No doubt comic book geeks worldwide know that next year is bringing with it some highly anticipated films of the genre.  One of those just happens to be the (2^nd) reboot of the Superman franchise – Man of Steel.  This time Zack Snyder (Watchmen, 300) is set to direct.

Unfortunately, not much information has been coming our way regarding the film.  It could be they’re saving their teasers for a mass spamming after the new year, or it could be they just don’t have anything ready to go as of yet.  Either way, some information has finally come out that reveals at least a tiny bit about what to expect.

The first news concerns an official announcement that Man of Steel will be shot for both 3D and IMAX presentations.  This one is kind of a no-brainer, considering that almost everything action-packed and expected to make hundreds-of-millions of dollars gets the full visual treatment.

The second part involves the release of an expanded plot description, as seen below:

Clark Kent/Kal-El (Henry Cavill) is a young twenty-something journalist who feels alienated by powers beyond his imagination. Transported years ago to Earth from Krypton, a highly advanced, distant planet, Clark struggles with the ultimate question ‘Why am I here?’ Shaped by the values of his adoptive parents Martha (Diane Lane) and Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner),Clark discovers having extraordinary abilities means making difficult decisions. When the world is in dire need of stability, an even greater threat emerges.Clark must become a Man of Steel, to protect the people he loves and shine as the world’s beacon of hope – Superman.

Hmmm… sounds pretty much like the plot to Superman, yes it does.  Man discovers power, man learns to use power, man has to fight big evil to save world.  So maybe it’s not the best plot reveal in the world, but it’s something, right?

Mr. Snyder will, however, be at the SDCC this year and will no doubt be talking quite a bit more about his upcoming project.  So, Superman fanboys/girls, if you happen to be there (or keep your eyes open for a Nerdbastards update) there may be some more substantial news in the near future.

Man of Steel is slotted to release on June 14, 2013.

Thanks to slashfilm for the info.

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Look at the unit on that guy!?!?

Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel Superman reboot production and marketing  team hasn’t let much out of the bag about the movies plot or story-line so far, just some set pictures and a few comments here and there. The latest rumor making it’s way around the Internet is from Comic Book Movie. They have a source saying a “good portion” of the movie will be spent back on a “war torn Krypton,” Superman’s home planet.

There’s no telling if a good portion is half, a fourth, or just 5 minutes in the opening credits, but perhaps some of the casting can help us out in that regard. The casting of Micheal Shannon as General Zod (Story villain) and Russell Crowe as Jor-El (Superman’s father) leads this NerdBastard to believe that the good portion mentioned above should be at least a good 30 minutes of movie. You don’t cast a heavy weight like Crowe and not use him. You could hire him and only use him in 5 minutes of the movie, but that would be incredibly stupid and expensive.

The original origin story had Krypton destroyed in a natural disaster, most likely this war is what now leads to Krypton’s destruction. It does make a great story and can add some layers to the eventual conflict between General Zod and Superman.

What do you think? Will audiences last in a movie where Superman doesn’t don the cape in the first 30 to 45 minutes?

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One more year and one more reboot… this time around it happens to be Superman getting a new face on the big screen.  The upcoming Man of Steel flick has a potential advantage over other remakes, however, in the form of director Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen).

Superman has long been a staple of all-American values and “everything will work out” mentality, which makes the character generally unappealing to a significant segment of the super-hero-geek community.  Add to that previous incarnations that, when brought to the big screen, failed to break the mediocre barrier.

This classic Superman approach, however, may not be quite what Snyder is aiming for with his latest.

ClevverTv.com recently interviewed the young actor who will be portraying the teenage version of ClarkKent – Dylan Sprayberry – and he had a few things to say about Man of Steel.

“When Zack [Snyder] and I were talking about it the first time, he was saying how Superman, they want to give it a more edgy feel like The Dark Knight but also make it more realistic and emotional so it’s not just the all-American superhero that saves everyone. He has dilemmas and love and struggles throughout the whole movie, especially when he’s a kid.”

Considering Christopher Nolan wrote the story for the new flick, Sprayberry might not be over exaggerating.  Darker versions of super-heroes are on the rise lately, and the box office dollars are no doubt steering production companies to look towards edgier interpretations.

Man of Steel hits theaters on June 14^th.

Thanks to ComicBookMovie.com for the info.

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So back in 2006 when Superman Returns hit theaters I feel asleep during the screening. I thought of so many excuses as to why this happened.  I went at midnight, I was exhausted from the activities of a fun Summer day and lastly…I had WAY too much to eat at this barbecue I had with my friends.  However, deep down I knew the truth; “it was just boring as fuck!” and now director Bryan Singer has put my mind to ease by confirming that Superman Returns was a SUPER bad film. With the recent news of Zach Snyder’s reboot of the Superman franchise, Superman: Man of Steel Singer finally spoke up about his Superman film.  Check out what he had to say and do you think Snyder’s reboot will fare any better??

