Man of Steel - First Look

The Last Son of Krypton looks ready to kick some serious ass.

So earlier today, Warner Bros. issued a press release confirming the cast of Zack Snyder's upcoming reboot of the Superman franchise, Man of Steel, and with it came the first image of new Superman Henry Cavill decked out in costume for the first time. With this, I figured now was as good a time as any to speculate on how this film will turn out. After the sequel to Bryan Singer's Superman Returns ceased development in favor of a reboot in Summer 2008, Christopher Nolan (thank GOD) and David S. Goyer were brought in as producer and writer, respectively, in early 2010 to relaunch the franchise, around the same time that Nolan began earnest script work on The Dark Knight Rises. From there, Zack Snyder was hired last October, casting began the following month, and finally, Cavill was unveiled as the seventh live-action incarnation of the character in January. Over the last six months, the rest of the cast was filled out, and while I'm happy with some, I'm rather skeptical about others. For one, I love the casting of both the Kents and Superman's biological parents. Kevin Costner is a perfect choice for Jonathan Kent, while Russell Crowe is ideal to succeed Marlon Brando as Jor-El. I'm not familiar with much of Michael Shannon's work, but I could envision him as Zod, while I don't know a thing about Antje Traue, Christopher Meloni, or Harry Lennix. Laurence Fishburne is bold casting as Perry White, and I could see it working, but I'm just not sure about Amy Adams as Lois Lane. She's a little too much older than Cavill (37 vs. 28), doesn't match the iconic features of the character, and she reeks a bit too much as stunt casting. That said, I'll reserve judgment until I see the film. Above all, I love Cavill in the lead role. He's got just the look for Superman, as seen in the photo above, and as for the costume, it's definitely a lot cooler than the Brandon Routh costume (AWESOME CAPE). Snyder has mostly been an inconsistent filmmaker with a very distinct style, but with Nolan's guiding hand, I think he could make it work. I think we'll get a grittier, action-packed take on the character that will stand in sharp contrast to Singer's film, and will differentiate itself enough from the Christopher Reeve films of old to stand on its own two feet. It's opening six months later than originally planned, a full seven years after the release of Returns, and that should be enough time for the film to be judged on its own merits. It's opening in what appears to be yet another superhero-packed year (alongside Thor 2 and Iron Man 3), but it being more original than the others should give it an edge.

Man of Steel opens June 14, 2013.