Salute Your General: Michael Shannon as Zod

The upcoming Man of Steel requires star Henry Cavill to perform against thirty years of reverence for Christopher Reeve's portrayal of Superman, as it hopes to give audiences a fresh, modern take on the character.  It also creates a similar responsibility for the on-screen return of the villainous General Zod, played memorably by Terrance Stamp in the first two films of the original franchise.  With Stamp's commanding poise as the vengeful Kryptonian solider and memorable catchphrases ("Kneel before Zod!"), the actor, like Reeve, gave a performance hard to follow, even after three decades.  The Man of Steel crew, however, have perhaps found just the man for the job in Academy Award-nominee Michael Shannon.

Born on August 7th, 1974 in Lexington, Kentucky, Michael Corbett Shannon began his acting career on the Chicago stage, debuting in a production of Winterset at the Illinois Theater Center while also being involved with The Steppenwolf Theater Company, among other acting groups.  1993 proved to be a pivotal year for Shannon, during which he co-founded the city's Red Orchid Theater and made his big screen debut in a very minor role in the Bill-Murray starring Groundhog Day.  Throughout the rest of the decade and into the early 2000's, Shannon appeared in a variety of productions on both stage and screen and gained more mainstream exposure by way of the 2001 films Pearl Harbor and Vanilla Sky, followed by 8 Mile (2002) and Bad Boys II (2003).  Additional appearances with more of Hollywood's best followed, but it was his performance in the Sam Mendes-directed Revolutionary Road in 2008 that emerged as his breakout role, earning him an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor.

In the film, which marked the on-screen reunion of Titanic stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, Shannon portrayed John Givings, a man who, despite his well-disclosed mental instability, is able to predict the demise of the couple's troubled marriage well before anyone else.  As so often happens following award-worthy performances, the demand for Shannon has become widespread in recent years.  In addition to roles in films like 2010's Runaways and last year's Premium Rush, Shannon earned high praise from his role in Take Shelter (2011), for which it is believed he narrowly missed a second Academy Award nomination.  He has also starred in HBO's critically-acclaimed series Boardwalk Empire, which itself has become a recent mainstay of the television awards circuit.  His established reputation for playing intense, menacing characters, coupled with his imposing 6'4'' frame, makes it all the more understandable why director Zack Snyder and company sought him for the role of the dangerous and powerful General Zod, and given the images and footage we've seen of him so far (see above for upcoming magazine cover and promotional video for examples), come this June we may all have no choice but to kneel before Michael Shannon.        

Amy Adams, Daily Planet

Dating back to the first half of the 1900s, there have been few female characters as universally recognizable as Lois Lane.  The famously ambitious reporter for the daily planet debuted alongside Superman in the first issue of Action Comics in June of 1938 and has since remained both an essential piece of the hero's lore and a fixture of pop culture itself.  Her seventy-five year history has shown her in an endless variety of media that includes radio serials, a Broadway play, television, five live-action films, video games and a multitude of animated series and movies.  In developing Man of Steel, therefore, the Daily Planet's best journalist was arguably the second most important role for the filmmakers to cast.  A-list Hollywood actresses such as Natalie Portman, Anne Hathaway and Rachel McAdams were said to have been considered, but the job ultimately went to four-time Academy Award-nominated Amy Adams.          

Born to parents Kathryn and Richard on August 20th, 1974, Amy Lou Adams grew up in Castle Rock, Colorado very involved in the performing arts.  Throughout her childhood and adolescence she sang in school choirs, served as a dance company apprentice, and performed in dinner theater productions of musicals such as "A Chorus Line" and "Brigadoon."  She earned her first major film role in 2002's Catch Me if You Can, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, and three years later earned her first Oscar nomination with her role in 2005's Junebug.  Despite the rave reviews of her performance, it was her starring turn in the 2007 Disney film Enchanted that became her breakout role, with her character's depiction of a fairytale princess in real-world New York City giving her an outlet to showcase the singing and dancing skills she developed while growing up.

