New 'Man Of Steel' poster sees Superman in handcuffs
A Facebook contest earns fans a sneak peek at a striking new image
I wonder if they pinched him for speeding.
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I'll say this for the new "Man Of Steel" poster… it's a very different image than I would expect to see on a Superman poster, and that's a good thing.
Zack Snyder recently said that the trailer that is arriving in theaters in front of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" is going to be "crazy," and I believe him. More than anything, I want "Man Of Steel" to shake up the very idea of what a Superman film has been in the past.
Considering just how significant "Superman: The Movie" was to the history of superhero films, you have to acknowledge the bad influence it had as well as the good. Yes, there is a lovely lead performance by Reeve. Yes, the second one had very menacing villain characters. Yes, the John Williams score is one of the best of the genre. There are things Donner did right that are still being mimicked by directors now. But the campy tone with the villains, the nonsensical nature of the plots… those things are also still resonating through the new superhero films being made.
Last night, someone on Twitter took issue with me slagging "Superman III," calling it the best of the films. I was going to laugh at him, but his points were fair ones. He prefers Lana Lang to Lois, and he likes the works Reeves does in it. And even now, even after the run of Marvel movies and even after Nolan's Batman films and even after deconstructionist films like "Kick-Ass" and "Watchmen" and "Hancock," we're still picking and choosing favorite parts of these movies and overlooking things that don't work and accepting it as the nature of the genre.
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Man of Steel - Trailer
Get a first glimpse of the newest entree in the Superman franchise in this tr...
Evidently, this was revealed as part of a Facebook countdown viral game thing tied to the release of "The Dark Knight Rises." Cool treat for the fans.
"Man Of Steel" flies into theaters June 14, 2013.
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupKlarkKent
December 3, 2012 at 6:22PM EST Reply to CommentI love Superman. I love the concept and when a writer really knows what they're doing with him, he's a fantastic comics character. I would posit that Jeph Loeb's last really good comics run was on Supes. I love the animated series that Dini, Timm & Co did, I love the old radio show, the Fliescher shorts, the George Reeves series... God help me, I even like a lot of Lois and Clark and Smallville for what they are. But I have yet to enjoy a Superman film. Superman II is probably the best of them, but they're all highly flawed with bizarre storylines, sudden powers that appear and disappear and make no sense (Krypto-amnesia kiss? Really?) and mostly lame villains. Superman Returns seemed to take all the worst parts of the Donner movies and get rid of everything right about them. (Granted, Kevin Spacey was fantastic as Lex. Too bad they gave him the most idiotic villain plot of all time.) Perhaps a lot of it is the fact that all the other iterations I mentioned take Clark seriously as a character, making Superman an extension of who he is instead of treating him the way that the movies have done, like Tarantino's riff about him in Kill Bill that seemed like it was written by someone that hadn't read anything since well before Crisis when they were telling the same type of weird, silly tales that were in the Donner films. You know, the same era where Batman and Superman were best friends and going into space together and such. It's the same mistake the current revamp has in the comics has made from what I've seen, only this time with awful 90s sensibilities. I hope Snyder pulled off something good with this film, but I'm not holding my breath. Even though I have enjoyed most of his films, Sucker Punch was one of the worst things I've ever seen and he'll have to work pretty hard to get from under it's shadow. Man, this post probably sounds more negative than I intended, haha. I suppose if it fails, it might at least tank that ill conceived JLA movie, so there's a plus.
Mulderism Watch the Richard Donnor cut of Superman II. All your complaints (and mine) are addressed.
December 3, 2012 at 7:06PM ESTpotty break
December 3, 2012 at 6:41PM EST Reply to CommentThey probably got him for tax evasion. Like Capone!
Beef Supreme
December 3, 2012 at 6:56PM EST Reply to CommentI guess someone found kryptonite or a red sun emulator. :)
December 3, 2012 at 7:39PM ESTMulderism
December 3, 2012 at 7:07PM EST Reply to CommentNot what I expected. I like it.
Mulderism P.S. This won't help his reputation as "the world's biggest Boy Scout".
December 3, 2012 at 8:21PM ESTgoodhorse
December 3, 2012 at 7:29PM EST Reply to CommentInteresting image, just over-photoshopped to the point where it's lost all sharpness...
Just Drawn That Way
December 3, 2012 at 7:47PM EST Reply to CommentI have no real attachment to any previous film version of Superman. I’ve enjoyed the “Superman” animated series from the 90s, but as a character, he’s never really grabbed me the way other super heros have. So when I say I have my doubts about “Man of Steel,” it’s not out of some territorial love of the Donner films. The thing is I’ve yet to like anything Zach Snyder has done. His films have awesome trailers and promotional photographs. But the finished product often features photogenic actors with zero chemistry, and an over-indulgence in flashy special effects. Who knows. The new film could be a mater piece. But for now, that’s a beautiful image of Henry Cavill. A still frame as pretty as the “Watchman” stills that came before it. And because of that I'm no where near sold on the movie.
