Man of Steel Movie (2013) Interesting Facts, Mistakes

Updated on November 28, 2023

Man of Steel Movie Story Summary

An alien child is evacuated from his dying world and sent to Earth to live among humans. His peace is threatened, when other survivors of his home planet invade Earth.

Man of Steel Movie Stars

Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon

Man of Steel Movie Storyline

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 Movie Interesting Facts

Henry Cavill refused to take steroids to muscle up for the role. He also refused any digital touch-ups or enhancement to his body in his shirtless scenes. He said it would have been dishonest of him to use trickery while playing Superman, and he wanted to push his body to the limits, to develop his physique into one that was worthy of the character.
Henry Cavill said that the most difficult part of making the movie was definitely his two shirtless scenes. He had been training for months prior to filming, but for his shirtless scenes, he went on an extremely difficult diet and training regimen in which his calorie intake was cut from five thousand to nearly fifteen hundred for six weeks. After six weeks, he reached a body fat level of just seven percent, the level achieved by professional body-builders during competitions. Henry said he did this because he wanted to make his abs as pronounced and his muscles as defined as humanly possible, to create the best possible Superman physique. Cavill returned to a more manageable routine after the scenes were shot, but felt his effort was rewarded when audiences and critics alike praised his physique for the true embodiment of what Superman would look like. After he had shot his shirtless scenes, director Zack Snyder gave him a tub of ice cream and pizza to reward him for his Herculean effort for the shirtless scenes.
The idea that Superman's S-Shield means "hope" is taken from Mark Waid's "Superman: Birthright" comic: the S-Shield is the Kryptonian symbol for "hope", and Superman (1978) created the concept of the Shield being a Kryptonian herald for the house of El.
The film released in June 2013, the 75th anniversary of Superman.
Henry Cavill naturally has a hairy chest, and left it untouched for the shoot of this movie. He insisted that Superman has chest hair in this film; he rejected the notion that just because you are muscular, you should not have chest hair, and cited the Superman comic book "The Death Of Superman" as being an iconic representation in which Superman had a hairy chest.
Henry Cavill and Russell Crowe had met years prior to playing father and son when Henry was an extra in Proof of Life (2000), and received words of encouragement to pursue acting, and an autographed picture from Crowe, who was his favorite actor.
In a flashback scene, in which Clark Kent is being bullied, he is seen reading "The Republic" by Plato. In "The Republic," Plato describes his "Perfect Society," which mirrors the make-up of Kryptonian society as given here. Most obviously, both societies have preordained births, in which people are born into roles, such as leaders, warriors, or farmers.
Clark's line "Can't I keep pretending I'm your son?", and Jonathan's response, "You are my son", are taken from "Superman: Secret Origin" by Geoff Johns.
In an early Smallville scene near the Kent house, a double tanker truck passing by in the background bears the "LexCorp" brand name. Also, a building in Metropolis and a tanker truck later bear the name as well. This is the company run by Superman's arch rival, Lex Luthor.
Henry Cavill embarked on a special four-month training regimen by his trainer Mark Twight to get the appropriate physique for his roles as Kal-El. He gained weight by drinking five one thousand-calorie protein shakes a day, then he did cardiovascular workouts to burn away the fat, and build muscle, and finally, he underwent a grueling two-hour workout to build up his muscles and abdomen. According to Cavill, the real problem he faced was the workout's intensity: "Mark based his technique on going beyond yourself. Instead of slowing down towards the end of the workout, he asked me to actually work harder and harder for the body to reach its limits. His point was that if his client is able to walk out of the gym, he had not worked hard enough."
Ben Affleck turned down directing the film, because he wasn't experienced in visual effects shots: "A lesson I've learned is to not look at movies based on budget, how much they'll spend on effects, or where they will shoot. Story is what's important." He appeared as Batman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), which was directed by Zack Snyder.
Zack Snyder said that he really wanted to include a shirtless scene of Henry Cavill in the film, because throughout the film, you see him in a form-fitting body suit where he appears extremely muscular. He said the audience would think it was all rubber muscles, but it was important to show them it was indeed Cavill's body in that suit, and that it was all real.
According to Zack Snyder, the filmmakers outfitted Henry Cavill in the Superman (1978) costume to see how well he fit the role. Despite the outfit bearing a lighter blue color and red trunks, no one laughed at Cavill. Snyder knew then that Cavill was right for the role.
Rumors say that Zod's broadcast to Earth is made in several languages including the "Star Trek" Universe's Klingon, but there is no proof for this.
The filmmakers hired Professor Christine Schreyer, an expert in anthropology and linguistics at the University of British Columbia, to create the Kryptonian language. She developed an object-subject-verb sentence structure, contrasting the subject-verb-object structure of English (for example, "I see him" in English would be "Him I see" in Kryptonian), to reflect that people on Krypton had become selfish and materialistic.
When Clark is first learning to fly, he is only able to make a few gigantic bounds. In the first few Superman comics in 1938-9, he was not able to fly, but could only leap 1/8 of a mile like a high-powered kangaroo. The first cartoons and movies decided that this looked undignified, and made him fly, which looks more majestic, even though physics give no logical reason for him to have this ability.
Gal Gadot was originally cast as Faora, but had to drop out due to her pregnancy, and Antje Traue was cast in her place. Gadot would later be chosen to play Diana Prince a.k.a. Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and in the subsequent Wonder Woman (2017) and Justice League films.
During Jor-El and Kal-El's first conversation and 3-D history of Krypton, Jor tells Kal about how he was sent away. In the background, a pod with the "S" and spikes can be seen flying away. This is not the way it looks in this movie, but in fact how it appears in Superman (1978).
This is Amy Adams' third time auditioning for Lois Lane. She first read for Lois Lane in Brett Ratner's abandoned film, then for Superman Returns (2006). Adams has stated that it became ridiculous, and this time she had to play Lois and put her stamp on it.
Amy Adams (Lois Lane) is only nine years younger than Diane Lane (Martha Kent).
According to David S. Goyer, Superman's costume is defined in this film to be an undergarment: "All the battle armor goes on top of the suits. But since Superman's a refugee, his outfit doesn't have that gear, and would make him defenseless on his own Kryptonian turf." This is also a nod to pop culture's running joke that Superman's costume appears to be underwear.
According to David S. Goyer, the story's major theme is first contact: "We approached Superman as if it weren't a comic book movie, as if it were real. He's an alien. If the world found out he existed, it would be the biggest thing that ever happened in human history. Just his existence would change the face of the Earth forever."
Matthew Goode, Armie Hammer, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Zac Efron, and Colin O'Donoghue were on the final shortlist for the lead role. Henry Cavill was finally cast. He was the front runner to play Superman in another Superman movie (working title: Flyby) but the movie failed to be greenlit, and Brandon Routh was cast in Superman Returns (2006) instead. Cavill was also a runner-up to Daniel Craig for the James Bond role in Casino Royale (2006), Christian Bale for Bruce Wayne a.k.a. Batman in Batman Begins (2005).
Costume designer Michael Wilkinson said that while the Superman suit emphasized and highlighted Henry Cavill's muscular physique, for the scenes where he is playing Clark Kent, they tried to hide his physique by giving him layers of clothing and baggy clothes so that he could blend in more. Only in one scene does Clark wear a form-fitting t-shirt, which reveals that he is powerfully built, but that is when he is with Martha, who knows his identity.