On how Superman Returns wasn’t what people expected:

I think that Superman Returns was a bit nostalgic and romantic, and I don’t think that was what people were expecting, especially in the summer. What I had noticed is that there weren’t a lot of women lining up to see a comic book movie, but they were going to line up to see The Devil Wears Prada, which may have been something I wanted to address. But when you’re making a movie, you’re not thinking about that stuff, you’re thinking, “Wow, I want to make a romantic movie that harkens back to the Richard Donner movie that I loved so much.” And that’s what I did.

On how he feels about the film in retrospect:

You know, I haven’t really talked about this in depth, so I’m just thinking about this off the fly. It’s hard, because I’m proud of it for what it is. I mean, there are a bunch of movies I’ve made where I’m, like, “Yuck, that was weak” or “That could’ve been better,” and I can see why. But with Superman Returns…. If I could go back, I would have tightened the first act. Maybe open with the plane or something.

On the ending in which Lex Luthor stabs Superman with Kryptonite and how he’d change the movie this time:

I’ve always felt that the origin of Superman is the story of Moses – the child sent on a ship to fulfill a destiny. And this was a story about Christ – it’s all about sacrifice: “The world, I hear their cries.” So what happens? He gets the knife in the side and later he falls to the earth in the shape of a crucifix. It was kind of nailing you on the head, but I enjoyed that, because I’ve always found the myth of Christ compelling and moving. So I hoped to do my own take, which is heavy shit for a summer movie. But definitely the nostalgic, romantic aspects of it worked against people’s expectations of it in the climate. And if I was going to do another one, it would be a reboot. I would go back and redo the original, but I only thought of that recently. It would be a much less romantic, more balls-to-the-wall action movie. It would be a very different pace than Superman Returns, which I can say at this point because I have distance from it now.

Source: SlashFilm

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Come, son of Jor-El. And kneel before Zod!

To no one’s surprise, the villain in Zack Snyder‘s Superman reboot has been announced as the Kryptonian villain known as Zod, to be played by Michael Shannon.

Whether this will be the same villainous General Zod that fought Christopher Reeve‘s Superman in Superman II, that remains to be seen. Now, Zod is one of Superman‘s greatest villains, aside from Lex Luthor (who had better appear in the film in some capacity). If not, the fan boys and girls will be in an uproar!

According to the press release from Warner Brothers, the untitled Superman film also has a new title: Man of Steel.

I have my fingers crossed for this Superman film, as the last one, Superman Returns, was just bad. It could have been worse, but also could have been a hell of a lot better.

Are you excited for the upcoming reboot, or have you given up on the Superman franchise altogether?

Warner Bros Pictures and Legendary Pictures announced today that Michael Shannon will star in the role of General Zod in director Zack Snyder’s new Superman film, titled “Man of Steel.”

Snyder stated, “Zod is not only one of Superman’s most formidable enemies, but one of the most significant because he has insights into Superman that others don’t. Michael is a powerful actor who can project both the intelligence and the malice of the character, making him perfect for the role.”

As General Zod, Shannon will go toe-to-toe with Henry Cavill, who plays the new Clark Kent/Superman in the film. The main cast also includes Amy Adams as Lois Lane, and Diane Lane and Kevin Costner as Martha and Jonathan Kent.

Michael Shannon was honored with an Academy Award® nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Sam Mendes’ “Revolutionary Road,” with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Shannon was most recently seen in the award-winning HBO drama series “Boardwalk Empire,” from executive producer Martin Scorsese. He will next be seen in Sony Pictures Classics’, “Take Shelter,” from director/writer Jeff Nichols.

Charles Roven, Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Deborah Snyder are the producers of the film. The screenplay is being written by David S. Goyer based on a story by Goyer and Nolan. Thomas Tull and Lloyd Phillips are serving as executive producers.

“Man of Steel” will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

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There’s news, and then there’s not so news. It’s not the news fault, sometimes it’s just a matter of size. No matter how much this news worked the “motion in the ocean,” or tried those “How you use it,” moves . . . it’s just not satisfying. Nothing would be worse than leaving you, The Reader, unsatisfied. So NerdBastards, in it’s attempt to keep you, The Reader, as satisfied and sated as possible we have decided to overwhelm you with small tidbits of Superhero news. Wave after wave of small flicks of news, building into a crescendo of sweaty, satisfying news. I’ll meet you at the end of the post and we’ll can have a cuddle or maybe a smoke if that’s your thing.