BigAl6ft6
December 3, 2012 at 8:05PM EST Reply to CommentAnyone wanna bet this is a slow-motion shot in the movie? I think that's a given but what's the line at? I'm saying the over/under is at 5 seconds!
nick_r
December 3, 2012 at 8:10PM EST Reply to CommentGood points, Drew. SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE definitely has its moments, and many of those moments are iconic. But the idea of filmmakers being afraid to deviate too far from that movie... it's like if the Bond film producers were still afraid to make anything that was too different from THE SPY WHO LOVED ME.
Mojo CoCo
December 4, 2012 at 12:52AM EST Reply to Commentthis poster is so much freakin better than the star trek one. glad to see originality (from zach snyder even!) is still somewhat alive
dyikini
December 4, 2012 at 1:22AM EST Reply to CommentI always put the 'silliness' of those movies down to an Eighties type sensibility.
A good movie was a good movie no matter the time it was released but those films contained things we accepted back then (granted, I was a kid at the time, but older folk still flocked to them right? Being a child is my excuse for letting it pass! haha).
Anyway, I'm one of those rare people who liked Superman Returns. Sure I swept up in the nostalgia etc but I just liked it and actually thought they removed all the wrong stuff from the Donner films but kept all the good (total, respectful disagreeance with the poster above).
Maybe it's how devoted to the character I can be or maybe I was just that damn excited to see him up there on the screen in a film from 'our times'.
Either way though, nobody can disagree that a this new film needs to knock it out of the park.
I was SO skeptical about Snyder - every single one of his films lacks something, something big. I feel emotionally disconnected from most of what he puts to screen and while I can enjoy them, I can't consider anything he's done to be THAT good. It's like he's copied and pasted a bunch of stuff into a reaaaally pretty picture, but something was lost in each transfer from idea into film.
But what we've seen and heard so far is promising on Superman. A solid script will go a LONG way, as, coupled with Snyders eye and technical magic is has a tonne of potential.
I want to cheer at at least once at something Superman does - I'm not even going to wonder what content will actually make the film up. Happy to be led by the trailers and the film itself.
Just want it to be good!!!
Oh, and yeah, the poster is cool. It's a little bland though. Interesting concept, done a little dull maybe?
N
December 4, 2012 at 3:56AM EST Reply to CommentReally. Not using the walliams score. The worlds greatest composer. Why?
Paul Barrett Nobody complained about Elfman's Batman theme not popping up in Nolan's films.
December 4, 2012 at 1:03PM ESTFistOSalmon No one complained about Elfman's score not popping up in Nolan's film because it's not part of the actual film's DNA like William's score is. The thing that put's Williams scores above literally every other composer's work in film is that each piece he writes for a film is telling the same story emotionally that the scene is telling visually.
December 4, 2012 at 9:22PM ESTI saw an interview with Lucas where he talked about how Star Wars were meant to function as silent movies which was why he needed a composer like Williams to score it. At the time it sounded like an excuse for the horrible dialogue in the prequels but after thinking of it I realized he meant that Williams composed the score not only scene specific but also character and dialogue specific while still pushing the entire story's overarching themes through each scene. It's hard to even get into words right but the best I can do is say that Williams is able to put the emotional life of a character between what's written arch-typically on the page and the performance an actor gives on set to create a fully realized person.
Elfman's Batman theme is catchy and evocative but it doesn't find the space between Keaton and Batman and fuse them into one the way the way Superman's, Luke's and Indiana Jones does. Picture Jaws without the music, Williams score is the only thing there most of the movie and once you've seen it and watch it again you don't feel tension when the shark is jumping on the boat eating Quint, you only feel it when you don't see it but hear the music.
That's sort of the problem with not using Williams theme for this movie. If you see Donner's Superman even once your image of Superman is pretty locked in even beyond Reeve's portrayal because that music is how you connect to the character emotionally. I thought Singer was actually pretty smart to appropriate Williams theme and have his composer basically ape William's style. Frankly if you want to do a true reboot and shake up the character you need to lose it or the audience will feel a disconnect whenever they hear that music but see Superman doing something outside the bounds of Donner's Superman behavior. I'm afraid if they try to come up with another iconic theme for the character it's not going to work. Probably the best thing will be to do what Nolan did with Batman and find someone that can write a score that drives the film through the action beats and has just one or two short cues for the characters and try to make up the difference with visuals.
Although they should really just tag the end with the Superman theme for fun, even if it's just over the credits and doesn't break the fourth wall with the grin as Superman flys off over the horizon.
Anarch3type
December 8, 2012 at 2:06AM EST Reply to CommentSuperman II the Richard Donner cut was The Dark Knight of its time. If that cut had been released originally, I believe it would have changed the way superhero movies were made from there on out. The storyline was far superior to what was released.