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Man of Steel
Man of Steel Final Poster
Director: Zack Snyder
Producer: Christopher Nolan
Emma Thomas
Charles Roven
Deborah Snyder
Writer(s): David S. Goyer
Release Date: June 14, 2013
Running Time: 143 mins
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Man of Steel is a reboot to the Superman franchise. It was released on June 14, 2013 and is the first film in the DC Cinematic Universe. The film follows Clark Kent on a journey to discover who he really is and battle against his kind led by the renegade General Zod. A sequel is scheduled for release in 2016.

Plot

On the planet Krypton, Scientist Jor-El and wife Lara have a child named Kal-El. After that, Jor-El tries to tell the ruling council of Krypton's destruction due it's unstable core, when he is interrupted by General Zod and his followers. Soon after, Jor-El escapes and on his way to his home he goes to the Genesis Chamber and steals the Genetic Codex. Jor-El and Lara then put Kal-El in a spaceship with the codex and launches him to Earth, before Zod and his followers arrive. After Zod murders Jor-El, he and followers get arrested by the Sapphire Guards and are sentenced to the Phantom Zone for 300 cycles. Krypton, then explodes, shortly after. Meanwhile, Kal-El's ship crashes in Smallville, Kanas where is found by the Jonathan and Martha Kent, who decide to raise him as their child.

Clark's Kryptonian physiology affords him superhuman abilities on Earth. With Martha's support, young Clark gradually learns to hone the abilities that initially cause him confusion and discomfort. Jonathan reveals to a teenage Clark that he is an alien, and advises him to not utilize his powers publicly, fearing that society would reject him. After Jonathan is killed by a tornado, an adult Clark spends the next several years living a nomadic lifestyle, working different jobs under false names to cover his tracks and hide his identity. He eventually discovers a Kryptonian scout ship with technology that allows him to communicate with the consciousness of Jor-El in the form of a hologram. Lois Lane, a young journalist from the Daily Planet, also discovers the ship while pursuing a story, and is rescued by Clark when she is injured. Lois's editor Perry White rejects her story of a "superhuman" rescuer, so she traces Clark back to Smallville with the intention of writing an exposé. After hearing his story, she decides to keep his secret.

Detecting the scout ship, Zod, who had managed to escape the Phantom Zone, travels to Earth where he demands that Kal-El surrender to him or humanity will suffer the consequences. Clark agrees to surrender to the U.S. military, who hand Lois and Clark over to Zod's second in command, Faora, at Zod's request. Zod reveals that he intends to use a terraforming "world engine" to transform Earth into a Krypton-like planet, to eradicate the human population, and to use the codex to repopulate the planet with genetically-engineered Kryptonians. After Clark and Lois escape the ship with the help of Jor-El, Clark confronts and defeats Faora's forces in Smallville, which convinces the military that he is on their side.  Learning that the codex is imprinted into Clark's own genetic structure, Zod deploys the world engine and initiates the terraforming in Metropolis and over the Indian ocean.

To stop this attack, Clark, now dubbed "Superman", and Lois informs the US military that using the spacecraft that brought Superman to Earth in an aerial strike against Zod's ship will create a portal to return Zod's ship and crew to the Phantom Zone. After Superman stops the world engine in the Indian Ocean, the military succeeds in their mission, taking out Zod's ship and his army including Faora. Zod, having been separated from his ship earlier, still remains, and he and Superman engage each other. After a battle throughout Metropolis, Superman is forced to kill Zod to save a group of innocent civilians from being murdered by Zod. Superman decides to blend into the normal world by resuming the identity of Clark Kent, and is hired by White as a reporter for the Daily Planet.

Cast

References to the broader DC Cinematic Universe

  • The LexCorp logo appears multiple times confirming that, although he doesn't appear in the film, Lex Luthor is present in this universe.
  • When Superman and Zod take their battle into space, Zod destroys a satellite with the Wayne Enterprises logo upon it.
  • In the Kryptonian scout ship that was buried under the ice, there is an open pod which is empty. The tie-in prequel comic would suggest this missing Kryptonian is Kara Zor-El aka Supergirl, Kal-El's cousin.
  • It is shown that Kal-El is weakened when exposed to Kryptonian atmosphere alluding to the affects that Kryptonite would have on a Kryptonian on Earth.
  • S.T.A.R. Labs appears in the film and is confirmed by David Goyer to be a reference to the Justice League member, Cyborg.
  • The Blaze Comics logo can be seen in the film. In DC Comics, Blaze Comics is a comic book series detailing the adventures of the hero from the future, Booster Gold.
  • A WGBS logo can be seen during the fight through Metropolis. WGBS is the main news outlet for Galaxy Communications which is run by Morgan Edge who has connections to Darkseid.
  • Utopia Casino is featured. In the comics, Utopia Casino is owned by Tony Gallo who was involved in Superman's first encounter with Kryptonite.
  • The burning oil rig was owned by Merrevale Oil, a company run by Jordan Wylie who has encountered Aquaman multiple times in the past. Aquaman and his allies the Sea Devils have even destroyed some of Merrevale's oil rigs with the Sea Devils setting one alight and Aquaman knocking another over.
  • When Zod uses his Heat Vision to destroy a building, a poster can be seen in the background that says Keep Calm and Call Batman. This proves that not only does Bruce Wayne and Wayne Enterprises co-exist along with Superman, but Batman himself does as well. [1][2]
  • The computer displays in Zod's ship and the crashed seed ship display what appears to be gibberish in Kryptonian lettering. However, "Man of Steel" producer Deborah Snyder revealed in an interview that they actually had linguists create a Kryptonian language so they could hide messages in Kryptonian.

Production

The film was be shot in Canada and parts of Illinois.

Gallery

Filming

Videos

Trailers

Clips

Interviews and Premieres

External links

Template:DCCU

Superman Films
Serials Superman: The Serial | Atom Man vs. Superman
1950s films Superman and the Mole Men
Donner/ Lester/ Furie series Superman: The Movie | Superman II | Superman III | Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
Singer series Superman Returns
DC Extended Universe Man of Steel | Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Spin-offs Supergirl | Steel
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