◄ Man of Steel (2013)
Trivia
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Spoilers (8)
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.
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Natalie Portman, Charlotte Riley, Anne Hathaway, Dianna Agron, Kristen Stewart, Malin Akerman, Rachel McAdams, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kristen Bell, Lake Bell, Olivia Wilde, Mila Kunis and Jessica Biel were considered to play Lois Lane.
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Ben Affleck turned down directing the film because he wasn't experienced in VFX 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."
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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 the movie failed to be greenlit and Brandon Routh was cast in Superman Returns instead. Cavill was also runner-up to Daniel Craig for the James Bond role in Casino Royale, Christian Bale for Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman Begins, and Robert Pattinson for Edawrd Cullen in Twilight.
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Due to his success with the Batman franchise Christopher Nolan was brought on to help develop the reboot of Superman 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. 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."
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Julianne Moore, Lisa Rinna, Jodie Foster, Sela Ward and Elisabeth Shue were considered for the role of Martha Kent.
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Dennis Quaid, Bruce Greenwood, Michael Biehn and Kurt Russell were considered for the role of Jonathan Kent.
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Both director Bryan Singer and actor Brandon Routh expressed interest in reprising their positions from Superman Returns on this film; Singer had originally outlined several sequels to follow his story, and Routh was contracted as well. When Warner Bros. 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.
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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 but had to drop out, while Costner played the title role in Wyatt Earp opposite Gene Hackman (the original Lex Luthor) as his father.
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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.
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Filming in Plano, IL and Chicago, IL 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").
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Alessandro Juliani, who plays Sergeant Sedowsky, is no stranger to the world of Superman. Juliani also played Dr. Emil Hamilton on the Superman TV series Smallville.
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The character of Whitney Fordman was not in the original DC comics. He was created for Smallville, a TV series based on Clark Kent's time at high school.
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British actor 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, (Baby Kal-El) in the 1978 feature film Superman.
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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".
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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 and Crowe in Robin Hood. Both have also played law officers bringing down mobsters: Costner as Elliot Ness in The Untouchables and Crowe as Richie Roberts in American Gangster.
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The film is set to release in June of 2013, the 75th anniversary of Superman. The first appearance of the character was in "Action Comics #1" in 1938.
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The monologue used by Jor-El (Russell Crowe) in the teaser trailer is taken directly from Grant Morrison's "All-Star Superman", widely considered one of the best Superman stories ever written.
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This is the third live-action theatrical Superman films to not feature Superman's archnemesis Lex Luthor. The other films were Superman III and Superman and the Mole-Men.
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This is the first Superman feature film that doesn't incorporate the word "Superman" in its title. Interestingly enough, the first Batman film to not incorporate the word "Batman" was Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight which like, Man of Steel, is the main character's nickname.
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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 but he was also in Supergirl.
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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 growing detachment from humanity and his place in the modern world.
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Director Zack Snyder enlisted the services of Gym Jones to get lead star Henry Cavill in shape for this role. Snyder had first worked with Gym Jones on 300 and then subsequently collaborated with them for all his live action films, to get his cast into the right physical shape.
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Director Zack Snyder wanted Superman to have a big, muscular stature (as drawn by comic artist Jim Lee). Star Henry Cavill had to work very hard to build a big, muscular physique to get the look envisioned by Snyder.
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Amy Adams, who plays Lois Lane, had previously appeared in an episode of Smallville, another retelling of the Superman story.
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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."
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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 created the concept of the Shield being a Kryptonian herald for the house of El.
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Diane Lane previously appeared in Hollywoodland, whose subject was previous Superman actor George Reeves.
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Henry Cavill and Russell Crowe had met years prior to playing father and son when Henry was an extra in Proof of Life and received words of encouragement to pursue acting and an autographed picture from Crowe, who was his favorite actor.
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This is Amy Adams's third time auditioning for Lois Lane. She first read for Lois Lane in Brett Ratner's abandoned film, then for Superman Returns. Adams has stated that it became ridiculous and this time she had to play Lois and put her stamp on it.
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The monologue used by Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner) in the teaser trailer is taken directly from Geoff Johns's "Superman: Secret Origin", considered a definite creation comic story for Superman after the Infinite Crisis Events.
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According to Zack Snyder, the filmmakers outfitted Henry Cavill in the Superman 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.
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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."
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This is the third film where Diane Lane is mother to a "special" child. The first was Jack (starring Robin Williams, the best friend of Superman actor Christopher Reeve) and the second was Jumper.
