NEW YORK (AP) — Tom Hanks has never played a superhero. But when the actor recently donned a very simple cardigan sweater, and the slacks to go with it, he felt like one.

"I felt like Batman. It felt like I was wearing the cape and the cowl of the Dark Knight detective," Hanks says. "There's only one person you can be when you put those things on, and that's Fred Rogers."

Since it was first announced, Hanks' casting as the beloved children's television host in "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" has had the feeling of kismet. Here was an actor nearly synonymous with affability, with "nicenes...