Bryan Singer and Brandon Routh expressed interest in reprising their positions from Superman Returns (2006) on this film. Singer had originally outlined several sequels to follow his story, and Routh was contracted as well. When Warner Brothers announced this film as a "clean reboot" from Singer's film, Routh still expressed interest in returning, before Zack Snyder declared that this movie would have no ties to any previous cinematic incarnation of the character.
To completely distinguish this film as a new film separate from previous ones, the iconic "Superman Theme" by John Williams wasn't heard. This is the first Warner Brothers Superman film to not incorporate Williams' score.
Superman's Kryptonian family name "El" is one of the Hebrew names for God. This comes from the original comic writers Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster, who, being Jewish, would have been familiar with this trivia as part of their cultural heritage.
When Clark talks to Father Leone, there is a stained-glass window behind him, which contains a painting of Christ in the garden of Gethsemane. This was where Christ prayed for strength to undergo the ordeal he will face, and parallels Clark's own need for support before his surrender.
The visual effects team described the Kryptonian computer displays as liquid geometry: "It's a bunch of silver beads suspended through a magnetic field; the machine is able to control that magnetic field, so that the collection of beads behave like 3-D pixels, and create a surface that floats in the air and describes whatever the thing is you're supposed to be seeing."
When Superman learns to fly, he has a short flyover towards the camera. This is an homage to previous movies, in which Superman would fly over the Earth, and then smile at the camera.
This is the first live action Superman movie not to feature the character Jimmy Olsen. Not only was the Jimmy Olsen character in every live action Superman movie prior to Man of Steel (2013), but he was also in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993), Smallville (2001), and Supergirl (1984). Jimmy Olsen also appears in Supergirl (2015).
Zack Snyder originally planned for the infamous red trunks that Superman has worn throughout his 75 year existence, to be part of the suit in the movie. However, when looking over 1,500 different designs, he said that it just didn't work, so he decided to take them out.
Distributed to theaters under the title "Skyrim".
Composer Hans Zimmer and Zack Snyder used what they considered the best drummers in the world to perform on the film's musical score. Zimmer created a single drum track for all of the drummers to play at the same time, but encouraged them to maintain their own unique styles. The drummers included Danny Carey, Pharrell Williams, Josh Freese, Sheila E., Jason Bonham, Toss Panos, Satnam Ramgotra, Matt Chamberlain, John Robinson (a.k.a. John "J.R." Robinson), Jim Keltner, Bernie Dresel, Curt Bisquera, Ryeland Allison, Vinnie Colaiuta, and Trevor Lawrence, Jr.
According to the comics, General Zod's first name is Dru.
Laurence Fishburne based his performance as Perry White on CBS correspondent Ed Bradley: "Ed was a friend, a mentor, and a role model for me. Particularly because he worked in journalism, and he was the kind of guy who walked with kings, but he had the common touch." In homage to Bradley, White has an ear piercing.
The music featured in the teaser trailer is called "The Bridge of Khazad-Dûm" composed by Howard Shore from the soundtrack of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).
The majority of the action scenes use a CGI cape for Superman, and CGI armor for the other Kryptonians.
Henry Cavill is the first non-American actor to play the role of Clark Kent. The now deceased, London-born Lee Quigley played Superman as a baby, in Superman (1978). Lee Quigley died from inhaling solvents at the age of fourteen.
The Fortress of Solitude in this film is a Kryptonian spacecraft secreted in the Arctic. This combines various comic versions of the Fortress of Solitude: an Arctic location with a key (the Silver Age comics (1958)), an artifact from previous Kryptonians ("Adventures of Superman" (1989)), and an abandoned ship (the New 52 comics (2011)).
Most of the U.S. military personnel that appear in the film are actual soldiers, Coast Guardsmen, and airmen, including the Army Rangers that appear during the Smallville battle. Most of the equipment and vehicles on-screen are also the real article, including M1A1 Abrams tanks and Little Bird helicopters. The services that provided support are the Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard.
While coming up with the aesthetic of how the Superman physique should look, trainer Mark Twight said the he wanted the classic V shape - broad shoulders and narrow waist, which Henry Cavill naturally had, he just had to pack on more muscle to his frame. Additionally, he said he looked to Steve Reeves' physique in Hercules (1958) as a model for Superman, as to attain a Greek God ideal. Zack Snyder instructed Henry Cavill, that his physique should look so great that in his shirtless scenes, he had to look like a "freak", and be in "absolutely crazy shape". Zack Snyder was subsequently very impressed with the results of Henry Cavill's eleven month hard training, and called his physique "a great accomplishment". Henry Cavill said that even he was surprised by how big he looked in the film.
Clark Kent is only referred to as "Superman" once in the entire film. In the comics, government agents (known classically as "G-Men") would refer to him in code over transmissions as "the S-Man."
When Jor-El escapes the Council, there is a shattered moon can be seen in the sky. This is Wegthor, a moon of Krypton, which, according to the comics, was destroyed when a warhead was accidentally launched, leading to Kryptonian space flight and colonization being abandoned (brought up by Jor-El's hologram to his son).
The Superman costume in this film is based on the costume seen in DC's New 52 comics.
The flying animal Jor-El rides is named Haraka, which means "fast" in Swahili. And in Arabic Haraka means burning hot, or spicy.
According to Christine Schreyer, the inscriptions in Krypton's Ruling Council Chamber read: "The Light of Rao warms us / The four Moons of Yuda protect us /The Wisdom of Telle guides us / The Beauty of Lorra inspires us." It was the first four Kryptonian phrases Schreyer formulated, and are her favorite phrases.
The tornado scene stirred some controversy with the National Weather Service as overpasses are not considered to be safe shelters in the event of a tornado due to the wind funneling effect increasing the likelihood of being struck by debris. In 1991, many thought overpasses were safe, after a highly publicized video of a television film crew and some civilians survived a tornado near El Dorado, Kansas, by taking shelter under an overpass, although the overpass did not take a direct hit. However, in 1999, the deadly Moore/Bridge Creek F5 tornado killed several people who were hiding in overpasses, prompting the National Weather Service and other weather agencies to proclaim them as unsafe. Ironically, two more deadly tornadoes hit the Oklahoma City area about a month before this film's theatrical release, prompting Zach Snyder to consider removing the tornado scene from the movie, although he ultimately kept it, as Superman would have had to deal with all kinds of disasters and tragedies.
The robots in the House of El are named Kelex and Kelor. These were the names of robots that aided Superman at his Fortress of Solitude. In the 1979 mini-series "World of Krypton" Kelex and Kelor were assistants in the House of El, at the service for Seyg-El and later for his son, Jor-El.
The scene after Superman learns to fly, in which he soars over a herd of zebra, is based on an image in Mark Waid's novel "Superman: Birthright".
Many scenes were taken from the Superman graphic novel "Superman: Birthright" written by comic book writer Mark Waid.
Along with multiple images and lines alluding to the savior-like nature of Superman, he tells Dr. Hamilton that he's been on Earth for 33 years, which is generally accepted as the age of Jesus, when he was crucified.
Whereas Superman wears the S symbolizing the Kryptonian hieroglyph for "hope", Zod, as seen when removes his armor to fight towards the later part of the film, has a hieroglyph with a strong resemblance to the hammer-and-sickle of the old U.S.S.R. In the comic "Superman: Red Son," an alternate history, where Kal-El's rocket lands in the Ukraine, rather than Kansas, so that Superman is introduced as the Soviet Union's protector, with their national symbol on his chest.
Whenever Kal-El takes flight, there is a sound effect of rushing wind. According to the visual effects experts, this was an homage to Adventures of Superman (1952), which used a similar effect whenever Superman flew away, and they used it deliberately to pay homage to that show.