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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 arch rival, Lex Luthor, and hints at his appearance in a sequel.
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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).
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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. Throughout the "Man of Steel"/"Action Comics" issues of the early 2000s, Earth had a dictator of the fictional city-state Pokolistan, named General Zod. His warlord uniform had a similar red-and-black color scheme.
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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."
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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)).
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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.
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To completely distinguish this film as a new film separate from previous ones, the iconic "Superman" by John Williams won't be heard. This will be the first Warner Bros. Superman film to not incorporate Williams' score from Superman.
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Mackenzie Gray, who portrays Jax-Ur, previously played an adult clone of Lex Luthor in the TV show Smallville.
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Richard Schiff (Professor Emil Hamilton) shares a few scenes with Alessandro Juliani (an army officer), who had previously played Emil Hamilton in Smallville.
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Director Zack Snyder said that he really wanted to include a shirtless scene of star 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 Henry Cavill's body in that suit and that it was all real.
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Along with multiple images indicating the savior-like nature of Superman, he tells Dr. Hamilton that he's been on Earth for 33 years - the widely regarded age of Jesus Christ when he died.
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Many scenes were taken from the Superman graphic novel "Superman: Birthright" written by comic book writer Mark Waid.
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This is the first live-action Superman film or show to feature the character of Steve Lombard, a Sports journalist at the Daily Planet who often bullies and insults Clark Kent.
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Superman's flight montage includes a flyby over the White Cliffs of Dover and the English Channel. Henry Cavill is from the Channel island of Jersey.
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Henry Cavill embarked on a special four-month training regime by his trainer Mark Twight to get the appropriate physique for his roles as Kal-El. He gained weight by drinking 5 1000-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..."
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When Superman and General Zod are fighting in the construction area you can see the sign that says "Days since last accident" go from 143 days to 0 when Superman is hit up against it.
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After Clark rips the door open on the oil rig, the oil/soot forms a distinct "S" symbol above his abdomen.
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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.
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The filmmakers hired Professor Christine Schreyer, an expert in anthropology and linguistics at British Columbia, to create the Kryptonian language. She developed an object-subject-verb sentence structure, contrasting the subject-verb-object structure of English (e.g. "I see him" in English would be "Him I see" in Kryptonian), to reflect that people on Krypton had become selfish and materialistic.
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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.
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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.
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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 began but for his shirtless scenes, he specially went on extremely difficult calorie restriction diet and training regime that cut his calorie intake from 5000 to near 1500 for 6 weeks. After 6 weeks he reached a body fat level of just 3% which is the level achieved by professional body-builders during competitions. Henry said this was done 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.
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When Hardy flies in helicopter above Smallville, he uses the nickname "Guardian". In DC Comics, Guardian was a superhero and Head of Security of a secret organization called Project Cadmus.
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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.
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In Perry White's office at the Daily Planet there is a bugle trophy on top of the shelf. This is a reference to the Marvel Comics newspaper office the Daily Bugle (most famously seen in the "Spider-Man" comics).
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Christopher Meloni (Colonel Nathan Hardy) gave his voice to incarnate Hal Jordan / Green Lantern in the animated movie Green Lantern: First Flight; another character from DC Comics and fellow member of Superman in The Justice League of America.
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Henry Cavill naturally has a hairy chest and left it untouched for the shoot of this movie. He insisted that Superman have 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.
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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's physique in the film Le fatiche di Ercole 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 11 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.
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Spoilers
In the final battle when General Zod and Superman fly into outer-space they both hit a satellite with the "Wayne Enterprise" logo. Wayne Enterprises is the company run by Bruce Wayne, aka Batman.
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When Clark is first learning to fly, he is only able to make a few gigantic bounds. This is a reference to the 1930's Superman, who was not able to fly, but could only leap one eighth of a mile.
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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.
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This item also spoils the ending of Battlestar Galactica). Tahmoh Penikett and Alessandro Juliani appear as part of a team exploring a spaceship that landed on Earth several thousand years in the past. Both actors previously starred in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series, which ended with the titular ship arriving on Earth several thousand years in the past.
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Clark 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."
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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 is still in development and will not be combat-ready until December 2015.
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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.
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During the last battle between Superman and Zod, Zod removes his armor to fight, leaving his crest visible. His family logo is a figure with a strong resemblance to a sickle. In the comic "Superman: Red Son" Superman is introduced as USSR's protector, and in his chest appear the hammer and the sickle, USSR's symbol.
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