Man of Steel



"You will give the people 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, Kal. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders."

- Jor-El's posthumous message to his son Kal, Superman

Man of Steel is a 2013 reboot of the Superman movie franchise. The film is directed by Zack Snyder, produced by Christopher Nolan, and written by the team of Nolan and David S. Goyer.

The cast includes Henry Cavill (Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman), Amy Adams (Lois Lane), Kevin Costner (Jonathan Kent), Diane Lane (Martha Kent), Michael Shannon (General Zod), Antje Traue (Zod's accomplice Faora), Russell Crowe (Jor-El), and Ayelet Zorer (Lara Lor-Van).

Baby Ka-El is sent away by his parents from Krypton, their native planet, as it explodes. His space ships lands on Earth, where he is found and adopted by the humans Jonathan and Martha Kent. As Clark grows, he discovers his super-powers, but his father, afraid he will be persecuted or experimented, insists for him to hide his gifts from the world.

Jonathan eventually dies while refusing help from Clark during an hurricane. In angst, Clark leaves Smallville, the town where he grew up, looking for a purpose in life.

Clark eventually learns from a kryptonian spaceship stranded on Arctic his origins and his biological father's desire for him to help the people on Earth. And just in time, kryptonian criminals from the Phantom Zone escape containment, seeking Clark to obtain genetic information stored on his body and hoping to make Earth their new home. But there will be no place for humans on the future they plan, forcing Clark to fight for his foster home against his biological race.


 * Anachronic Order: The movie goes back and forth over Clark's present and past, giving a reason of why he never became a super-hero in the present of the movie's universe before Jor-El's virtual recreation gives him motivation to do so.
 * Anti-Villain: Zod might not care much for humans but he is not acting out of pure malice. As he himself says: "every action I take no matter how violent or how cruel is for the greater good of my people."
 * Apocalypse Wow: The destruction of Krypton is nothing if not visually stunning.
 * Arc Symbol: The symbol of the House of El. On Krypton it represents Hope. On Earth, it looks very much like an S and eventually comes to mean Superman.
 * Awesomeness By Analysis: Jor-El. Despite being a member of the Thinker Guild, he is more than just a scientist and proves to be a skilled warrior as well, defeating several of Zod's followers and even Zod himself in hand-to-hand combat.
 * Zod himself proves to be this. As a member of the Warrior's Guild, he is expected to be a great fighter, but he takes this up a notch when he gains superpowers, learning to fly in less than a day while it took Superman 33 years.
 * Badass Normal: Anyone who faces off against a Kryptonian deserves this. Special mention goes to Colonel Nathan Hardy who even prepares to duel Faora with a knife.
 * Big Bad: Surprisingly not Lex Luthor, who appears in the next film Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. General Zod fills this role instead.
 * Bittersweet Ending:.
 * Brought Down to Normal: This happens to Kal-El briefly, when he is brought on board the Kryptonian ship. His body struggles to adjust to its surroundings and he almost passes out.
 * Continuity Reboot: This movie has nothing to do with previous theatrical movies.
 * Crystal Spires and Togas: Averted for Krypton, unlike Richard Donner's adaptation of Superman. Instead, Krypton looks more like the technological city as seen in 2010-era Superman comics (and the animated series).
 * Curb Stomp Battle: Any struggle between human military and the kryptonians ends up with kryptonian victory. Without Clark, Earth is doomed.
 * Dark Action Girl: Faora is no less deadly than any other kryptonians.
 * Demoted to Extra: Lana Lang makes an appearance in the bus crash scene.
 * Doomed Hometown: Krypton. No surprise there.
 * Earn Your Happy Ending: When Kal first arrives, he doesn't fit in with the rest. He doesn't know whether to use his powers or not and his father dies when he doesn't. Then the only survivors of his home planet arrive, but when he learns of their intent to eradicate humanity, he stands against them. After a great battle, he finds love with a human, Lois Lane, and embraces his role as a hero while reclaiming his original identity as Clark Kent.
 * Fake American-raised Alien: Henry Cavill is the first British actor to play Superman.
 * How Do I Shot Web?:
 * Clark slowly gains all of his powers, and is not a master of them by the time Zod and his minions appear, making things difficult for him.
 * Zod and his comrades are a justified aversion. They were bred to be warriors in Krypton's genetic caste system, so dominion over their offensive powers is natural for them as breathing.
 * Hybrid Monster: Nam-Ek serves as this, his DNA being part Rondor. As such he's nearly ten feet tall and much stronger than the other Kryptonian invaders.
 * No Endor Holocaust: Averted. Thousands of people are crushed to death during the terraforming process and several more die during the climactic battle.
 * Immune to Bullets: Par of course for the kryptonians. Gunfire for them is more than a little annoyance.
 * Race Lift: Laurence Fishburne as the first non-white Perry White in any version of Superman. Most likely Ability Over Appearance, given the gravitas with which Fishburne has played many of his roles.
 * Social Darwinism: Faora takes time to mock Kal-El's morality as weakness, and that Zod's troops' lack of it makes them more "evolved".