The World Engine ship bears tentacles, and holds three dots in a triangular pattern. This is an homage to the Kryptonian A.I. Brainiac, who carries these characteristics.
Viggo Mortensen was considered to play General Zod.
Both posters for the film are homages to images of Superman from Mark Waid's critically acclaimed 1996 comic "Kingdom Come", which examined Superman's detachment from humanity and his place in the modern world.
Russell Crowe becomes the second Oscar winner to portray Jor-El after Marlon Brando. Crowe once had a song with his band "Rus Le Roq" entitled "I want to be like Marlon Brando".
Man of Steel was the title of the cancelled sequel to Superman Returns (2006).
Michael Kelly gives the first live-action portrayal of Superman comics character Steve Lombard, a Sports journalist at the Daily Planet, who often bullies and insults Clark Kent.
Production designer Alex McDowell described the Kryptonian technology in the film as "geo-tech, scientifically advanced, but also less glossy, and more organic than the styles on Earth. There's no rock or stone or metal; Kryptonians had perfected the ability to manipulate DNA, for thousands of years, they built almost anything by biological means."
WILHELM SCREAM: When Faora throws a soldier out the back of the C-17.
Filming in Plano, Illinois and Chicago, Illinois in August and September of 2011, was done under the code name of "Autumn Frost." It was such a badly kept secret that on September 6, 2011, the Chicago Tribune published a full article about it. ("Code Name: Go Figure").
Russell Crowe admitted that he was envious of co-star Henry Cavill's hyper-shredded physique saying he was in awe of "Henry's frame and his body fat ratio". He said, "He's a bit too perfect for words" and joked, "Apart from being his dad, I hate the son of the bitch" due to how great his body looked.
David S. Goyer mentioned there were supposed to be two scenes added in the movie: One where Jonathan and Martha Kent took baby Kal-El to a pediatrician, and have a hearing test on him, where the baby screams, and it blows out all the windows. In the second, after Zod announces how powerful the Kryptonians are, Faora and Namek dropped into two foreign cities as a demonstration. The second one wasn't actually filmed.
In the comics, Lana Lang is a redhead, while Lois Lane is often depicted as a brunette. Because Amy Adams kept her trademark red hair in the role, their hair tones are switched in this film: Lois is the redheaded one, while the young Lana has dark hair.
Amy Adams (Lois Lane) and David Paetkau (Northcom Threat Analyst) appeared in one episode of Smallville (2001) each.
Ayelet Zurer is the first actress to have roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the DC Extended Universe, as she also portrays Vanessa Marianna (Vanessa Fisk) in Daredevil (2015).
Due to his success with the Batman franchise, Christopher Nolan was brought on to help develop this movie, along with Screenwriter David S. Goyer. This was merely as a Creative Consultant, it was never intended for Nolan to direct. When Zack Snyder was later brought on as director, Nolan chose to hand all creative control over to Snyder, and focus on The Dark Knight Rises (2012). According to Nolan's wife, Producer Emma Thomas, "They (Nolan and Goyer) brought it to an appropriate screenplay, and it's now Snyder's picture."
When Zod and his crew are sent to the Phantom Zone, a screaming sound can be heard as the portal opens. This sound is the same as in Superman (1978), where the Phantom Zone literally screams, since it is sentient. This time though, the sound is more mechanical, suggesting that in this film, the Phantom Zone is an artificial construction.
Costume designer Michael Wilkinson's main influences for the suit were "the Richard Donner movie (Superman (1978)), the Frank Miller graphic novels, and the beautiful illustrations of Alex Ross."
When Clark speaks to Jor-El's consciousness, Jor-El's dialogue: "You will give the people of Earth an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun." Very closely resembles dialogue of Jor-El to Kal-El in the comic All-Star Superman.
According to production designer Peter Mitchell Rubin, Krypton's look was primarily influenced by the 19-20th century Art Nouveau style ("Art Nouveau designers assumed that nothing could ever be as beautiful as what nature creates, so we tried to be as true to that ideal as we could.") and electron scope/macro/micro-photographs of biological systems (primarily bones, bark, fungi, insect shells and dried plants).
Woodburn (Chad Krowchuk), the blogger who leaks Lois Lane's story about Superman, is an oblique reference to Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the two reporters who received classified information from a government source revealing the Watergate scandal, famously dramatized in All the President's Men (1976).
The monologue spoken by Jonathan Kent in the teaser trailer is taken directly from Geoff Johns's "Superman: Secret Origin", considered the definitive origin story in comics for Superman after the Infinite Crisis reboot.
Zack Snyder is reportedly a huge fan of True Blood (2008) and eyed Joe Manganiello from that series as Superman, even before signing for the film. When Manganiello was about to make a screentest with the suit, however, HBO stepped in, because of contractual obligations.
Zack Snyder enlisted the services of Gym Jones to get Henry Cavill in shape for this role. Snyder had first worked with Gym Jones on 300 (2006), and then subsequently collaborated with them for all his live-action films, to get his cast into the right physical shape.
Henry Cavill's casting was very controversial, as many questioned the appropriateness of a British actor playing an American icon like Superman. However, defenders of the casting pointed out that Christian Bale, who was portraying Batman at the time, is Welsh.
According to Kevin Smith's account (found in An Evening with Kevin Smith (2002)), when he was attached to write a Superman movie, he met with producer Jon Peters. Peters insisted on Superman fighting a giant mechanical spider, supervillain Braniac fighting a polar bear, and so on (much to the frustration of Smith, Warner Brothers executives, and DC executives. They even asked Smith to work around it, by calling the mechanical spider something different, according to Smith). Eventually Smith left, and Peters went on to make Wild Wild West (1999), featuring a giant mechanical spider. Superman Returns (2006) was eventually made with Bryan Singer, and its sequel was abandoned. With the success of Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins (2005) franchise, he and David S. Goyer were brought in to helm Man of Steel (2013), along with Zack Snyder. Jon Peters is one of the film's producers, along with Christopher Nolan's usual team of producers. The "World Engines" that Superman has to destroy, resemble giant spiders. There is also a scene in which a polar bear is running through the Arctic as the team explores the Kryptonian vessel that had been discovered in the ice.
Eleven actors and actresses appearing in this film were featured in Smallville (2001): Amy Adams, Mackenzie Grey, Alessandro Juliani, Mike Dopud, Chad Krowchuk, Tahmoh Penikett, Ian Tracey, David Paetkau, David Lewis, and Carmen Lavigne.
Superman's conversations with General Swanwick were based on scenes from the graphic novel "Superman: Secret Identity" written by Kurt Busiek. This novel presents an alternate origin for the character, which both pays tribute to, and spoofs the traditional Superman story.
A boyhood photo of young Clark and Jonathan standing at a science fair project (a volcano) has small sign behind them that reads "Weisinger Public School" - a nod to longtime "Silver Age" Superman comics Editor Mort Weisinger, who introduced many science fiction elements to the Superman canon.
According to Zack Snyder, the Superman shield is designed after post-World War II versions, specifically the 1950-60s shields: "I feel he was born again in that era, he came to represent the American fighting machine, and the way America exported its morality to the world. I was drawn to that, and I wanted to get back to a more elegant and sophisticated shield."
Emmy Rossum, Charlotte Riley, Saoirse Ronan, Dianna Agron, Margot Robbie, Alexis Knapp, Kaya Scodelario, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kristen Bell, Lake Bell, Olivia Wilde, Mila Kunis, and Jessica Biel were considered to play Lois Lane. Robbie and Winstead both later landed roles in the DC Extended Universe, as Harley Quinn and Huntress, respectively.
(At around two hours and five minutes) When Zod is swinging Superman around by his cape, there is a momentary extreme close-up of Zod's eye, in which his "S" shield can just be made out, spanning the iris in a mirror reversal.
