Man of Steel is a 2013 epic superhero film based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is a British-American venture produced by DC Entertainment, Legendary Pictures and Syncopy, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the first installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU).[4][5] The film is directed by Zack Snyder, written by David S. Goyer, and stars Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Antje Traue, Ayelet Zurer, Christopher Meloni, and Russell Crowe. Man of Steel is a reboot of the Superman film series that portrays the character's origin story. In the film, Clark Kent learns that he is a superpowered alien from the planet Krypton. He assumes the role of mankind's protector as Superman when faced with the threat of humanity's destruction from General Zod.
Plot[]
With Krypton destabilized from mining of the planet's core, Jor-El, chief advisor to Krypton's supreme council, recommends the council give him control of the genetics codex. Before any action can be taken, soldiers led by General Zod, an old friend of Jor-El's, launch an uprising and arrest the councilors. Realising that Krypton is doomed, Jor-El steals the genetic codex sought by Zod and infuses them into the DNA of his infant son, Kal-El – the first naturally born Kryptonian child in centuries. Donning his old armor, Jor-El sacrifices his life to allow his son to escape on a preprogrammed spacecraft. Zod's rebellion is suppressed by the council and are sentenced to the Phantom Zone after being convicted of treason. Krypton explodes soon after.
Following Jor-El's coordinates, the ship crash lands on Earth in Smallville, Kansas. A childless couple, Jonathan and Martha Kent, find Kal-El and raise him as their own, naming him Clark. Clark eventually becomes an isolated young man as a result of developing superhuman powers which he tries to hide from others. He then learns his true origins from Jonathan, who urges him to keep his powers hidden. Several years later, Jonathan dies in a tornado while refusing to let Clark rescue him. Burdened with guilt and looking for a new purpose in his life, Clark leaves to travel the world for an extended period of time under several disguises.
Several months later, Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane receives an assignment to investigate the discovery of a Kryptonian scout ship in the Canadian Arctic. Disguised as a worker, Clark enters the ship and activates its central computer using a key left by Jor-El, which allows him to communicate with an artificial intelligence modeled after his father. The AI explains that Clark was sent to Earth to guide its people, and presents him with a Kryptonian uniform bearing his family's symbol. While following Clark, Lois inadvertently triggers the ship's security system. Clark uses his powers to rescue Lois before wearing the uniform and testing his flying abilities. Unable to convince supervisor Perry White to publish an article on the incident, Lois tracks down Clark and agrees to keep his secret safe.
Escaping the Phantom Zone, Zod and his crew intercept a transmission from the scout vessel and travel to Earth. Deducing that Kal-El is nearby, they broadcast a global address demanding that he surrender or risk war. Clark meets with the United States Air Force and agrees to comply, with Lois joining him as a hostage. Zod reveals that he possesses numerous terraforming devices, the largest called a World Engine, which he salvaged from Kryptonian outposts, which he intends to use to transform Earth into a new Krypton. His science officer, Jax-Ur, extracts Clark's genes to create Kryptonian colonists who will annihilate humanity and build a society based on Zod's ideals of genetic purity.
With help from Jor-El, Clark and Lois flee and warn the U.S. military after an explosive confrontation between Clark and Zod's troops in Smallville, just as Zod orders an invasion. Zod deploys the World Engine from the Kryptonian ship, which touches down in the Indian Ocean and begins firing a beam through the planet towards the ship, severely damaging Metropolis, and initiating the terraforming strategy. Given the codename "Superman", Clark destroys the terraforming platform while the military launches a suicide attack, sending Zod's troops back to the Phantom Zone. With the ship destroyed and Krypton's only hope of revival gone, Zod vows to destroy the Earth and its inhabitants just to spite Superman. The two Kryptonians engage in a lengthy battle across Metropolis, which concludes when Superman is forced to kill Zod as he attacks a family in a train station.
Superman persuades the government to let him act independently, so long as he does not turn against humanity. To allow access to dangerous situations without attracting attention, Clark takes a job as a freelance reporter for the Daily Planet.
Cast[]
- Henry Cavill as Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman
- Dylan Sprayberry as Young Clark Kent (13 years)
- Cooper Timberline as Young Clark Kent (9 years)
- Amy Adams as Lois Lane
- Michael Shannon as General Zod
- Diane Lane as Martha Kent
- Russell Crowe as Jor-El
- Antje Traue as Faora-Ul
- Harry Lennix as General Calvin Swanwick
- Richard Schiff as Dr. Emil Hamilton
- Christopher Meloni as Colonel Nathan Hardy
- Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent
- Ayelet Zurer as Lara Lor-Van
- Laurence Fishburne as Perry White
- Richard Cetrone as Tor-An
- Mackenzie Gray as Jax-Ur
- Julian Richings as Lor-Em
- Mary Black as Ro-Zar
- Samantha Jo as Car-Vex
- Michael Kelly as Steve Lombard
- Rebecca Buller as Jenny Jurwich
- Christina Wren as Major Carrie Farris
- David Lewis as Major Laramore
- Tahmoh Penikett as Jed Eubanks
- Doug Abrahams as Heraldson
- Brad Kelly as Byrne
- Alessandro Juliani as Officer Sekowsky
- Jack Foley as Teenage Pete Ross
- Jadin Gould as Lana Lang
- Robert Gerdisch as Whitney Fordham
- Coburn Goss as Father Daniel Leone
- Lesley Bevan as Ms. Rampling
- Chad Krowchuk as Glen Woodburn
- Ian Tracey as Ludlow
- Carmen Lavigne as Chrissy
- Howard Siegel as Weaver
- Heidi Kettenring as Helen Ross
- Joseph Cranford as Pete Ross
- Carla Gugino as Kelor
- Bruce Bohne as Bibbo Bibowski
- Rowen Kahn as Ken Braverman
- Revard Dufresne as Dev-Em
- Apollonia Vanova as Nadira
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- This is the first film in the DC Extended Universe.
- This is the highest grossing solo Superman movie of all time.
- It was the ninth highest grossing film of 2013.
- This is the fifth highest grossing film in the DCEU.
- Henry Cavill is the first non-American actor to portray Superman.
- The film released in June 2013, the 75th anniversary of Superman.
- This is the first Superman film to not feature Lex Luthor.
- 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.
- 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 play Diana Prince a.k.a. Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and in the subsequent Wonder Woman films, Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Justice League films.
- 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).
- Man of Steel was the title of the cancelled sequel to Superman Returns (2006).
- The run time is 2 hours and 23 minutes, the same as Superman (1978).
- Laurence Fishburne is the first African-American to play Perry White in a theatrical "Superman" film.
- This is the first Superman film to not have Superman in the title.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
- Clark Kent is only referred to as "Superman" once in the entire film.
- Viggo Mortensen was considered to play General Zod.
- 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".
- 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).
- 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.
- 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).
| Superman |
|---|
| Superman (1948), Atom Man vs. Superman (1950), Superman and the Mole Men (1951), Superman (1978), Superman II (1980), Superman III (1983), Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987), Superman Returns (2006), Man of Steel (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Justice League (2017), Shazam! (2019), Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021), Black Adam (2022), Superman: Legacy (2025) |
| DC Extended Universe |
|---|
| Man of Steel (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Suicide Squad (2016), Wonder Woman (2017), Justice League (2017), Aquaman (2018), Shazam! (2019), Birds of Prey (2020), Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021), The Suicide Squad (2021), Black Adam (2022), Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023), The Flash (2023), Blue Beetle (2023), Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023) |