Man of Steel

[thecolorsblend]

That costume is awesome. Obviously this pic was taken before Cavill bulked up for the role. I'd like to see a colour photograph of him wearing it now, complete with the spit curl. He'd look just like the comic book Supes.

Circa 2008 or so, I found a computer-generated amalgamation of Dean Cain, Christopher Reeve, Tom Welling and Brandon Routh. The idea being that such an amalgamation would pretty much be Superman.

I question the logic of that. But nobody cares what I think.

So anyway, the picture, right? So not long ago I ran it through a free online facial recognition system. Of all people, it showed Adam Brody as the closest match at something like 85%. But the runner up was Henry Cavill at 80% (or thereabouts).

Not bad, eh?

[Silver Nemesis]

Adam Brody? I... kind of see it. Looks a lot more like Cavill though.

[The Dark Knight]

That costume is awesome. Obviously this pic was taken before Cavill bulked up for the role. I'd like to see a colour photograph of him wearing it now, complete with the spit curl. He'd look just like the comic book Supes.

As far as I am concerned, Cavill puts the man in Superman. The character doesn't need to have muscles to lift mountains and punch moons out of orbit, but it's sure as hell is more satisfying if he does.

[The Laughing Fish]

I saw this new photo of Henry Cavill wearing the Reeve Superman costume, this time in colour.



Back on MOS, I've been thinking about the tornado scene again, and I remember there used to be a lot of criticism over Jonathan Kent running back to the car to rescue the family dog. Lots of people were saying how "stupid" it was of him for doing that.

Do you want hear my rebuttal? I guarantee you that these people never owned a pet before.

[Dagenspear]

I'd say there's more of an issue to me that he didn't send Clark to get the dog.

[The Laughing Fish]

Vero has uploaded that MOS Watch Party held by Zack Snyder. Under the circumstances, I think it's safe to say it has become historic.

[The Dark Knight]

Gave MoS another look recently, and it holds up very well - still my favorite Superman movie.

It did everything that I think needed to be done for a contemporary Superman relaunch. This is the exact template. A new soundtrack, a suit overhaul, a darker tone without sacrificing the sense of hope and current day social commentary. Hopefully AT&T can get this train back on the track.

One part struck a chord with me, particularly as the same theme was highlighted in the S:TAS two parter Blast from the Past. It's Superman being peer pressured to abandon his Earth friends and upbringing in favor of his Krypronian heritage, and when he doesn't he's deemed a sellout. This applies to many people in real life who walk away from others when their values/life direction no longer align. It can be hard, and they want you to feel shame, but you've got to do the right thing. Because we all know what the right thing is. In Superman's case, the real shame would be siding with criminals who seek to rule and trash society.

What does Zod being a Kryptonian have to do with anything when his morals are warped? It makes Superman feel all the more alone, which is great for character depth. The idea he technically ISN'T alone, as other Kryptonians such as Zod exist, but ultimately he is alone.

I see Superman's Kryptonian heritage as only one small part of him, and something he's always learning about. The upbringing on Kansas is his true soul, with the rest being an echo.

The fact characters such as Brainiac know way more about Krypton than him is a cool dynamic and power imbalance, giving the villains leverage over the hero.

[thecolorsblend]

What works for me about MOS is that Jor-El explicitly says that Superman is the bridge to between two worlds. Clark Kent is too alien to ever be human. But Kal-El is too human to ever be truly Kryptonian. Thus, Superman is the space between them, the best of both worlds. It speaks to the idea that we can all be our best selves. Nothing's holding us back.

I enjoy that. There's an unsung Grant Morrison/All-Star Superman influence going on with that approach and I cherish it.

[The Dark Knight]

This quote captures the idea of Superman being a creation for the benefit of humanity.

SUPERMAN: All this time I've been living my life the way my father saw it. Righting wrongs for a ghost. Thinking I'm here to do good. Superman was never real. Just the dream of a farmer from Kansas.
LOIS LANE: That farmer's dream is all some people have. It's all that gives them hope. This means something.
SUPERMAN: It did on my world. My world doesn't exist anymore.

And this quote from Zack:

"The House of El's family suit would be the black suit, but the suit facing out into the public, the suit he says 'you'll help them attain wonders,' that suit is the suit of optimism in my opinion. The red and blue suit, to me, is more inclusive. It's a friendlier suit."

That's the big one that solidifies the point, IMO. The real suit is black, but having that from the start communicates something different to the public. To be pure Kryptonian is to be alien. The red and blue adds the human element – the dream element.

[thecolorsblend]

You raise a good point.

And I'm ashamed to say that I'm only just now realizing that there might be a theme of regret/mourning present in seemingly all three films. In MOS, Zod experiences some regret at having killed Jor-El. That haunts him. His hatred for Superman doesn't somehow magically blight out his affection for Jor-El or his own regret for killing Jor-El. He even visibly expresses regret at erasing Jor-El's AI from the ship, "killing" Jor-El again in a sense.

In BVS, as per your quote, Superman expresses a desire to live up to Jonathan's idea and his regret at being unsuccessful so far. Jonathan's memory is what teaches Clark about the occasional disconnect between heroism and acceptance.

In ZSJL, I assume that Batman will be motivated by his own regret of Superman's death and the role he unwittingly played in bringing it about. Penance will come, I assume, from Superman's resurrection.

Still, in each case, this regret over a dead person's memory seems to be a catalyst driving a character forward. Sometimes, a character is able to make peace with the dead person's memory (Superman in BVS) while other times that's not possible (Zod in MOS) or, at best, it's uncertain (in ZSJL, I assume).

It's late and I might be formulating all of this badly. Sorry!