Howard Stern Says Lex Luthor and Miss Teschmacher in ‘Superman’:

Howard Stern of all people is making the claim that Lindsey Lohan is reading for a role in Zack Snyder‘s Superman movie. Rumor has it she is up for the Miss Teschmacher role. I find it unlikely because Miss Teschmacher is only found in the first two Superman movies. She has never been a character in the comics and was created for the Richard Donner’s movies. Although it would be a nod to Donner I’d prefer that they use the Mercy Graves character instead of Miss Teschmacher. Graves was created for the animated series and made the cross over to comics soon after.

Via: Bleeding Cool

MORE AFTER THE JUMP

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The L.A. Times scored the exclusive news today that Amy Adams (Enchanted, The Fighter) has been cast as intrepid reporter, Lois Lane in Zack Snyder‘s reboot of Superman. She’ll be joining Henry Cavill as Superman/Clark Kent, whom she is nine years older than, and Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as the Kents. Snyder made the call to Adams while he was in Paris promoting his most recent film, Sucker Punch.

There was a big, giant search for Lois,” Snyder said. “For us it was a big thing and obviously a really important role. We did a lot of auditioning but we had this meeting with Amy Adams and after that I just felt she was perfect for it.

It goes back to what I’ve said about Superman and making him really understandable for today. What’s important to us is making him relevant and real and making him empathetic to today’s audience so that we understand the decisions he makes.  That applies to Lois as well. She has to be in the same universe as him [in tone and substance].

Other than that Snyder hasn’t gone in to any real detail about Lois’ role in the upcoming film. But that’s not really surprising, everyone’s been hard pressed to get any real detail about the new Superman out of Snyder. I know I’m excited about this casting even though I’m sure some twill think Adams and odd choice for Lois. First, she’s a red head. Of course she can wear a wig, or hell she could even play Lois as a red head, I don’t know of any written law where Lois must have dark hair.

Adams has proven her acting range with so many severely different roles. She’s cute, caring and charming as Giselle in Enchanted where she perfectly channels the characteristics of a Disney princesses like Snow White (coincidently another creation of the late 30s just like Lane). Adams played the spunky pilot, Amelia Earhart in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and the fierce bartender, Charlene in David O. Russel’s The Fighter.  Let’s see, cute, charming, caring, spunky and fierce. Yep, I think she’ll be a perfect Lois. Plus, she’s gorgeous! Who doesn’t want to see this chick making super-babies with Henry Cavill?

source: L.A. Times

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(article by nerdbastards contributor Matthew Jackson)

Zack Snyder’s new flick Sucker Punch opens Friday, and in the course of promoting it he answered (or sort of answered) a few more questions about his upcoming Superman project.

The film might start shooting as early as late summer,
Snyder will NOT use CGI and motion capture to portray Superman (yay)
Viggo Mortensen is not on board in any capacity (was rumored for General Zod)

And…that’s really it as far as solid information goes. The rest is Snyder trying to sound as upbeat as possible about a project that’s generated its weight in nerd doubt since it was announced.

Snyder did comment on his conceptual and visual approach to the flick, noting that the story will be told as if “this is the first Superman movie and no other ones exist,” and claiming that, visually speaking, his Superman will be the most realistic film he’s made.

ScreenRant:

I think the visual style of “Superman,” though I can’t say for certain as it’s early, but I kind of feel like — and I did say to the studio – that what’s cool for me and interesting, and odd, is that “Superman” is probably going to be the most realistic movie I’ve ever made. It’s kind of fun that the most realistic movie I probably will make is a movie called “Superman.” Which shows how crazy my other movies are. Because I guess for him to be credible… He gets more credible by the reality that you can bring to him, you know emotionally, and visually, I think.

First of all, how exhausting is it reading that? Thank Jor-El this guy isn’t writing the movie. If he did we’d never get a complete sentence out of anyone.

Second of all, it’s about time Snyder attempts to ditch the gimmicks of his visual style. We’ve all been having nightmares about Superman punching people in ultra-slow motion, then screaming THIS…IS…KRYPTON! before kicking a dude into a pit. If he sticks to his pledge to keep it real, we might actually get to focus on the Man of Steel himself instead of the hyper-stylized lens we had to see Dr. Manhattan and Rorschach through the last time this guy tried to do a superhero movie.

But wait, Kryptonians, there’s one last bone to pick…This is what Snyder said when asked if he’d read Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s All Star Superman, the most recent seminal work in the life of The Man of Tomorrow.

io9:

I have not seen it, I’m happy to see it, I do want to see it, I just haven’t had time. Yeah, absolutely. And by the way, I’m a fan of Grant, of All-Star Superman, I think it’s cool, although I’d say… that’s the big version of Superman, you know that’s a stylized world. But awesome, and very sort of telling [about the character]. We’re treating the concept of Superman as if there’s been no Superman movies up till now, we’re trying to take that tack — that this is the first Superman movie and no other ones exist. Not to take anything away from those movies, because they’re great, but it’s sort of the way you have to do it, otherwise you’re really not starting over, you’re really just a slave to whatever’s happened in the past. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t respect the canon and we don’t understand the canon, that we know what the requirements of Superman are without it also being the same old Superman.

