Martin Deer discusses the new trailer for Zack Snyder’s upcoming Superman reboot Man of Steel…
Sublime. Moving. Powerful!
Some things are worth waiting for, and those things are even better when they suddenly appear unexpected. This trailer blew me away. It is fantastic; there are so many things to be excited about from this footage that trying to collate my thoughts on it has been tough.
Straight away the film stands out as being something much more than a “comic book movie”. Whilst there are some wonderful snippets of huge action set pieces Man of Steel certainly looks to be exploring deeper themes and issues. The first scene we get a feel for is what after 10 + viewings still moves me – Martha Kent, played terrifically I think here by Diane Lane, talking a 5 or 6 year old, scared Clark through getting a handle on his super-hearing. There is a flash of a chalk board and infant Clark running through school hallways – presumably he starts experience his super-hearing at school and takes off terrified for home. Martha reassures him that all he has to do is make the world smaller. It’s a beautifully touching moment. Hopefully both of Clark’s mothers will be given a much more prominent role in this story.
Next up is Pa Kent in what is a very bold move, answering teen Clark’s question if he should let people die to protect his secret with a very unsure “maybe”. And as pointed out to me by another just look at the body language on Jonathan in that scene, he’s saying one thing whilst thinking another; no, Clark you shouldn’t let them die to protect your secret. But Jonathan is very unsure of how the world will react to him and like any father just wants to protect his son. Very excited to see how one of my favourite character relationships will be portrayed what looks like very much in depth.
I’m really looking forward to exploring the ‘man’ in Superman and seeing Clark find his way in the world, especially one that is so troubled. This is a point that people still seem to be missing about Man of Steel – the world around Clark can be as dark and as moody as it wants to be, as long as when the time comes to be Superman, Clark steps up as the light and the hope of the world. That is one of the things I am looking forward to most, a Superman that truly leads the way for humanity.
But don’t expect another Superman film without action either and there are some great little snippets of the no doubt brilliant action to come; Superman and Zod flying head on and Superman being flung in to a bank vault give us a little taste of what hopefully will finally be a film that shows Superman’s power.
There is some extremely striking imagery in the trailer and Amir Mokri’s cinematography looks fantastic; the destruction of Krypton, rural Kansas, Clark underwater as flames go overhead and the scenes in the arctic are all breath taking.
It will be interesting to see how the film plays out. I imagine that it is going to be very Batman Begins-esque with the film opening with adult Clark pre-Superman exploring the world – working on fishing boats – and then flashing back to his childhood before the film sticks to a linear path once Clark becomes Superman.
Either way this trailer certainly did its job in selling this film as more than just another comic book movie, this a film to be excited about, and I certainly am. I’m very thankful this trailer was Clark and story centric too as it needed to be, but I am very much hoping that the next trailer gives us a good look at Zod and the action to come.
We’re just over 6 months away, folks, I can hear him fast approaching.
Side note to Warner Bros. – please don’t ruin Man of Steel’s franchise possibilities with a Justice League movie. Please don’t do that to us.
Martin Deer
Originally published December 12, 2012. Updated April 10, 2018.