According to costume designer Michael Wilkinson, the Kryptonian outfits are based on the wardrobes of the Versailles aristocracy, prior to the French Revolution. The designers etched into velvets and embroidered and screen-printed on fabrics to create over-elaborate indulgent costumes.
This is the third film where Diane Lane is mother to a "special" child. The first was Jack (1996) (starring Robin Williams, the best friend of Christopher Reeve) and the second was Jumper (2008).
General Zod wears a black astronaut suit. This is based on the Modern Age comics (where he wore a special red suit that filtered sunlight) and the "Man of Steel" and "Action Comics" issues of the early 2000s (where he wore a warlord uniform in red and black).
(At around one hour and 45 minutes) The name "Superman" is spoken for the only time throughout the entire movie. It is said three times in this instance, though Lois Lane almost says it at one point, before getting interrupted.
First Kevin Costner film since The Bodyguard (1992) to gross over $100 million in the U.S.
According to visual effects supervisor John 'D.J.' Des Jardin, the visual effects are inspired by Gary Hutzel's work on Battlestar Galactica (2004): "The film had to appear very natural and documentary-like, because there's some very fantastical things in there, and we wanted people to suspend their disbelief, so we had to make it as easy as possible for them to do so."
Zod's ship is named the Black Zero, after a Kryptonian antagonist of Superman. In the comic "World of Krypton" Black Zero was a terrorist organization that destroyed Kandor, Krypton's capital, during a revolution about the rights for the clones that kryptonians used as mindless sleepers in order to repair their physical damage.
When Hardy flies in a helicopter above Smallville, he uses the call sign "Guardian". In DC Comics, Guardian was a superhero, and Head of Security of a secret organization called Project Cadmus.
Russell Crowe (Jor-El) and Kevin Costner (Jonathan Kent), who play both of Superman's fathers, have shared the role of Robin Hood: Costner in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), and Crowe in Robin Hood (2010). Both have also played legendary U.S. law officers bringing down infamous mobsters: Costner as Eliot Ness in The Untouchables (1987), and Crowe as Richie Roberts in American Gangster (2007).
When, in a flashback, school bullies are seen beating up a young Clark Kent, one of the bullies is wearing a patch on his shoulder with the number "52". This number has been appearing in all DC related projects ever since the launch of "The New 52" in DC Comics.
One of Zod's soldiers is named Nam-Ek. Nam-Ek was a minor Kryptonian who appeared in the December 1974 Superman comic "The Loneliest Man in the Universe" (Superman Vol. 1, Number 282). Nam-Ek was also one of the Kryptonians to arrive on Earth, in the season five premiere episode of Smallville (2001). Additionally, Nam-Ek is also the name of the home planet of the character Piccolo from the vast manga animé series "Dragon Ball-Z" - a story which centers around a child being sent to Earth as the last of his kind, who possesses special powers, and protecting Earth from a surviving member of his race, bent on global domination.
Has three different actors portray Clark Kent at different ages, the most of the modern era, in a single superhero film. Superman (1978) used five actors, because of child labor laws, so the normal practice is to cast two similar looking babies for one role. An animated CGI baby was used in this film.
The character of Faora-Ul previously had her name changed to Ursa for Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980), but has her original name restored here. Ironically, due to the popularity of those films, Ursa was incorporated into the comics as a separate character from Faora-Ul.
When Jonathan tries to teach Clark to keep his powers a secret, he mentions how "people will always fear what they don't understand". This exact line is also echoed in Batman Begins (directed by producer Nolan) by Falcone while intimidating Bruce Wayne in a bar.
The first film in the DC Extended Universe.
This is the third live-action theatrical Superman films to not feature Superman's archnemesis Lex Luthor. The other films were Superman III (1983) and Superman and the Mole-Men (1951). However, the name of Luthor's company "LexCorp" is seen on tanker trucks in various scenes.
Henry Cavill bought an American Akita dog in January 2014, from Big Bear Akitas breeders in Arkansas, and named him Kal.
Alessandro Juliani, (Sergeant Sedowsky) played Dr. Emil Hamilton on Smallville (2001). David Lewis (Major Laramore) portrayed Dr. Marcus and Macy in the series.
Diane Kruger, Rosamund Pike, Kate Mara, and Gal Gadot were considered for the role of Faora. Gal Gadot later played Wonder Woman in the DC Extended Universe.
Dennis Quaid, Bruce Greenwood, Michael Biehn, and Kurt Russell were considered for the role of Jonathan Kent.
Originally intended to take place in the same universe as the Dark Knight Trilogy, but instead it kickstarted a new universe of DC Comics movies, with Ben Affleck becoming the new Batman.
Julianne Moore, Lisa Rinna, Jodie Foster, Sela Ward, and Elisabeth Shue were considered for the role of Martha Kent.
Sean Penn and Clive Owen were considered for the role of Jor-El.
Christopher Meloni (Colonel Nathan Hardy) voiced Superman's colleague Hal Jordan a.k.a. Green Lantern in the animated movie Green Lantern: First Flight (2009).
John Schneider reportedly disliked Kevin Costner's portrayal of Jonathan Kent in this film.
Laurence Fishburne is the first African-American to play Perry White in a theatrical "Superman" film.
When Clark is introduced to Lois, she says "Welcome to the Planet", meaning the Daily Planet newspaper. But this also carries a second meaning, welcome to Earth, which is what Kal-El was afraid would not be the reaction, if people were to discover he is an alien.
The run time is 2 hours and 23 minutes , the same as Superman (1978)
Diane Lane previously appeared in the Superman-themed Hollywoodland (2006). In that, she played Toni Lanier-Mannix, an ex-girlfriend of George Reeves.
Darren Aronofsky, Duncan Jones, Ben Affleck, Tony Scott, Matt Reeves, and Jonathan Liebesman were considered to direct the movie before Zack Snyder was later chosen.
When Jor-El tells Clark the meaning of the "S" symbol, he does a chest reveal similar to the way Superman has done over the years when changing outfits.
When one of the airplanes goes down right after the pilot says he lost his wingman, the sound of a Transformer transforming can be heard.
Krypton (2018) is a prequel to the movie and takes place 200 years before Superman's birth and the destruction of Krypton.
Kristen Stewart was considered for the role of Lois Lane, but they dropped her..
Both this film and Superman II feature actors named Michael Shannon. There is no relation between the 2 actors.
Richard Schiff (Professor Emil Hamilton) shares a few scenes with Alessandro Juliani (an Air Force Staff Sergeant), who had previously played Emil Hamilton in Smallville (2001).
The twin-engine aircraft in the Smallville ground attack scene are Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II "Warthogs", and the single-engine aircraft in the Metropolis air battle, are Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning IIs. The A-10 was produced from 1972-1984, and the F-35 was still in development, and was not combat-ready until December 2015.
Mackenzie Gray, who portrays Jax-Ur, previously played an adult clone of Lex Luthor in Smallville (2001).
Guillermo del Toro (who previously worked with writer David S. Goyer on Blade II (2002)) was, at one point, considered to direct the film. Robert Zemeckis was also considered.
Connie Nielsen was considered for the role of Lara Lor-Van. Julia Ormond was cast, but she dropped out, so Ayelet Zurer was cast in her place. Nielsen later took the role of Hippolyta in Wonder Woman (2017).
Amanda Seyfried auditioned for a role, but was turned down.
Academy-Award winner Guillermo Del Toro lists this film as one of his favorite superhero movies.
Autumn Snyder, daughter of the film's director Zack Snyder and the film's producer Deborah Snyder, has an uncredited cameo in the film as a frightened Metropolis citizen during the terraforming incident. This was her only comic-book feature.
Jon Peters reportedly earned over $50 million due to his profit participation with Warner Brothers, on the original Batman movies, and apparently was never on the set once. By comparison, Henry Cavill earned $14 million for playing the title role.
In the soundtrack "Oil Rig", there is a sound of a child saying "uh-oh". There has been no clear reason as to why the sound was present within the soundtrack.
