Man Of Steel Trailer Released OR It Looks Surprisingly Good

Along with most everyone else on the planet, I was a little concerned when Warner Bros. announced that Zack Snyder would be directing the new Superman movie.  Don’t get me wrong, 300 was crazy fun, and the man’s not entirely without skill, but he seemed like a generic, uninspired choice for Superman.  Plus his movies are kind of rapey, you know?

The teaser for Man of Steel was pretty vague, but now we’ve got the first full trailer and it’s actually quite good:

First off, Superman has a beard, which is classy.  People with beards are automatically ten times cooler than everyone else.  FULL DISCLOSURE: I also have a beard.

Second, it looks explodey and crazy and Michael Shannon looks completely bonkers as Zod, which is a very good thing.  Unhinged Michael Shannon is one of the most enjoyable things in the world.  I just finished the last season of Boardwalk Empire and in one scene he went from mildly irritated to burning a dude with an iron, trashing his office, and then calmly walking out like nothing had happened.  I think he’s going to be a fantastic Zod.

Third, it looks like it’s definitely going to be a darker movie.  Clark seems to be dealing with some heavy things, and I think that maybe his parents are going to die and that sends him on his fishing journey.  In the trailer, Martha is his island in the sea of voices and sounds he can hear, and without her he might have some troubles.

On top of that prediction, it’s abundantly clear that this isn’t an “Oh hooray, a superhero… welcome to the city!” kind of movie.  People don’t appear to be accepting Superman with open arms, if his arrest is any indication.  Lois is going to accept him, though, and have his back.  She always does.  Amy Adams was only in the trailer for like two seconds, so there’s not much to say about Lois, but it wasn’t a bad two seconds AND she didn’t burst into song.  I always expect Anne Hathaway and Amy Adams to spontaneously start singing when I see them in anything.  It made Dark Knight Rises kind of weird for me.

So yeah, it looks very good.  A little darker and more morose than I like my Superman, but Henry Cavill seems like a good fit for the part and they’ve finally closed the door on the Donner/Reeve era.  Superman needs a new direction.  I’m definitely intrigued.  Plus it had Superman flying and such, and that always gives me chills.

However, we’ve seen great trailers from Snyder before, and the movies don’t always follow through.  Remember how amazing the Watchmen trailer was?  That was one of the best trailers I’ve ever seen, and it had me over the moon excited for the movie.  And then Watchmen was really, really bad and I was all disappointed.  So my hopes aren’t all that high for Man of Steel, seeing as I’ve been burned before by Snyder AND by a new Superman movie (I’m looking at you, Superman Returns).  I’m going to keep my expectations low and hopefully I’ll be surprised at how good the movie turns out.  So far, the trailer has me cautiously optimistic.

Jon Hamm As Superman

News broke today that Amy Adams is going to play Lois Lane in Zach Snyder’s new Superman movie, which seems like a very odd choice to me.  Amy Adams is a great actress and she seems like a generally delightful gal every time I’ve seen her on talk shows, but she’s so not Lois.  Lois is all snark and attitude and Amy Adams is sweet and nice… even when she’s tough in movies like The Fighter or… well… that’s about it for tough Amy Adams… she’s usually the sweet and earnest, doe-eyed idealist is my point.  Even when she was tough that one time, it wasn’t Lois tough.  I’m just not seeing it. 

ANYWAY, the news today reminded me of this fantastic Phil Noto sketch I saw over at Comics Alliance.  Every week, Andy Khouri puts up a Best Art Ever post that collects really cool comic art, largely culled from artists’ websites and Twitter feeds.  This Phil Noto picture was in last week’s post:

I know Jon Hamm is too old for the part, but how so entirely Superman is that picture??  It’s so cool!!  Someone needs to do a Superman book and style their Superman after Jon Hamm… I think it would be awesome.  Hey, maybe Phil Noto is fixing to do just that!!  I’d buy the hell out of that book.  I know Henry Cavill is set to play the Man of Steel, and he seems like a solid choice, but Jon Hamm is SO Superman.

Henry Cavill Cast As Superman

Zach Snyder’s Superman movie is starting to come together now with the casting of Henry Cavill as the Man of Steel.  I didn’t know they were this far along in pre-production… they seem really keen to get this movie out, probably due to the film rights stipulations of the Siegels lawsuit against Warner Bros.  I think the movie has to be in production this year or the rights revert back and, with the Siegels owning half of Superman now, getting the rights back could be pricey or difficult.

Anyway, I like Cavill.  I think he’s got a lot of potential.  I’ve liked him in everything I’ve seen him in, and I’m really looking forward to Immortals later this year.  He was rumoured to be VERY close to getting the lead in Batman Begins, but I think he’ll make a far better Superman than Batman.  He’s got both a kind face and the ability to be totally bad ass, which is an important combination for Superman. 

I sort of feel bad for Brandon Routh, though, who I thought was pretty good in Superman Returns.  He was certainly the least of the movie’s problem, and the material/goofy costume/bad hair they stuck him with didn’t help him much.  However, I liked his Clark Kent FAR more than his Superman, and I think it may be the opposite with Cavill.  Cavill has solid Superman vibe to me, but I can’t quite see him as a schlubby Clark… but he could very well surprise me.

I assume that the next big announcement will be who’s playing Lois Lane, and I am very curious about that.  Lois is a weird role, because it’s so much more about an attitude and a vibe than an appearance.  Really, any brunette actress could pull off a Lois Lane look… there’s a lot of wiggle room in terms of appearance, but the Lois Lane attitude is far trickier.  She’s a tough note to hit correctly.  I am excited to see who it’s going to be.

Anyway, it’s very fun that the Superman movie is starting to shape up.  It’s always a good time to see him on the big screen.  Though I still get slightly amused every time I hear the movie mentioned… it reminds me of Matt Fraction’s first response to the announcement that Zach Snyder would be directing the movie: “I don’t wanna see Lois get raped.”  Which is a rather reasonable concern if you’ve ever seen a Snyder flick.  Hopefully the Nolans have steered the script in a different direction for the female lead… maybe she’ll just get blown up.  Man, comic book movies don’t have the best track record with the ladies, do they?