Since her creation by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in Action Comics (June 1938), Lois Lane has always been Superman’s love interest and a journalist for the Daily Planet. But do you realize how much she’s changed from the late thirties to the present? Let’s take a look at the actresses who have portrayed Lois Lane on screen and catch up on a little history.

Where did it all begin?

Noel Neill: Aspiring to be a journalist in real life just like her father, Neill was instead thrust into a life of acting where she portrayed Lois Lane in ‘Superman’ (1948), ‘Atom Man v. Superman’ (1950) and also on the 1950s television series ‘Adventures of Superman.’
Phyllis Coates: She was the second actress to play Lois Lane, but she only did so for one season of ‘Adventures of Superman’ in 1951. The show was then put on hold until they could find another sponsor to fund an additional season, and when production was ready to start again Phyllis had already taken another job. Her goal was to distance herself from the role because she feared she would be typecast if she continued as Lois Lane.
Margot Kidder: Canadian born, she played Lois Lane right alongside Christopher Reeve for the first four ‘Superman’ movies, which began in 1978. Because of her disagreement in the decision to replace Richard Donner as director in the 1980 movie ‘Superman II,’ she only received five minutes of screen time in ‘Superman III’ as a result (or so it is rumored). She had a much larger role in ‘Superman IV: The Quest for Peace,’ though the film was pretty unsuccessful.
Teri Hatcher: From 1993 to 1997 she played headstrong and tenacious Lois Lane on the hit television series ‘Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.’ At the height of the show’s popularity in 1995, a picture of Teri wrapped in a Superman cape was the most downloaded photo on the internet.
Erica Durance: Another Canadian born actress, Erica Durance has played Lois Lane the hit television series ‘Smallville.’ In its tenth and final season, ‘Smallville’ has been running since 2001 and has depicted the early years of Clark Kent and his friends (including Lois Lane, who first made her debut in season 4). The series was generally well accepted and received a vote of approval by the now-late Christopher Reeve.
Kate Bosworth: Born in Los Angeles, Bosworth portrayed Lois Lane in the hit movie ‘Superman Returns’ (2006) alongside Brandon Routh as our caped crusader. It is said that for inspiration, she studied the acting of Katherine Hepburn and Julia Roberts in ‘Erin Brocovich.’
Amy Adams: The newest ‘Lois Lane’ to enter the scene, Amy Adams will be portraying our favorite reporter in Zack Snyder’s ‘ own rendition of Superman. I haven’t exactly kept my feelings about the production of this movie a secret, so why start now? While she did well in ‘The Fighter;’ whether or not she’ll be able to pull off Lois Lane remains to be seen. Historically, Lane has generally been portrayed as a brunette so to cast a fiery red head into the role is like, well, casting a Brit to portray an American superhero. Oh, right….we’re talking about Zack Snyder here, and he’s already seen it done.

The entire reason why Superman has been so successful over the decades is because people love the original story, the iconic images of both Clark and Lois; and to blatantly change things can prove disastrous. I think the movie’s going to flop. I think Amy Adams’ role as Lois Lane will be superficial. I think if we keep heading in this direction we’re going to see our superheroes devolve. But hey, that’s just my opinion.