Superman's Super Cast: The Supporting Players of MAN OF STEEL

To make a film on a grand, epic scale, it often helps to have a cast worthy of the high expectations that come along with it.  1978's Superman: The Movie is regarded as having achieved this feat, compiling a strong team of actors to showcase their talents in a film whose genre had not yet been displayed on the big screen.  This included Gene Hackman (then coming off an Oscar win for The French Connection) as well as Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper and Glenn Ford, all of whom also earned Academy Award Nominations throughout their careers.  This is, of course, in addition to screen legend Marlon Brando's portrayal of Jor-El and a star-making turn for young Christopher Reeve as the title character.  Man of Steel producer Christopher Nolan has said that he was inspired to emulate this type of high-profile casting for his three critically-acclaimed Batman films, which helped lead to prestigious names such as Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman and Liam Neeson filling the films' supporting rosters.

The influence can also be seen in virtually every superhero project since, and next month's Man of Steel is certainly no exception.  The following is a quick rundown of the esteemed supporting cast of the film:

Russell Crowe (Jor-El)
Taking on a role previously played by the legendary Marlon Brando is Oscar-winner Russell Crowe.  The Australian actor, who garnered American attention in 1997's L.A. Confidential, earned three consecutive Best Actor Oscar nominations in the ceremonies held between 2000-2002 (for The Insider, Gladiator, and A Beautiful Mind, respectively), winning the award for Gladiator.  Crowe has since remained one of film's most sought-after actors.

 Ayelet Zurer (Lara Lor-Van)
Playing our hero's birth mother is Israeli-born actress Ayelet Zurer.  While certainly not a household name like the majority of the cast, Zurer featured prominently in 2005's Best Picture nominee, Munich, as well as in Angels & Demons (2009), co-starring opposite Tom Hanks. 

Kevin Costner (Jonathan Kent)
Playing the superhero's adoptive Earth father is Kevin Costner, a mainstay of popular American cinema since 1987's The Untouchables.  A winner of two Oscars for his work in Dances with Wolves (directing and producing), Costner more recently won an Emmy and Golden Globe for his portrayal of William Hatfield in the three-part TV miniseries, Hatfields & McCoys.

Diane Lane (Martha Kent)
With a long film career that began at the age of 13 in the Laurence Olivier-starring A Little Romance (1979), Diane Lane has starred in a variety of film and television projects throughout her career.  Referred years ago by Olivier as the "next Grace Kelly," Lane more recently earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination for 2002's Unfaithful.

Laurence Fishburne (Perry White)
The first African-American to portray the Daily Planet's Editor-in-Chief, Fishburne will likely return to blockbuster territory with Man of Steel, after co-starring in all three of the high-grossing Matrix films between 1999-2003.  Like Lane, he has starred in a plethora of diverse films and television throughout his career, which includes everything from children's television ("Pee-Wee's Playhouse") Shakespeare (starred as Othello in the 1995 film opposite Kenneth Branagh), and popular network crime dramas (a recent stint on CSI and currently on NBC's Hannibal).  He is yet another Oscar nominee in the cast, having earned a Best Actor nod for his portrayal of Ike Turner in 1993's What's Love Got to Do With It."