, serving as both a nice call-back to his time as the Man of Steel and a fitting second chance to take on the role that made him a household name.