The large mainstream exposure that comes from any well-received Disney film quickly made Adams a household name, and she has since remained a consistent force on the awards circuit, earning three additional Oscar nominations in the last five years, for 2008's Doubt, 2010's The Fighter, and 2012's The Master.  In these and other films during that span she has more than held her own among such Hollywood legends and powerhouse performers as Clint Eastwood, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and others.  With Man of Steel, Adams will become just the third Lois Lane to ever grace the big screen, following Margot Kidder's memorable portrayal in the Christopher Reeve-starring films and Kate Bosworth's rather forgettable turn in 2006's Superman Returns.  While there remains a strong reverence for Kidder's performance of the character in the previous franchise, she was known to clash with the films' producers, and her own personal struggle with her bipolar mental condition failed to provide her with much of a career following her tenure in the role.  Bosworth's performance, like the film itself, failed to resonate with audiences and made her seem miscast in such a vital role.  Adams, on the other hand, with a steadily rising career and consistently award-worthy performances, already becomes the most accomplished actress to ever portray the character well before the film is even released this June, as her turn in Man of Steel will likely serve as among the pinnacles of Lois Lane's rich history in popular culture.

     

It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's Henry Cavill!

"As soon as Cavill took on his second audition -- one scene as Clark, one as Superman -- the decision just made itself, and it wasn't just the jet-black locks and a chin borrowed from a comic-book cover." -- Ian Nathan, Empire Magazine, March 2013

Even with Warner Brothers' decades-long struggle to bring Superman back to cinematic relevance, it remains a great honor to anyone who gets to put on the blue suit and red cape, and brings with it a certain set of expectations.  Such a responsibility is now bestowed upon British actor Henry Cavill, who will turn 30 in early May, a month before Man of Steel's theatrical release.  As with any high-profile film project, many actors were tested, but the film's producers saw something in Cavill that told them he was the one to portray both the regal superhero and their interpretation of mild-mannered journalist, Clark Kent.  "There is an innate sort of kindness about him," director Zack Snyder told Empire Magazine's Ian Nathan. "Without him seeming holy, he is able to be kind in a way that feels natural.  That is such a rare quality in the world today."

Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill was born on May 5th, 1983 in the Channel Islands of the United Kingdom, off the coast of Normandy, France.  Growing up he considered further studies in Egyptology, but was more drawn to acting, performing in school plays and eventually landing a major film role at the age of 17, playing Albert Mondego in the 2002 adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo.  Cavill was later cast in other small roles in films spanning the rest of the decade, including Tristan & Isolde, Stardust, and the Woody Allen-directed Whatever Works, and headlined 2011's Immortals, an action film set against the backdrop of Greek mythology.  However, it was perhaps his role as the suave, womanizing Charles Brandon on the Showtime series, The Tudors, that gave him the most acclaim.  Spanning four seasons, his Brandon, friend and duke to Jonathan Rhys Meyers' King Henry VIII, emerged as the only character to appear, other than the king himself, in all thirty-eight of the series' episodes.

Perhaps most intriguing about Cavill's background is found in the career-changing roles on which he narrowly missed out in recent years.  Rumors persist that the author of the immensely popular Twilight novels, Stephenie Meyer, had Cavill long in mind for the role of vampire Edward Cullen, but producers deemed him too old for the part when the movie readied production. The immense popularity of the film (and its four sequels) went on to make Robert Pattinson a household name, and was the second role Cavill had lost to his fellow Brit, following the character of Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.  Cavill was also said to have been a finalist for the much-publicized casting search that led to Daniel Craig's naming as James Bond for Casino Royale to begin the property's post-Pierce Brosnan era.  Around that time, Cavill had also been heavily scouted by Warner Brothers to play, coincidentally, Superman, before Singer eventually decided to go with newcomer Brandon Routh for 2006's Superman Returns, which failed to resonate with audiences and put future films of America's first superhero on hold, that is, until now.  Cavill's casting in this upcoming iteration of the last son of Krypton thus brings with it a redemptive quality, not only giving the actor a potentially great reward for his patience, but also the opportunity to be the face of his own lucrative franchise.