Rex Reed panned Man of Steel: "Here is an overproduced $225 million comic book with delusions of grandeur that was better made in 1978 and a lot more fun. Although he came from another planet, Christopher Reeve was a suave, all-American crusader for apple pie, the American Way and the good of man. In the reboot, Britain's Henry Cavill is an impossibly handsome, camera-ready hunk of beefcake milking camera angles for marketing ploys". It's no wonder Reed liked the 1978 version better. He was in it! (Reed makes a cameo at the beginning of the film, pretending to be a Daily Planet employee).
Christina Wren plays Captain Carrie Ferris, who has almost the same name as Carol Ferris, love interest of Superman's colleague Hal Jordan, a.k.a. The Green Lantern.
Dylan Sprayberry (the young Clark Kent) is a cast member on Teen Wolf (2011), starring Tyler Posey and Tyler Hoechlin. Posey appeared in one episode of Smallville (2001), while Hoechlin portrays Superman in Supergirl (2015).
According to editor David Brenner, the film's original run time was three and half hours.
Clark saving a bus full of school children after it crashes off the bridge is similar to Superman (1978) where Superman saves a bus full of school children from *almost* falling off the golden gate bridge.
The helicopters used in the battle of Smallville, that transported Colonel Hardy and the detachment of Army Rangers, were MH-6 and AH-6 "little bird" aircraft. The MH-6 is an unarmed transport aircraft, while the AH-6 is a gunship armed with Pylon-mounted General Dynamics GAU-17/A miniguns alongside 2.75 rockets.
David Giuntoli auditioned for the role of Clark Kent a.k.a. Superman.
This is the second time Amy Adams was in a Superman related project, the first was Smallville (2001) season one, episode seven "Craving".
WILHELM SCREAM: When a missile from an F-35 deflects off the Black Zero (Zod's ship) and explodes on bystanders on the street.
Henry Cavill was born the same year as the release of Superman III (1983).
One of the actors who tested for the title role was David Giuntoli, whose real-life wife Elizabeth Tulloch stars as Lois Lane in Superman and Lois (2021) and other DCTV series.
When Clark is walking down the driveway to his house, a van with the logo "LexCorp" on the side drives by. LexCorp is the company owned by Lex Luthor.
The conspiracy theorist's name, Woodburn, is a phonetic composite of the names Woodward and Bernstein.
Kevin Costner's role as Jonathan Kent was previously played by Glenn Ford. Both of them have been involved in competing projects about Wyatt Earp: Glenn was cast in Tombstone (1993), but had to drop out, while Costner played Wyatt Earp in Wyatt Earp (1994) opposite Gene Hackman (the original Lex Luthor) as his father. Ironically, Russell Crowe, who plays Jor-El, Superman's other father, has also done a Glenn Ford role. Crowe played outlaw Ben Wade in the remake of 3:10 to Yuma (2007), the same role played by Ford in the original 1957 film.
This film shares a few connections to the reimagined Battlestar Galactica (2004): Many visual effects shots were modeled after the documentary look, used in Battlestar Galactica, to give it a greater feel of realism. Additionally, two of the staff at the Arctic military base are played by Tahmoh Penikett and Alessandro Juliani, leading stars of that series.
In one scene, we see Lois Lane talking to Perry White over her phone, a Nokia Lumia. The color theme is titled "Steel".
Mark Gibbon (Roughneck) later played General Zod in Supergirl: Nevertheless, She Persisted (2017).
Henry Cavill does not appear until 20 minutes into the film. He is not heard to speak until about the 32-minute mark.
Henry Cavill has a dog named Kal in real life. (For Kal-el?)
Laurence Fishburne and Harry Lennix appeared in The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and The Matrix Revolutions (2003).
Amy Adams is nine years older then Henry Cavill, and their characters are romantically linked in the film.
a construction site sign hit by Superman drops from 106 to 0 days without accident.
At 143 minutes, this film is tied with Aquaman (2018) for the second longest film in the DCEU.
Russell Crowe previously appeared in 3:10 to Yuma (2007). His role in that film was played in the original by Glenn Ford, who played Pa Kent in Superman (1978).
At the beginning of the scene at the Desert Base, where Clark and Lois are waiting for the Kryptonians to arrive, Clark and Lois stand in the center of the screen facing each other in a wide shot. This is similar to a shot from Watchmen, both the movie and the original comic, where Dan and Laurie stand on a wasteland facing each other, about to kiss. At the end of both shots, there is a shock wave-like effect. In Man of Steel, it's the Kryptonian space shuttle flying off, kicking up sand clouds into the faces of the US Army at the base. In Watchmen, a Nuclear explosion happens in the background and it incinerates Dan and Laurie.
The wife of Kevin Costner's character is played by Diane Lane, who also appeared in Lonesome Dove. In the sequel; Streets of Laredo; her role was played by Sissy Spacek. Spacek played Costner's wife in JFK. Also appearing in those films were two other DC veterans: Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Oldman.
Aaron Smolinski: one actor playing a communications officer, previously played one of the ages of baby Clark Kent in Superman (1978).
In the final battle, when General Zod and Superman fly into outer space, they both hit a satellite with the "Wayne Enterprises" logo.
The Kryptonian ship had one pod left open before Clark entered. It was revealed, in a promotional comic book, that the ship was once occupied by Clark's cousin Kara Zor-El a.k.a. Supergirl, possibly indicating her appearance in a forthcoming installment.
Zack Snyder proposed that Superman kill General Zod, in order to set up Superman's classic "never kills" motto. He wanted it to be brutal and jarring, so that it would forever keep in Superman's mind.
Before the film's release, DC Comics published a prequel comic book about the crew of the derelict Krypton scout ship that Clark finds frozen in Canada. In the comic book, the ship was piloted by Kara Zor-El, who, in the comic books, is better known as Supergirl.
When Superman is fighting the world engine, an homage is paid to Christopher Reeve. When he is standing in the light beam, the camera zooms in on Superman, briefly transforming his face into Reeve's face.
The first "Superman" film in which Lois Lane discovers the true identity of Clark Kent before he goes to work for the Daily Planet.
During the final battle between Zod and Superman at the construction site, there is a sign saying "Accident free for 106 days". Zod throws Superman into the sign, knocking off the 1 and the 6, and making it say "0 days".
The first draft had Superman throwing Zod into the Phantom Zone, but Zack Snyder and David S. Goyer decided to have Superman killing Zod instead.
The World Engine, like many other aspects of Kryptonian tech and architecture, is modeled after a biological system, specifically a bacteriophage. Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria and hijack their internal resources so that the bacteria start producing viral proteins instead of their own. Consequently, the depiction of the World Engine as a bacteriophage is most appropriate, as the device was intended to hijack Earth resources, for the benefit of Kryptonians.
The final confrontation between Superman and General Zod was filmed in Chicago's Union Station. At the end of the fight, Lois Lane runs down the station's long staircase. This same staircase was the scene of the final gunfight in The Untouchables (1987), starring Kevin Costner, who plays Jonathan Kent.
This is the first Superman movie to not include the iconic ending when Superman flies off into space and smiles at the camera.
Jonathan Kent's birth year (according to his headstone) is 1951, the same year that George Reeves filmed Superman and the Mole-Men (1951), his first outing as Clark Kent before Adventures of Superman (1952).
Russell Crowe is stabbed by a knife to the side prior to death. Crowe had the same experience in Gladiator (2000), when Commodus stabbed him to weaken him, before the two fight to the death. And he fell to the ground the exact same way as in Gladiator: stiff like a log without any try to prevent hitting the ground or to absorb the impact.
When Zod's insurrection is put down and the Pod containing baby Kal warps out, Zod glares in controlled rage at where the pod was and the soundtrack plays a blaring noise similar to the score from Inception. In Aquaman, after Jesse Kane kills himself by detonating a high-powered grenade in order to complete their mission, David Kane has a similar look of controlled rage on his face and a similar blaring noise is heard on the soundtrack.

