tom welling, star of the hit series "smallville", apparently had talks with director brett ratner (the previous director of the film) about a possible stint as the franchises' new caped hero.

alex ross, vaunted painter/artist of various comic books, drew this portrait just to see what welling would look like if he played supes, and allowed the fansite www.superherohype.com access to his masterpiece.

go HERE to read the article and see another ross sketch of welling.