Man of Steel marked the start of what would become known as the DCEU (or DC Extended Universe). This was an attempt by Warner Brothers to create a connected universe for the DC heroes similar to the MCU for Marvel. Yet despite this being the start of a cinematic universe, plans for the movie began during the making of another DC Comics film. That other DC comics film was The Dark Knight Rises (2012). Though Warner Brothers had begun pitching ideas for a new live-action Superman in June 2008, it was during story conferences for that Batman movie that writer David S. Goyer (a writer on that movie) proposed his idea for a Superman movie. Chrisopher Nolan (who directed The Dark Knight Rises) was immediately taken with Goyer's proposed story and personally pitched the idea to Warner Brothers. Warner Brothers was also very impressed and greenlighted the movie. Due to the success of The Dark Knight trilogy and Nolan's interest in the story, Nolan was placed as producer for the new movie and Goyer was made one of the writers.
Finding the director for the movie was not as easy. Guillermo Del Toro was offered the assignment (I would love to see a Guillermo Del Torro Superman movie) but declined because he was occupied with a film adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness (a movie that would end up being made). Robert Zemeckis also declined an offer to direct. Other directors considered included Ben Affleck (who would later play Batman in the DCEU (he declined the offer because he had never directed a film with so many effects)), Darren Aronofsky (director of Pi (1998), Black Swan (2010), Mother! (2017) and The Whale (2022)) Tony Scott (director of such movies as Top Gun (1986), Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) and Days of Thunder (1990)). Zach Synder (who had previously directed the DC film, Watchmen (2009)) was placed in the director's chair in October 2010.
British actor Henry Cavill was cast as Superman. This however was not the first time he tried for this role. He had auditioned for the role of Superman in the early stages of Superman Returns (2006) but was denied the role. About receiving this role the actor would state, "It felt pretty incredible, actually. I’m not going to lie. You put it on, and you think okay, this is day one of work — day one of being Superman, and you’ve got a whole crew here who are invested in making a Superman movie. I was all wrapped up in this very sticky waterproof black cape thing, so no paparazzi could get shots or anything like that. And it was roasting hot, it was over 100 degrees in Chicago. And it’s that moment of going, 'This is me, unveiling myself as Superman to the crew.' And there was a slight aspect of nerves, but it was more about excitement. People weren’t waiting to judge — everyone is sitting there rubbing their hands together with glee, going, 'We finally get to see what we’re creating here!' It was an incredible feeling, wearing the suit, after all the work I’d done and everyone else had done in putting the suit together. It just felt like the right moment. It felt bang on. Really exciting." Cavill has a naturally hairy chest and personally decided he wanted to keep the hair for this film. Being a comics nerd himself, he pointed out that Superman had chest hair in The Death of Superman storyline. Still, he stated the hardest scenes for him where the one's where he appeared shirtless. He refused to either take performance-enhancing drugs or having the special effects team touch him up, meaning he had to look muscular enough for people to believe him as Superman without any aid for these scenes.
This movie retells the origin story of Superman. This is the story of how he came to Earth, was raised by the Kents and how he learned to control his powers. He feels he must hide his powers because people might fear him and therefore keeps a low profile. However, when the evil General Zid arrives on Earth and wants to destroy humanity, he must use these powers to protect the world he calls home.
Despite its flaws, Man of Steel was a pretty strong start to the DCEU. There is a lot that I personally really like about this movie. I love its depiction of the planet Krypton. Instead of just making it feel like a futuristic Earth (in the vein of The Jetsons), the filmmakers really made Krypton feel like a completely different world. The filmmakers also try to make Earth feel more realistic and less fantastical than in previous Superman movies. This makes the contrast between Krypton and Earth very effective. I also loved the way that this movie handled the scenes where a young Clark Kent discovers his powers. This movie delves into how he cannot yet understand or control his powers. Honestly, as much as any of us would like to be Superman the discovery of these powers would be terrifying. This film makes us feel these moments of fear and panic placing us into the shoes of young Clark Kent. This movie also benefits from some great special effects and very exciting action sequences. General Zod may not be a complex character but honestly that has always been part of his charm. His is simply evil and with the same powers as Superman, he is a great threat. He fills this job very well here.
The casting in this movie is near perfect. Henry Cavill is a wonderful Superman. Not only does he perfectly look the part, but he definitely has the acting chops to pull it off. While Amy Adams may not be as memorable as Lois Lane as Noel Neill or Margert Kidder, she does quite a good job as a determined young reporter. Russell Crowe is very good as Jor-El (Superman's birth father) commanding the screen whenever he is on. Kevin Costner and Diane Lane are very charismatic as Ma and Pa Kent. Michael Shannon is believable threatening and evil as General Zod.
This movie definitely does have its flaws though. The largest of these flaws is the depiction of Pa Kent. Despite a great performance by Kevin Costner, the way this character is written feels off. It is one thing to think his son should keep his powers a secret, but he takes it to too large of an extreme. Once when young Clark asks "What was I supposed to do? Just let them die," Pa has the nerve to respond, "Maybe; but there's more at stake here than our lives or the lives of those around us. When the world... When the world finds out what you can do, it's gonna change everything; our... our beliefs, our notions of what it means to be human... everything. You saw how Pete's mom reacted, right? She was scared, Clark." I'm sorry but saying that he did wrong by saving innocent kids from drowning because people might be scared is ludicrous. This is a horrible lesson to teach young Clark and that makes this feel like a compete character assassination. This is a character that is supposed to feel like a moral guide to our hero and to have him state something so morally wrong hurts the movie. I also felt that there was no romantic chemistry between Superman and Lois Lane. When we see them kissing in one scene, it seems to come out of nowhere.
However, while these flaws really hurt the movie, what is done well is excellent. So even with some major flaws, I still love this film.
The movie was a box office success. It became the fourth highest grossing movie of 2013 (the top three were Iron Man 3 (2013), The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) and Despicable Me 2 (2013)). Critics were split on this film. Some felt that it was an exciting and intelligent take on the classic superhero. Others felt that this movie was long on spectacle and low on story and characterization. Roger Ebert (who included Superman: The Movie (1978) in his famous list of Great Movies) gave the film three out of four stories, feeling that it started off very strong but lost momentum along the way. Audiences remain just as split on this movie. Some feel it is one of the best Superman movies, while others feel this is a betrayal of everything Superman stands for.
Resources Used
Warner Bros. 100 Years of Storytelling by Mark A. Vieira
https://entertainmentnow.com/news/the-man-of-steel-top-10-facts-you-need-to-know-superman-2013-movie/
https://screenrant.com/man-of-steel-interesting-behind-scenes-details/
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