I haven’t read it, but I’m a fan of it, but I respect it, but I don’t want it to be the same old version of Superman.

All we can do is pray the final product isn’t this jumbled.

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Joss Whedon once ran his ginger mouth on why DC Comic characters don’t or won’t make good movie adaptations. He said: “DC’s characters, like Wonder Woman and Superman and Green Lantern, are all very much removed from humanity. Batman is the only character so rooted in pain, that had that same gift that the Marvel characters had, which was that gift of humanity that we can relate to.”.  A statement most can agree with. It’s exactly why I’m nervous about the upcoming Superman reboot. I’m excited about the casting (Henry Cavill as Supes, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Kevin Costner for “PA” Kent..etc) and I’m confident director Zach Snyder will execute a visual and action victory, but it’s the core character and central story that’s going to be the challenge. Will this just be another case of style over substance?

Well, there are a couple of interviews floating around the internet in which director Zack Snyder gives a few more comments about Superman. Christopher Nolan also shares his thoughts on the casting of Henry Cavill as the Man of Steel.

In a interview with Sci Fi Now, Snyder had this to say about Superman and how he’s approaching the character.

You’ve got to keep in mind that they look at Superman as passé because that is the way he’s been approached in the movies. It’s not like the movies have done anything to fight that, so all I can say is that Chris [Nolan] and David [Goyer] address that in their story. I think the challenge is to make him relevant – figure out how we can make them care about him. That is the challenge.

Superman’s the king daddy; he’s the shit. If you can make him work, in the end there’s nobody else in the superhero world. For me, Watchmen was the exact opposite of Superman in that now that I’ve deconstructed the superhero world — I tore the curtain down — maybe I’m the right guy to put it back up. It’s like participating in the Olympics. I know that’s a weird metaphor, but, you know, there is definitely a historical aspect that is beyond you. The character is bigger than you and you have to keep that in mind. And the character will continue when you’re done. I feel pretty good about that now.

It seems Snyder certainly has a grasp on the story and character. However, I still don’t know how they’re going to explore the feelings of isolation and the price that is paid when you become someones protector and savior, with connective significance.

In a separate interview Nolan (Producer and overseer) had this to say about the casting of Henry Cavill in the film.

Henry’s a terrific choice as Superman. Other than having the look, he gave an incredible performance in the test we did and I think he’s going to be something really extraordinary in the role.

So, that’s the latest word. With a collective dream team working on the project and the passion all around, I think we are going to get something really great. You think?

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hey, what’s the opposite of Christopher Reeve? Christopher Walken (ba dum chhh!). OK, that joke was old and so not relevant. ‘Cause Reeve is like dead and all, but I’ll tell you that’s a hell of a lot more entertaining that today’s piece of pointless news.

As you know, Henry Cavill (The Tudors) has been cast in Zach Snyder‘s ‘Superman’ reboot. Eh, good looking guy. Square jaw, smooth skin, well treated hair, and piercing yet lovable eyes (NO HOMO!). I can see why he landed the role. Anyway, because the film hasn’t begun production yet, but perhaps as a response to the rumors that the movie is having script problems, Warner Bros have decided to issue a pic of Henry Cavill in his Superman persona for the new cover of Entertainment Weekly. It’s not Henry Cavill as Superman, exactly, but it is him wearing a t-shirt with a Superman “S” logo on the chest.

Yep, consider the above image your first glimpse at Superman. Astonished? Oi! it’s a slow news day.

Here’s one funny tidbit that also came from the mag. Snyder talked how he wanted to see possible Supermen in the old-school suit that classic film Superman Christopher Reeve wore years ago, so they put Henry Cavill in a replica:

If you can put on that suit and pull it off that’s an awesome achievement… He walked out, and no one laughed. Other actors put that suit on, and it’s a joke, even if they’re great actors. Henry put it on, and he exuded this kind of crazy-calm confidence that just made me go ‘Wow.’ Okay: This was Superman.’

I wonder if Cavill will be subject to the curse of Superman. The Superman Curse refers to a theory that is based on a series of misfortunes that have plagued creative people involved in adaptations of Superman in various media, particularly actors who have played the role of Superman on film and television.

The curse in a nutshell:

If you play the strongest man on Earth, you will either die an untimely death or end up in the weakest position possible.

Good luck, fucker.

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