Not taking the opportunity of a lifetime for granted, throughout filming and in these last few months before release, Cavill is said to have been a great ambassador for the role.  He attended last year's Comic-Con in San Diego with director Snyder to promote the film and show new footage, and during production and everywhere since has been happily stopping to chat and get his picture taken with adults and children alike, all enamored with the new superhero standing before them.  In addition, just days ago he became the latest celebrity to join the American Library Association's READ campaign (poster below), helping to show that, even off-screen, he is emulating Superman's trademark nobility and upholding the character's moniker of the Big Blue Boy Scout.  No matter how Man of Steel is received, it is safe to say that, come June, Cavill's life will never be the same, and I'm quite sure he feels that way already.

      



   

           
               

      

MAN OF STEEL Previewed in Empire Magazine

"After we read the script," she effuses, "we both looked at each other knowing they had really figured out a way to pull this off." - Empire's Ian Nathan on Deborah Snyder, Man of Steel producer

Walk into a Barnes & Noble or any other store with a good selection of imported magazines and you are likely to find the latest issue of Empire.  Published in the UK, it is one of the most popular and well-received movie publications on the market, and even carries the not-so-humble subtitle of "The World's Biggest Movie Magazine."  On the cover of their March issue just happens to be Henry Cavill as Superman, with Man of Steel headlining their 2013 superhero preview.  While the film's more specific details remain somewhat of a secret, their cover story by writer Ian Nathan shed some interesting light on how the film came about and on what we can expect to see this upcoming June.

People looking forward to Man of Steel will be amazed to hear the article's revelation about how the idea and direction for the 200-million dollar film came to fruition: a bout of writer's block.  in 2009, Dark Knight Trilogy collaborators David S. Goyer (story, writer) and director Christopher Nolan began to struggle with developing plot elements of The Dark Knight Rises.  While taking a week-long break, Goyer tried to clear his head by reading old Superman comics, and while doing so, came up with an idea for how to bring the iconic superhero back to the big screen.  Nolan was intrigued upon hearing it, and Warner Brothers (having struggled with Superman film concepts for the entire decade of the 90s and missing the mark on 2006's Superman Returns) greenlit the film for future production.

A few years later, Nolan, with wife and producing partner Emma Thomas, lunched with film director Zack Snyder and his own wife and producing partner, Deborah.  Nolan pitched to Snyder the idea of the film: to show Superman as an alien coming to grips with his purpose and identity, and how the world would react to his presence.  Zack was sold, but Deborah wasn't as initially convinced, perhaps knowing full well the troubled history of trying to return Superman to cinematic relevance.  However, it was the script they received later that changed her mind, as she recounts to Nathan in the quote atop this entry.

Other interesting tidbits from the cover story:

• Goyer claims that the film will have more action than any of the three Nolan-directed Batman films.
• How the film will portray the relationship between Clark Kent and Lois Lane is still unknown, with director Snyder saying that revealing too much of the dynamic would give away "a bit of the DNA" of the film.  Goyer and Cavill also avoid saying much in this regard, other than praising Amy Adams' performance in the role.
• Deborah Snyder on Michael Shannon's villainous performance as General Zod: "The gravitas he brings is incredible."
• In preparation for the role, Cavill relied solely on Superman comics alone, avoiding past film and TV versions of the character in order to give a fresh, unswayed performance in the film.  "I didn't want someone else's representation to confuse me," Cavill tells Nathan.   

       

    

The Big Three of MAN OF STEEL's Creative Team

In counting down these final three months leading to the release of Man of Steel, it is important to first take a look at the key individuals responsible for creating it in the first place.  This "big three" of the movie's production is composed of writer David S. Goyer, producer Christopher Nolan, and director Zack Snyder.

