海角大神

The along with the positive buzz from 聽means that the summer blockbuster is one of the most hyped films of this year. Whereas chose to pit Superman against his old nemesis Lex Luthor for Superman Returns in 2006, Snyder鈥檚 film is an origin story with in the antagonist role.

We got the impression that Total Film had a payload of Man of Steel聽details waiting in their latest issue when they unveiled a . And indeed, they do 鈥� in interviews with director Zack Snyder, writer David S. Goyer, and stars Henry Cavill and Michael Shannon, we learn quite a bit about what we can expect from both Superman and General Zod.聽

Interestingly, Shannon denies that General Zod is a villain at all, let alone a supervillain. Of course, he might be a little biased, but the actor firmly聽believes that Zod is just doing what he believes is the right thing. Says Shannon:

鈥淗e鈥檚 not a villain any more than any other General fighting to protect his people. He doesn鈥檛 like to just hurt people and steal diamonds; he鈥檚 focused on being successful at his job. I think the way Terrence Stamp approached it 鈥� and this isn鈥檛 any kind if criticism of his performance 鈥� there was something kind of detached about it. Pure hatred, rage, whatever鈥� I think this [characterisation] is more ambiguous.鈥�

Henry Cavill diplomatically tackles one of the controversial aspects of his character鈥檚 new costume design, best summarised as , by saying that the change happened naturally as part of the character growing up within the franchise:

鈥淲e have absolute respect for what was then. But now is now. Even Superman in the new comics doesn鈥檛 have the briefs 鈥� he has the red belt, but not the briefs. It鈥檚 time for a change.鈥�

that Man of Steel is not going to be based on any particular comic book story arc, and will in fact be something of a departure from the established canon and tone. Cavill admits that he is unfamiliar with the comic books, but that he was still able to get a good feel for the character in the context of the story that Goyer and Snyder wish to tell:

鈥淗aving gone to boarding school, I didn鈥檛 have a comic book store nearby.聽But as soon as I was cast in the movie, that鈥檚 when I got my full, real introduction to Superman.聽I managed to piece together this character, maintaining that baseline and having all differences and nuances that our script adds. This is our own thing, standalone. It鈥檚 about Superman, but we鈥檙e not copying from any one comic book in particular. And that鈥檚 a good thing, because its an origin-story.鈥�

Snyder does not speak explicitly mention Superman Returns 鈥� which did okay at the box office and from both audiences and critics 鈥� but he alludes to it as part of what he considers to be a 鈥渂roken鈥� string of Superman characterizations:

鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing what [Superman] is capable of but [Henry's] a slightly more down to Earth version of the character.聽I don鈥檛 think he can hold up a continent鈥� Superman has been broken for a little while.鈥�

The impression we鈥檝e been given so far is that Man of Steel will be on Clark Kent鈥檚 origins, insofar as an alien baby being transported to Earth and developing super-powers as he grows up can be realistic. One of the ways in which David S. Goyer attempted to make Superman more accessible was by making him , but he has apparently also chosen to embrace the protagonist鈥檚 Kryptonian past, rather than treating it as something that might infringe upon the realism:

鈥淲e try to flesh out Krypton and its different political factions, its fauna, its science.聽[Superman is] a man, but he鈥檚 a Man of Steel 鈥β營t鈥檚 very much the theme of the movie, so it鈥檚 embedded in the title, which we settled on at the very beginning. He鈥檚 human but he鈥檚 not human.鈥�

Considering it鈥檚 been over seventy years since Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster first introduced this character to the American public, it might be argued that a lot of good could come from experimenting with changes in tone and characterization, especially if those changes make the Superman franchise more accessible to audiences outside of the core group of comic book fans. , which was David S. Goyer鈥檚 last major project prior to Man of Steel, was also a break from its more over the top predecessors, and earned a lot of financial and critical success with its recapped origin story and image change.

Do you agree that Superman is broken, and that聽Man of Steel will be the film to fix him? How do you feel about these new insights into the hero and villain? Let us know in the comments.

Hannah Shaw-Williams blogs at .