There are a variety of signs in the film that pay homage to Superman and DC Comics' history (in chronological order):

A school photo of Jonathan and Clark Kent shows that Clark went to Weisinger Primary School. This refers to DC Comics Writer and Editor Mort Weisinger, who created the Kryptonian solar empathy (yellow sun strength, and red sun weakness).
When Clark is being bullied, it's in the vicinity of "Sullivan Truck and Tractor Repair," which is a nod to Chloe Sullivan, who was Clark's best friend, and most trusted sidekick on Smallville (2001), and an original character created for the show. Also, in the same scene, Clark is bullied by a gang led by Whitney Fordham, a character who was inspired by Whitney Fordman, another character created for the show as Lana Lang's boyfriend in season one.
The Smallville barbershop is named "Otto's Barber Styling". Otto refers to DC Comics Writer Otto Binder, who created Supergirl, Krypto, Brainiac, the Phantom Zone, and Jimmy Olsen's signal watch.
During the Smallville fight, the residents take shelter in the post office, known as Ezra's Mail Depot. According to Smallville (2001), the hometown was founded by Ezra Small.
When Zod uses his heat vision for the first time, there is a small sign that says "Keep Calm and Call Batman" on the wall behind Superman.
When Zod hurls the tanker truck, there is a smiley face behind Superman. A smiley face was the motif for the "Watchmen" comic, which Zack Snyder had previously adapted.
When Superman and Zod charge each other at the skyscraper, a sign for "Blaze Comics" can be spotted. This was a fictional publishing company that the DC Comics hero Booster Gold hired to tell his tales.
As Superman flies after Zod, a sign for "S.T.A.R. Labs" is spotted. Scientific and Technoligical Advanced Research Laboratories is a research facility that debuted in a 1971 Superman comic.
Continuing the flight, there is a sign for "Utopia Casinos" and "WGBS News". These are properties owned by unscrupulous businessmen (Tony Gallo and Morgan Edge, respectively), against whom Superman faced off.
when Zod and Superman fly into outer space, they both hit a satellite with the "Wayne Enterprises" logo.
Earlier in the film, during one of the scenes at the Kent house, a double tanker truck passing by in the background bears the "LexCorp" brand name. Also, a building in Metropolis and a tanker truck later bear the name as well. This is the company run by Superman's archrival, Lex Luthor.

