Martin Deer rounds up all the latest talking points from Man of Steel as we count down to the return of Superman this summer…
Zod Viral
Warner Bros.’ marketing really kicked off just after our last countdown, when a viral video was released online and then played on air in America – which is very cool – during the MTV Awards, as well as on UK television that same week. The viral features General Zod sending a stark warning to Earth: handover Kal-El, or suffer the consequences. This was the first time we heard Michael Shannon as Zod, and he sounds terrifying. Calm and collected, but with a devastating threat. The message of the viral was at odds with something Shannon had said previously about Zod’s motives to Entertainment Weekly: “He actually has some affection for anybody who’s a Kryptonian, including Superman… He doesn’t really have any malignant feelings towards him; he just wants him to be patriotic”. For a long time I thought Zod may initially be a friend or mentor to Kal-El, and Shannon’s words seemed to support that theory, however the viral and then the trailer sort of shot it down. I do think that initially they won’t be at odds, but it certainly won’t be a friendship of any sort, and any “friendliness” won’t last for very long.
Third Trailer
Wednesday last week those of us in the UK woke up to a new trailer, which sent the internet into a storm. As a Superman fan, this trailer blew me away but I also know that non-Superman fans and Superman / Zack Snyder doubters were also very impressed. I saw it all over Twitter and on blogs as film fans went crazy; when my best friend tweeted me, “You know I don’t like Superman, but that trailer was brilliant”, I knew it had penetrated the general public’s consciousness. It was a great sight to behold after the seven year hangover from the last time the character was seen on screen in Superman Returns. Based on the reaction to the trailer, if Man of Steel lives up to expectation and soars high long past opening weekend, it has the potential to be The Avengers huge.
I touched on the trailer in my initial reaction piece, however there are a few details I didn’t really go in to that I want to discuss briefly now that I have seen people’s reactions:
The Fortress of Solitude is a spaceship: We were told by Zack Snyder and then saw in the trailer that the Fortress of Solitude, Kal-El’s Kryptonian home on Earth, is now a spaceship rather than a structure he creates using Kryptonian technology. Some have questioned if this isn’t Christopher Nolan’s realism changing things for the sake of it. To that I say, no. See, David S. Goyer knows the mythology (just look how much that trailer is influenced by stories such as Birthright, All Star and Secret Origin), and Nolan knows how to craft a story. The two combined have thus far produced great things. The reason they have produced great things is that everything in the films has a reason for being there. Which ultimately makes them all the more cooler, doesn’t it? From purely what we have seen thus far, the change is interesting, and makes sense. Look at Krypton. It isn’t the icy, crystal structure planet that we’ve seen before, and thus how, where and why would a Fortress that is built from crystal make sense? What Snyder tells us is that Kryptonians have long known about Earth, and have been here before, hence the abandoned space ship. It’s an interesting take and one which raises a lot of questions and opens a lot of new doors for character exploration and expanding the Kryptonian mythology. Let’s not forget also, that in the comics the Fortress has been in the arctic, the rainforest and underwater, and in 1986’s Man of Steel when John Byrne re-told Superman’s origin, the Fortress of Solitude was actually a metaphor, as he saw the Clark Kent persona as Kal-El/Superman’s personal retreat away from the world, so this isn’t really some blasphemous and negative effect of Nolan’s realism. It will fit the story, it will have a reason. And it will be much more effective as a result.
Where is Daily Planet Clark? A teaser and two full trailers in, and thus far we have not seen Daily Planet Clark – the bumbling, stumbling, Clark who wears an over sized pair of spectacles to conceal his identity as he works as a journalist to keep his ear to the ground. The focus of this film is on who Clark Kent/Kal-El is as a person, at his core, and his journey from the child who is compelled to help when tragedy occurs, to the hero we will call Superman who will inspire us all. We have seen that Clark will be travelling the world seeking his destiny, and thus Daily Planet Clark isn’t really going to have a place in the story until the end, when he has figured his destiny out and knows what he needs/wants to do. The trailer that was shown at Comic-Con showed a quick glimpse of Clark putting on a pair of glasses, and this will undoubtedly come at the end of the film in my opinion.
Lois and Clark: As Clark travels the world seeking his destiny, Lois Lane begins an investigation in to a ‘Guardian Angel’ who leaves a trail of heroic acts in his wake. It seems, finally, that when Lois encounters Superman she will love him not for his muscles and strength (thank you Superman II), but out of respect and her shared ideals with a man who wants to do good in this world. I have said many a time I want to see Lois know who Superman really is, and the way the film is shaping up, I can’t see how she wouldn’t know. Lois will be investigating Superman long before he becomes Superman, and so for such a great investigative reporter, how is it that a pair of over sized glasses and a jacket that is two sizes too big can pull the wool over her eyes? When Lois is investigating Clark, she will be getting to know who this man is, and I’d really like to see the relationship reach the point where she knows who Superman is. And maybe, that’s how Clark ends up getting his job at the Daily Planet? A friend also has a theory that the Lois voice over we hear in the trailer is her first article on Superman, which is published after he has shown up and defeated Zod. And that this happens at the end as a voice over, very much akin to Jim Gordon’s speech at the end of The Dark Knight. It’s an idea I love, and I think if you take her voice over, add in some quotes about Superman inspiring hope on this world, interlace it with scenes of that young boy wearing a cape running around his backyard emulating Superman, and you have a beautiful and uplifting end.
Empire Magazine
The latest issue of Empire was released yesterday with two great covers featuring Superman and Zod. With interviews conducted on set and during post-production, Zack Snyder is quoted as saying he will be asked to direct a Justice League movie should Man of Steel be a success. Whilst this isn’t a complete surprise, remember that this interview is a few months old now, and a lot has happened regarding WB’s Justice League plans since then. A hell of a lot. The article tells us a little about the first showdown between Zod and Superman, which takes place in Smallville, as it appears Zod discovers where Kal-El landed and who raised him. Snyder’s description of the fight between them as a “Western face-off” is, I’m sure you will agree, all kinds of mind blowing awesome.
The Empire article gives nothing away about the story, but there are some great quotes from Snyder, and the greatest of which I shall leave you with today:
“What is the mythology of superheroes? The answer is Superman. And that is awesome.”
7 weeks to go. Up, Up and Away, I’ll see you in two…
Martin Deer
