Last night, a whole slew of new photos for Man of Steel were revealed by Entertainment Weekly. The upcoming Superman reboot is the cover story for their latest issue and they spoke to the cast and crew about the film in their extensive article.
“Imagine what it would be like to be someone like Clark Kent/Kal-El,” said star Henry Cavill, “and feel like a stranger amongst even those that you love, never developing full relationships with people for fear of them discovering how much of a freak you are. Even you don’t understand exactly what you are. It’s just a lonely existence. With someone who has that much power and responsibility. Although he is not susceptible to the frailties of mankind, he is definitely susceptible to the emotional frailties.”
The emotional weakness that Cavill brings up is also a point that director Zack Snyder mentioned about the film, in response to “Will we see Kryptonite in the movie?”
“I’ll be honest with you,” said the director. “There’s no Kryptonite in the movie. It’s all emotional Kryptonite.”
While it sounds like there will be plenty of ’emotional Kryptonite’ in the film, the new photos make the film’s antagonists (Michael Shannon’s General Zod and Antje Traue’s Faora) out to be a great physical match for Superman as well.
“He actually has some affection for anybody who’s a Kryptonian,” Shannon said of his character. “Including Superman. He doesn’t really have any malignant feelings toward him; he just wants him to be patriotic.”
Antje Traue’s character on the other hand will be a little less subtle. “Faora is a psychopath. She is an engineered being, and driven by the need and pleasure of killing.”
This does seem to fit the new interpretation the filmmakers have created for the character’s mythology, as David Goyer says most babies on Krypton aren’t born, they’re engineered.
“People were bred to be warriors or scientists or what-have-you, and there’s a whole element in the movie about nature versus nurture. Kal-El is unique among Kryptonian babies because he’s a natural conception, free from genetic manipulation to choose his own course in life — which also makes his existence highly illegal.”
One thing that many fans can’t stop wondering about is if this film will lead into the long rumored Justice League movie, and the film’s producer seems to indicate it will pave the road for future films.
“It’s setting the tone for what the movies are going to be like going forward,” said producer Chris Roven. “In that, Man of Steel is definitely a first step. Nolan’s Dark Knight series was deliberately and smartly positioned as a stand-alone. The world the films lived in was very isolated, without any knowledge of other superheroes. What Zack and Chris have done with this film is allow you to really introduce other characters into the same world.”
Not an outright indication one way or the other, but screenwriter David Goyer was more open to teasing if we’ll see any references to other DC characters in the film.
“I would love to tell you yes or no, but I think it’s going to be more exciting for people to keep a beady eye out and find what they can find.”
In the action adventure, starring Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Antje Traue, Ayelet Zurer, Christopher Meloni, Russell Crowe, Michael Kelly, Harry Lennix and Richard Schiff, a young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth. As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind. Man of Steel opens in 2D, 3D, and IMAX theaters June 14.