Film and television writer/director/producer David S. Goyer helped develop the story and is solely credited with the screenplay for Man of Steel.  This is far from new territory for Goyer, as he has gradually become one of the most sought-after men in Hollywood for comic book films and other similar adaptations.  His ever-increasing resume in the genre includes having also developed the story arc and written for Christopher Nolan's incredibly successful Dark Knight Trilogy, as well as directing Wesley Snipes in 2004's Blade Trinity and serving as producer and writer of the recent Ghost Rider films starring Nicolas Cage.  Like everyone in Hollywood, he has his hits (the global phenomenon of Nolan's three Batman films) and misses (the critically panned, aforementioned Ghost Rider films) yet his creative services remain unwavering in an era when movies concerning costumed vigilantes and the supernatural are more prominent than ever before.

Goyer's working relationship with Christopher Nolan, as alluded to previously, goes back well before the upcoming Man of Steel.  Around 2003, when Nolan was awarded the task of bringing Batman back to the big screen (and essentially back to cinematic relevance after Batman & Robin sank the original franchise), he admitted that while he had a fondness for the character, he in no way considered himself educated enough in the superhero's extensive lore to do the character justice.  He then turned to Goyer in developing Batman Begins, who admits in the special features of the DVD/Blu-ray release of the film that it had been a lifelong dream to write a Batman film.  The two then co-wrote the screenplay and made a tentative story arc for any potential sequels.  2005's 'Begins was both a critical and financial success (although each of its two sequels would later make its $500 million earnings pale in comparison) and three Nolan-directed films and $2.5 billion in worldwide gross later, Goyer and Nolan have again teamed up to try to bring another iconic costumed character back to silver screen prominence, this time with Batman's own DC Comics colleague, Superman.

Showcasing on film the grandeur of a god among men in the twenty-first century requires a certain ambitious, artistic eye.  Warner Brothers and Nolan have thus enlisted visionary director Zack Snyder, whose more recent past directorial experience includes a remake of Dawn of the Dead, Sucker Punch, as well as adaptations of the famed graphic novels 300 and Watchmen.  While the heavily visual style Snyder brings to his films is often maligned and sometimes deemed as distracting, his creative vision is not to be denied, especially in his ability to blend real-life characters and emotion into worlds that appear to jump right off the pages of comic books or other imaginative works of art.  Snyder hence becomes a very promising choice for director, and it'll be interesting to see more footage of Superman's infinite powers set against the backdrop of a world more grounded in our own reality.         

Welcome to the Countdown!

Hello everyone!  Welcome to the first entry of my blog, in which I will be counting down to the release of the film, Man of Steel.  Flying into the United States on June 14th, 2013, the film is directed by Zach Snyder (300, Watchmen) and stars British actor Henry Cavill as Superman, with a supporting cast that includes Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Russell Crowe as Jor-El, and Michael Shannon as the villainous General Zod.  While not many specifics are known about the plot, we do know that the film will be a modern-day retelling of Superman's fabled origin story, and will show how a young Clark Kent tries to find his place in a world that will likely fear his powers and everything of which he is capable.  In the remaining four months leading up to its release, this blog will cover various aspects of the film, including any and all new footage/trailers released, cast and crew profiles, and other bits of news from various media outlets.

Man of Steel marks a reboot of all previous Superman films, and if successful, will likely span its own set of sequels.  It has a lot riding on its super-powered shoulders, however, given the history of the troubled franchise of years past, a set of four films whose behind-the-scenes turmoil included, but wasn't limited, to fired directors, a consistently divided cast & crew, tens of millions of dollars spent on productions later shelved, and in one case, a knife-drawn restaurant confrontation, a tense situation suffused by none other than Marlon Brando.  2006's Superman Returns was a recent attempt to bring the character back to the screen, but its shaky connection to the previous installments (was quietly marketed to take place after the events of the first two Christopher Reeve-starring films) resulted in a critical disappointment, and ultimately, a failed attempt to reinvigorate the brand.

Man of Steel thus has much to prove in the hopes of kicking off the first promising Superman franchise in over three decades.  At the end of the first full-length trailer (see below), Henry Cavil's Superman explains how his adoptive father, Jonathan Kent, was certain his alien son wouldn't be accepted by a fearful world.  "What do you think?" he then asks someone off-screen, but essentially the audience itself.  So, what do you think, world?  Are you ready for a fresh Superman back on the big screen?  I know I am.