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2013 Movie News Archives

April 18, 2013: "Man of Steel" Trailer #3 Review/Thoughts

This week has been a very exciting week for me, and I'm sure it has for all of you as well. If you don't know already (you must be living in a cave) the 3rd Man of Steel theatrical trailer came out, and boy was it spectacular! Not a day later, I received an email from Steve Younis (or as I like to call him, my "boss"), as did many of the staff and freelance members of the Homepage, about writing a review for this trailer. Right then I realized how big a deal this trailer really is to everybody. So (please read the following in Benedict Cumberbatch's voice), shall we begin?

The first trailer for this film that was released was released to be a teaser, as we honestly did not know much about the film at this time. The second trailer was meant to get us interested in the film as well as excited about the story. This trailer was not only meant to accomplish the same goals of the first two, but to me it was also meant to reassure people (especially those who were disappointed by Bryan Singer's Superman Returns) that this film will have a lot of action. And so it should, as Superman first appeared in Action Comics #1! Right off the bat, that's a great start. But let me talk a little bit about what we actually did see in this trailer...

First off, we see the destruction of Krypton, or some sort of destruction most likely caused by the main villain of this film, General Zod. Just based off of this trailer, it looks like Krypton is a combination of the John Byrne version of Krypton, the New 52 version of Krypton, and the Superman: The Animated Series version of Krypton. All of which are great choices to have inspired the look of the alien world for today's audience. General Zod, in this film, also seems like an amalgam of a few different versions of Zod. He reminds me of the pocket universe version of Zod seen in the Superman: For Tomorrow story arc. He also reminds me of the pre-New 52 General Zod who was brought about by Geoff Johns and Richard Donner in the Superman: Last Son arc. It also seems that, from this trailer, Zod and Jor-El are already bitter enemies as Zod declares to Jor-El that he will "find your son!" One thing I really liked that was explored in Season 9 of Smallville was the relationship between both Zod and Jor-El, something I'm hoping they explore in this film as well. Michael Shannon is going to be a fantastic General Zod, on the level of Mark Strong's Sinestro and Heath Ledger's Joker. At least, I'm hoping.

I also really like both Kevin Costner and Russell Crowe as Jonathan Kent and Jor-El respectively. Seeing them both in this trailer and hearing their lines was incredible. What killed me was Costner's response to Clark when Clark just wants to be his son. It's very, very heart-wrenching. Another thing I liked that we got in this trailer was Lois Lane. Finally we get to see Amy Adams as Lois. First we hear her monologue when we see Clark being a hero without the Superman suit. Again, another similar theme to Smallville and John Byrne's Superman: The Man of Steel, it's very nice to see Lois searching for who this super-man is and trying to learn what he can do.

We also get a glimpse (and, we've sort of seen it before) of Clark's Fortress of Solitude in this trailer, which I am only assuming is a Kryptonian "safe-house" or something to that nature. Another thing I noticed was a giant octopus/robot thing that Superman is facing and gets hit by. My initial thought was Zod's "Black Zero" weapon that we've only briefly heard about before, but I realized that it actually looks like something straight out of Superman mythology. In my opinion, it looks a lot like Brainiac's skull ship from the Superman comics, something we got to see in animation in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Divided We Fall". I'm wondering if the Brain Inter-Active Construct (what Brainiac is short for, at least according to the Smallville mythos) has anything to do with Krypton's destruction. I surely hope so...

I have to just put some references out there for those comic geeks (like myself) that also saw these hints to other Superman stories. Krypton (like I said above) is inspired by John Byrne's Superman and the New 52 version of Krypton. We had that great Jor-El line that is right out of All-Star Superman. Superman not being on good terms with the soldiers and getting to be interviewed by Lois Lane is right out of Geoff Johns' Superman: Secret Origin and the energy beam that is on top of Superman that he flies at looks like the one that Superman faces in Superman: Earth One. It also looks like elements from Superman: Birthright and Superman: Red Son will be shown in the film as well. I cannot wait to see all of these elements put together on June 14th.

I have been an avid Smallville fan since Season 6 of the series and have watched all 218 episodes three times through (some I've watched countless times), so in a sense I'm a 10 year fan. I've been waiting since the "Pilot" episode of Smallville to see Clark Kent don the cape and boots and take off in flight to save the day. Smallville's "Finale" did that, but only to an extent. Here, us Superman, Smallville, and DC Comics fans are going to get what we have been waiting for, for 10+ years. Yes, we had Superman Returns (I actually enjoy most of the film, believe it or not), but that was a re-hash of what had been done before. This is fresh, this is new, this is Superman.

I have always seen either Christopher Reeve or Tom Welling as my definitive Supermen (sorry Dean Cain and Brandon Routh, who were also good by the way). However, I found out that I saw Welling more as Clark Kent, and that Reeve, although one of the best, would not fit as Superman in today's world. For the first time, I can fully see Henry Cavill as Superman. He is Superman, there's not a doubt in my mind, and that's just because of this trailer and a few teaser images.

I cannot wait for Man of Steel, and I'm sure none of you can either. This trailer is everything we have wanted since that first promotional shot of Superman in the bank vault came out in 2011. Since then, Superman has been back in the front of all of our minds. This trailer has completed its mission, as I'm sure we will all be seeing this film opening night. Marvel's films, although great, have over-shadowed DC for way too long.

This looks like a job for Superman!

2013 Movie News

Listed below are all the Movie News items archived for 2013 organized into various categories:

“Man of Steel” Movie News:

“Superman/Batman” Movie News:

“Justice League” Movie News:

“Superman: Unbound” Animated Movie News:

“Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox” Animated Movie News:

“Justice League: War” Animated Movie News:

Christopher Reeve Movie News:

Other Movie News:

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2013 Movie News Archives

April 18, 2013: "Man of Steel" Trailer #3 Review/Thoughts

2013 Movie News

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