A lot has been said about Zack Snyder and his overall impact on the DC universe, whether it be positive or negative, over the years. However, it seems like the new DCU, under the leadership of James Gunn and Peter Safran, is going to leave that all behind and start fresh with something new. The biggest indicator of this has been the news that Henry Cavill will not be returning to play the character of Superman, with the character instead being rebooted with a script written by Gunn. On top of that, it seems increasingly unlikely that other DCEU stars, such as Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot, will also not be continuing in their roles. The DCEU, which fell into almost never-ending disarray after the failure of 2017’s Justice League, appears to finally have had its plugs pulled.
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It didn’t start out all that bad, though. Despite the immensely mixed quality and divisiveness of the films that followed, the DCEU got off to a solid start in 2013 with Man of Steel. Starring Cavill and directed by Snyder, Man of Steel kick-started the DCEU with a Superman story unlike any that had been seen on-screen before. While that’s not to say Man of Steel wasn’t divisive, as there were (and are) certainly people that were turned away by the darker take on the Last Son of Krypton, the film has a worse reputation than it deserves. Man of Steel takes some major creative swings with the character and the superhero genre overall. While they might not all pan out as well as intended, the film was at least trying to do something different, and the results are a superhero film that stands tall above much of the generic schlock that has come from both Marvel and DC over the last decade. Here’s how Man of Steel still soars high nearly ten years after its release.
Grounding Clark Kent
Warner Bros. Pictures
The worst superhero movies are the ones in which the lead hero isn’t characterized at all beyond “powerful person is good.” That’s because those kinds of films and characters typically don’t lend themselves to the most interesting stories. Superman, as iconic a character as he is, often falls victim to this kind of storytelling. True, he is often been depicted as a boy scout who just is good, but that doesn’t mean that is the only way he should ever be. The best characters are those that have something to learn and are forced to confront and struggle with their own beliefs about themselves and the world they live in. Man of Steel takes that approach to Superman and Clark Kent.
In doing so, the film personifies the character in a way that he had never been on-screen before. It gave the character a distinctly separate persona from what was seen in the Christopher Reeve movies. The film embraces Clark as the central character, not Superman. It depicts him, not as an ideal superhero of immense power, but rather as a regular person in an extraordinary situation. He’s just a guy who, by no choice of his own, has been given these incredible abilities. He doesn’t have all the answers, and he’s not an unwaveringly optimistic presence. He struggles with his own existence and what he should do with the power given to him. Much of the character’s dilemma comes from this decision he is faced with; whether he should embrace his abilities and who he was born to be, or if he should hide away for the sake of maintaining the status quo that the world lives in. Man of Steel is clearly set in a world like our own (even if that decision was walked back in later films), without any superheroes or supernatural elements. Because of that, Clark knows that his existence would shake the foundations of society and the religious beliefs held by so many.
His father instilled in him the belief that the people of the world were not ready to accept that there was an infinitely-powerful alien living among them. Clark respected and understood his father, so much so that he had to stop himself from saving his father in order to protect that ideal, as the world wasn’t ready for Superman and Clark wasn’t ready to undergo the scrutiny that would follow his unveiling to the world. Throughout all of these moral dilemmas and internal struggles, Man of Steel grounds Clark as a real person with immense pressure put on him. This makes Clark, and Superman, a much more real character. He isn’t a godlike figure with unachievable benevolence. He doesn’t know what to do, but he wants to do the right thing and he’ll do what he can to protect the people he loves.
A Sci-Fi Tinged Approach
While Man of Steel takes its lead character and makes him as realistic as possible, the film doesn’t forget to embrace the sensibilities of its comic-book origins. It does this while also taking heavy influence from science-fiction films of the 20th century. Man of Steel doesn’t approach Superman as a superhero; rather, the film treats the character as an alien. It begins with an extended nearly 20-minute sequence detailing the society of the planet Krypton and the events that led to its destruction. Snyder’s interpretation of Superman’s home planet is one of a futuristic society that has sucked its planet dry of resources but fails (or refuses) to recognize the danger they are in. They have implemented population control reminiscent of that of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World; and the natural birth of Kal-El, even when the planet is actively dying, is considered heresy of the highest form.
We all know Superman’s origin story at this point. Krypton is destroyed, Kal-El survives and is sent to Earth, and he is eventually hunted down by a small group of radicalized survivors led by General Zod (played in this film by Michael Shannon). Man of Steel doesn’t leave the sci-fi elements of the Superman story to die on Krypton, though. The film as a whole is an extended conversation about how humanity would actually react if alien life had suddenly come into contact with them. People and governments don’t trust Superman, and they are quick to assume that he is a danger and a threat to humanity. In that sense, the film takes a lot of influence from the likes of The Day the Earth Stood Still, with Superman being swapped in for the peaceful alien Klaatu.
What Sets It Apart
Warner Bros.
Man of Steel started the DCEU off on a foot that solidly differentiated it from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and other superhero films. That’s because, as DC is often famous for doing, the story is taken much more seriously than many comic-book movies often are. So many superhero movies are essentially comedy films filled with colorful visual effects, endless quips, and a tone that is basically winking at the audience the whole time. Man of Steel didn’t do that. With this Superman film, Snyder and the rest of the creative team aspired to do something more. They wanted to tell a serious and considered story that carried the same kind of epic nature as the Greek legends of old.
Whether or not they succeeded in reaching those aspirations is up for debate, as many have decried the film for trying too hard to be like a Batman story and forgetting to embrace the core values of the Superman character. There is certainly a valid point to be made there, as Man of Steel is far from a classic depiction of the Man of Tomorrow. However, the movie was an attempt to elevate the material and make it more than just a happy guy flying around in blue spandex. A movie with that kind of Superman likely would have appealed to more people, and there’s a good chance that is what we’ll get with Gunn’s new reboot.
Man of Steel wasn’t trying to just play it safe. Snyder and the creative team behind the film knew the DCEU had to be different from what the MCU was doing. Since DC is often so applauded for its high-concept, serious and epic storytelling, it made sense to embrace that approach with the first entry in the new universe. In doing so, Man of Steel was, from the ground up, crafted to be a very different kind of superhero movie than what audiences were used to. It was meant to challenge both its viewers and its characters. It was meant to be a new step forward for the genre, and because of that, it avoids a lot of the clichés and pitfalls of many of the superhero movies of the 21st century. Man of Steel tried to bring something genuinely new and exciting to its central character, the DC brand, and the genre it all falls under. The film is an example of what superhero movies can be when they are taken seriously and given a sense of maturity, and it deserves to be applauded for its willingness to take those kinds of swings.
