With filming completed and still over a year until the release, there is little news hitting the web these days about Man of Steel. But that won’t stop Movies.com from digging up the top news items.
Official Description
In late March, DC Entertainment launched a new webpage about Man of Steel that included a poster-like logo and brief film description. Within hours it was removed, but lo and behold just a couple of weeks later, another description and logo hit the same page.
The original version read:
In the pantheon of superheroes, Superman is the most recognized and revered character of all time. Clark Kent/Kal-El (Cavill) is a young twentysomething journalist who feels alienated by powers beyond anyone's imagination. Transported to Earth years ago from Krypton, an advanced alien planet, Clark struggles with the ultimate question - Why am I here? Shaped by the values of his adoptive parents Martha (Lane) and Jonathan Kent (Costner), Clark soon discovers that having super abilities means making very difficult decisions. But when the world needs stability the most, it comes under attack. Will his abilities be used to maintain peace or ultimately used to divide and conquer? Clark must become the hero known as "Superman," not only to shine as the world's last beacon of hope but to protect the ones he loves.
The NEW one says:
In the pantheon of superheroes, Superman is the most recognized and revered character of all time. Clark Kent/Kal-El (Henry Cavill) is a young twenty-something journalist who feels alienated by powers beyond his imagination. Transported years ago to Earth from Krypton, a highly advanced, distant planet, Clark struggles with the ultimate question 'Why am I here?' Shaped by the values of his adoptive parents Martha (Lane) and Jonathan Kent (Costner), Clark discovers having extraordinary abilities means making difficult decisions. When the world is in dire need of stability, an even greater threat emerges. Clark must become a Man of Steel, to protect the people he loves and shine as the world's beacon of hope - Superman.
Krypton, the Suit and the “S”
Bill Desowitz interviewed Man of Steel costume designer Michael Wilkinson at the 5D | FLUX conference where he learned some new information about both Krypton and the nature of the Superman costume.
Wilkinson explained that since they created a “neo-medieval” back story for Krypton (which included the creation of a new language), it made sense to utilize the suit design as part of the mythology. “Everyone on Krypton wears this suit,” he suggested. Using ZBrush and rapid prototyping, Wilkinson came up the blue/gray color and chainmail look. “It has function and purpose and a logic to this fantastical world,” he added.
You can read the full report here.
But what does this mean for the story of the film? First, we learn something new about this version of Krypton. Superman’s home world has been portrayed in a number of different ways for past incarnations. Sometimes it’s very Earth-like, but more scientifically advanced, however in the past several decades most continuities have set it apart from humanity in various ways. For instance, John Byrne’s “Man of Steel” Miniseries from 1986 depicted Kryptonian society as one that had completely embraced science and logic over emotion. Or there’s the 1978 film version that showed Krypton as a planet of icy crystal. In fact nearly everything to do with it in those films seemed to revolve around crystals. And does this mean that all the Krypton scenes will have subtitles?
As for the costume, we have already seen the pictures of Russell Crowe in costume as Jor-El. He appears to be wearing a rock-like armor over a suit that already appears to be similar to Superman’s. So if all Kryptonians wear these like a second skin, we can be sure that Ma Kent didn’t sew this one for her son as she did in previous versions. The “S” itself will most likely turn out to be a family crest for the “House of El” which is Superman’s family on Krypton. It’s far more interesting than the version where Clark and Jonathan Kent designed the symbol because it looked neat and had Ma add it to the chest.
The Young Clark Kent
Clever TV interviewed Dylan Sprayberry about his appearance on TV’s Glee, but took a moment to ask a few questions about his time playing the young Clark Kent in Man of Steel.
CT: How does it feel to be portraying the young “Clark Kent” in Man of Steel? It’s a very highly anticipated movie.
Sprayberry: It was really great. I didn’t even really notice how big it was until I finished shooting. It was so overwhelming that it was crazy, I was like “I can’t believe I just did all that.” In the moment, I was really focused on the work and the acting.
CT: What will people really love about Man of Steel?
Sprayberry: When Zack [Snyder] and I were talking about it the first time, he was saying how Superman, they want to give it a more edgy feel like The Dark Knight but also make it more realistic and emotional so it’s not just the all-american superhero that saves everyone. He has dilemmas and love and struggles throughout the whole movie, especially when he’s a kid.
Many long-time fans have been worried over this need to make Superman “darker,” only because we still expect him to be “super.” Fortunately, one of the official descriptions above calls him “the world’s beacon of hope." Oddly enough, I’ve been saying for years that “to darken Superman, you have to darken the world around him, but he still needs to be that shining beacon in the center of it.” So even though I tend to cringe when I hear “darker Superman,” we can hold out hope.
Superman’s Mom
Christina Radish from Collider.com sat down with Ayelet Zurer who will be playing Clark Kent’s biological Kryptonian mother Lara in Man of Steel. They discussed her new film Darling Companion, but also took a moment to talk Superman.
Collider: When you do something like Man of Steel, is it difficult to get out of your own head, knowing that you're playing the biological mother of a character as iconic as Superman?
ZURER: You know, if the scenes weren't well written and they weren't emotional enough, I would have had a problem because you are aware of the heroic moments, but mostly I didn't feel that way, at all. They were just really good, dramatic scenes for me.
Everything that we’re learning about Krypton can lead us to believe that Superman’s home world will play a much larger role in the story of the film than previous versions have.
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