Man of Steel Movie Mistakes

When Colonel Hardy is shooting at Faora, his Beretta M9 sounds like it has a suppressor on it even though it clearly does not.
When the ships arrive and broadcast the message to the world, multiple cities across the planet are shown, but it is nighttime in all of them.
When Superman has Zod restrained and Zod is trying to kill a group of civilians with his laser eyes, Zod corners them with said lasers to which Superman ultimately decides to break Zod's neck, though he breaks it right rather than left, which means he was twisting Zod's head towards the people rather than away.
On the fishing boat, Clark leans down to pick up some rope that dropped to the deck. Before he reaches, it is a bunch of random pieces, but when he grabs it, it is a coil.
In the debris of Metropolis, one of the destroyed vehicles is a bus, numbered 6370. This same bus appears later in the film right before Superman crashes through the parking lot, completely undamaged.
General Swanwick's aide Carrie Farris is consistently addressed as "Captain" and wears accurate Captain's bars. The credits, however, list "Major Carrie Farris."
During General Zod's fight with Jor-El on Krypton, the gash on Zod's face appears, disappears and then appears again between scenes.
In the ship Jor-El switches the atmosphere to human so Clark has his super strength back. This forces Zod and his crew to don suits providing Krypton atmosphere, thus killing their super powers. But right after they return to the Clark farm in their suits (Krypton atmosphere) they have full superpowers. This goes on through the the next major fight scene.
After Zod and Superman's second power blow at each other after the former's "These were my people" speech, Superman is thrown into an abandoned building with Zod following right after. Most noticeably, they enter the building in a straight line from the most disintegrated part of Metropolis. Then Zod blasts the building to Hell with his powerful Heat Vision and jumps off in the opposite direction of the blast, directly leading back to where the fight was "supposedly" to have started. Superman then follows, flying straight through the building, trying to avoid debris. But when he jets out of the collapsing edifice, he exits into the non-damaged section of Metropolis, which should be the other way around entirely.
When Superman crash lands, the crater he makes in the ground (which appears to be rock), is covered by powdered snow.
At 1:34:21, when Faora and the Giant Kryptonian face off against Superman, they do a tag move that throws him down the road with his body dragging along the cement, leaving a trail of debris and cracks behind. However, upon the next shot to reveal a downed Superman, it can be noticed that the rubble and ruined street has clearly been reduced from a long trail to just a simple crack next to Superman's body.
When Clark pulls Pete out of the water, they are very close to each other when they surface. In the next shot, they are noticeably further apart.
The final scene right before the drone "impacts" the road, you can see where they buried the explosive charge and the buttressing in the ground, so nothing would impact the car when it went off.
At one point in the Zod Vs. Superman fight, Superman is, while floating mid-air, knocked out after being shot-put through several buildings. Zod then hits him from below and elevates him towards space at high speeds. From the looks of it, the two of them go up in a vertical line until they hit a Wayne Industries Satellite. The moment they are going back down, it is most noticeable that they are doing so at a certain angle. It's not straight down at all. Even when they enter the atmosphere and start catching fire, the audience can really perceive them approach the Earth's surface diagonally. However, when they land, they are still within Metropolis. Much more surprisingly, they're only but a couple of blocks away from where they started--an idea to be introduced by Lois Lane's rather quick appearance. Basing on the distance they traveled up into space and the angle they fell at, Zod and Superman should have impacted at a location miles away from the origin point of the battle, even more so, miles away from Metropolis itself.
When General Zod is speaking to the human race through the television they show several families watching TV at night. When China is dark, the USA, specifically the East coast and Central time zones are daytime and vice versa.
The "antipode" ( the opposite side of the world) for Metropolis (assuming it's in the same or a similar place as New York City in our world) would not be in the Indian Ocean. This means that the other "World Engine" would not have been located in that region.
A-10 Warthogs do not make strafing or bombing runs so close to the ground. A dropped bomb can explode after hitting a target and take out the craft. It also makes it easier for the ground enemy to shoot at the passing plane.
As Superman and Lois are in the desert, with the military a short distance off, waiting for Zod to arrive, a sonic boom is heard (identified as such by the subtitle), and Superman announces that Zod is arriving. A sonic boom is only created by something traveling faster than the speed of sound, so no sound from such a source would be heard before the source arrives.
In the oil platform rescue scene, the USCG helicopter refers to itself by its number "6510." However, Coast Guard helicopters are numbered by type. 65 would mean it is an MH65 Dolphin. The helicopter shown was an MH60 Jayhawk (based on the SH65 Seahawk, based on the UH60 Blackhawk). The aircraft number and callsign should start with 60 instead of 65.
Special forces operators are shown firing fully automatic weapons on board a flying aircraft. This would not occur as even though their flight system knowledge might be limited, they would have been trained to realize that a stray could damage or destroy flight control equipment and cause the plane to crash.
Anyone who lives in Kansas (or any other state in "Tornado Alley") is taught that hiding under a bridge or an overpass in the middle of a tornado is likely suicide because of the uncontrollable debris fields & random possible funneling effects, which makes the winds even stronger, sucking people out to certain death. Jonathan Kent would have known this, and it is unthinkable he would tell others to hide under the nearby overpass.
However, while this would certainly be true in modern times, the scene in question takes place in 1997, as shown on Jonathan's tombstone. As mentioned in the Trivia section, overpasses were still considered safe in the 90s because of a news crew that famously escaped harm underneath one, and it wasn't until 1999 that the National Weather Service advised strongly that people avoid overpasses during tornadoes.
When Lois Lane falls from the cargo plane, everything else in the air around her is being sucked upwards, towards the singularity that was created after the cargo plane impacted Zod's ship. She should have been drawn upwards towards the singularity with all the other debris, rather than falling in the opposite direction down towards the earth. Then after Superman flies up to catch her, he himself has to struggle to fly down away from the singularity and get back down to earth.
The Kryptonian technology at Zod's disposal in his ship is able to override and break into every TV transmission, on every channel on earth, and take over the screens on people's cell phones, as well as automatically translate his words into multiple languages and broadcast that audio clearly, but it still can't provide a clear video image. Zod is highly egotistical and takes very direct actions, so he'd want everyone on earth to be able to see him clearly as he threatens them, and he'd see no reason to hide his face behind broken up video.
Since Superman is indestructible in the presence of our yellow sun, then how can he shave? He appears with a beard in some scenes, then clean-shaven in others. No Earthly razor could remove his beard, a problem which has been used as the driving plot of some of his more humorous comic book adventures.
During the Smallville fight, Superman warns the citizens to return back to their homes to avoid getting caught in between the chaos of the super-powered beings. The people lock their doors and watch as the battle takes place. The error here is that once the military arrive and detect the presence of the Kryptonians, they immediately resorted to the use of "deadly force," without even knowing if there were still civilians present in the field of battle. Then, within a few seconds, jets go in "Weapons free" unloading missiles unto a town still filled with people.
Somehow Clark/Superman is allowed to work at the discovered Kryptonian ship when early footage demonstrates that he wandered the globe following Jonathan Kent's death. It is never explained how he could pass for what would have had to be a Top Secret background without an address, a solid work history and some references.
When using her digital camera in the Arctic, Lois Lane is able to view the liquid crystal display on her camera. LCDs don't work at freezing temperatures, so the display should have been black.
In the interior of the car scenes the car is much newer than exterior, demonstrated by e.g. the curved back window and the defogging strips.
When Clark is standing under the overpass and calls for Jonathan, we can see that he has fillings in his molars.
It is quite noticeable that several of Zod and Superman's punches at each other seem to defy the laws of physics, even simply the direction as to where they should end up after such an impact. At 02:02:34, Zod and Superman zoom at each other from a distance and strike each other directly, resulting in a destructive explosion. A few moments later, Superman flies off in the direction he was originally flying in, contrary to the direction of Zod's punch. Then at 02:04:28, Zod speed-crawls up a building, mashing the walls, while Superman charges down with his flight powers, breaking all glass in his wake. At their moment of impact, Superman who's supposedly punching downwards then sends Zod twirling upwards into a construction site.
When the Black Zero and the World Engine begin terraforming the Earth, Dr. Hamilton shows that they are on opposite sides of the Earth, pulsating "gravity waves" back and forth through the Earth's core. After Superman exhausts himself from destroying the World Engine, he reaches for the Sun to re-power himself. However, on the other side of the Earth, it's also daylight as Lois, Hamilton and Colonel Hardy attach the Black Zero. Sunlight cannot be on both sides of the Earth at the same time.

FAQ on Man of Steel Movie

What is 'Man of Steel' about?

When the planet of Krypton is faced with imminent destruction, Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and his wife Lara Lor-Van (Ayelet Zurer) rocket their newborn son Kal-El to Earth. As he grows into a young boy in Kansas, Kal-El (named "Clark" by his adopted earth parents Martha (Diane Lane) and Jonathan (Kevin Costner) Kent), discovers that he has unusual powers, which he keeps hidden well into adulthood ...until a spaceship from Krypton lands on Earth, and Krypton survivor General Zod (Michael Shannon) demands that Kal-El (Henry Cavill) show himself or all Earthlings will be annihilated.

Is 'Man of Steel' based on a book?

Man of Steel is a film reboot of Superman, a film adapted from comic book about a character created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-American comic book artist Joe Shuster in DC Comics' Action Comics #1, dated June 1938. The screenplay for Man of Steel was written by American screenwriter David S. Goyer and English-American filmmaker Christopher Nolan, who also produced. It is followed by Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017). A further sequel is in development-Justice League Part Two, with a release date set in 2019, along with various companion films (one for each member of the Justice League).

What music is used in the Man of Steel teaser trailer?

"The Bridge of Khazad-dûm" by Howard Shore from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).

What is the music from the Comic-Con teaser?

"Journey to the Line" by Hans Zimmer from The Thin Red Line (1998).

How does the movie end?

Aware that, with the death of Zod, he is the last surviving Kryptonian, Superman downs a drone that he knows the Air Force is using to search for where he 'hangs his cape'. He is confronted by General Swanwick (Harry Lennix) and assures him that he grew up in Kansas and that he can be trusted to help. Clark then returns to Smallville, and he and Martha visit Jonathan's gravesite. Martha asks him what he intends to do now, and Clark replies that he's going to find a job where he can keep his 'ear to the ground' and where people won't look twice when he goes to some dangerous place and starts asking questions. In the final scene, Clark has landed a job as a reporter at The Daily Planet and Chief Perry White (Laurence Fishburne) is introducing him to the staff. Even though he's now wearing thick, horned-rim glasses, he and Lois Lane (Amy Adams) seem to recognize each other immediately.

Is Lex Luthor in the movie?

No, the Lexcorp logo is seen more than once but Lex himself does not appear. He appears in the sequel, Batman v Superman.

Is it a sequel to "Superman Returns"?

No. Nolan, Goyer and director Zack Snyder are restarting the franchise, having no close ties with earlier depictions of the Superman character, and it will be intertwined with Justice League movie franchise.

Man of Steel Movie (2013) Interesting Facts, Mistakes

Useful External Links

Man of Steel Movie on Wikipedia

Man of Steel Movie on IMDB