Whatever happened to The Man of Tomorrow? In the late ’70s, when Richard Donner and Mario Puzo were making their Superman movie, they realized that the lead character, when in costume, lacked a personality. He’s tough, he’s fast, he can fly, and those abilities define him. It may be impressive as spectacle, but it’s a hard lead for an audience to connect with, and so they chose to focus on Clark Kent — in short and in a bad pun, theirs was a classic because it was more Man than Super. Now, with Man of Steel, Snyder, and his writers David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan, do precisely the opposite.

The film opens with the usual prologue, though seeming far more extended here, on Krypton. Jor-El (Russell Crowe) is arguing with the planet’s elders about mining the core of their world — he warns them that the planet has only weeks left before it implodes, and as soon as he’s dismissed, General Zod (Michael Shannon) appears and starts blowing the elder’s palace up. Jor-El escapes to his wife Lara (Ayelet Zurer), who has just given birth to their son, Kal-El, Knowing the planet is doomed, they place him in a shuttle and shoot him off to earth, but not before Jor implants a whatsit codex into the ship.

Zod attempts to intercept the shuttle, killing Jor-El in the process, but is overpowered, tried, and sentenced to the Phantom Zone, a kind of black-hole prison. Krypton implodes, and Kal makes his way to earth, specifically to the Kansas farm of Jonathan and Martha Kent (Kevin Costner and Diane Lane), who adopt the boy and impart to him the lessons of compassion and anonymity. I will say that it’s clever of Goyer and Nolan to handle Kal-El’s childhood in flashback, lest we sit through another hour or so of an origin story whose end we already know.

There’s only one word to use when describing this Lego trailer for Zack Snyder’s upcoming Man of Steel: Awesome. We love it and can’t wait to share it with you.

After having seen the original trailer several times, this is an extremely clever way to make the trailer work with Lego. The man responsible, Antonio Toscano, deserves all the accolades he’s sure to get once this things blows up.

Yep, it’s that good. Check it out after the break. Sadly, we won’t get to see the movie with the title that comes up at the end of this trailer. At least ww don’t think so. Although, that would be pretty damn cool.

Instead, look for the live-action Man of Steel to arrive in theaters on June 14th.

So, we’ve got a new trailer for Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel. We’ve watched it and dissected it and the consensus around here is we like what we see.

Could this be the movie that helps us forget the distaste of Superman III and IV and Bryan Singer’s attempt? Maybe.

Either way, it’s nice to see Superman again. Check out the trailer after the break and let us know what you think.

As a journalist, it becomes daunting to constantly report on a film with a “WTF?” attitude, but that’s exactly the reaction we have every time we get casting news about Zack Snyder’s upcoming Superman reboot/sequel, titled Man Of Steel.

With the exception of Michael Shannon and the lead Henry Cavill, every other piece of casting news has been quite questionable for a film like Superman. Between Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, and Diane Lane as Martha Kent, how much weirder could this film get? How about Matrix star Laurence Fishburne as Daily Planet Editor-in-Chief Perry White? That’s right. EW has the scoop.

The casting resolves the question of what Laurence would be up to following his departure this May from CBS’ long-running CSI after just over two seasons. (Ted Danson will take Fishburne’s place on the show this fall.)

White has traditionally been a hard-charging, old fashioned newspaperman, who relies on his ace reporters, Clark and Lois, to get the big scoop. Jackie Cooper played White in the Christopher Reeve-era Superman films, and Frank Langella took on the role in director Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns in 2006.

Fans of Zack Snyder’s upcoming Superman flick Man of Steel (although, not sure how one can be a fan since it hasn’t been released yet) will have to wait a little longer to get their fix.

Warner Bros. announced that the movie will open June 14, 2013 instead of in December 2012. Hopefully that won’t upset too many Superman fans who’ve been awaiting a new Superman movie since 2006’s Superman Returns Superman IV: The Quest for Peace Superman III for a long time.

The good news, if you haven’t heard it yet, is that Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer, the dream team behind Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are still attached and working on the script. And, if you need your DC crack until then, there’s always The Dark Knight Rises, coming out next year.

Man of Steel stars Henry Cavill (The Count of Monte Cristo) as Superman, Amy Adams (Catch Me If You Can) as Lois Lane, Diane Lane and Kevin Costner as Martha and Jonathan Kent, and Michael Shannon (Boardwalk Empire) as General “Kneel Before!” Zod. Russell Crowe is reported to be in final talks as Jor-El.

Obviously, we’ll be following this one pretty closely.

About a month ago, we brought you news that Zack Snyder’s Superman: Man Of Steel had finally cast its main villain, General Zod, to be played by Boardwalk Empire star Michael Shannon. It seems now Zod has a sidekick, as German actress Antje Traue has been cast as Zod’s right hand woman Faora.

Comic fans may know the name, but for those who aren’t inundated in DC’s lore as much, Faora was the main inspiration behind the character Ursa from Richard Donner’s Superman and Superman 2. Variety breaks down the origins of the character.

There are multiple Faoras in the Superman universe, so it remains unclear which one Traue has been tapped to play. The first Faora, Faora Hu-Ul, was introduced in Action Comics #471 as a beautiful Kryptonian woman with an intense unexplained hatred for all men.

She was an expert at the Kryptonian martial art of Horo-Kanu, which utilizes pressure points on the Kryptonian body and made her a dangerous foe for Superman to fight in hand-to-hand combat. In fact, he was forced to flee from their first encounter.

This week on The Flickcast Chris and Matt are again joined by Joe Dilworth of Pop Culture Zoo to discuss all manner of new and recurring topics. This goes far better than expected.

This week those include HBO’s Game of Thrones, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Avengers, Batman: The Dark Night Rises casting and more. In addition, they talked about  the next Superman movie, Superman Returns, Captain America and the Nazis, triumphant trio and the tragic passing of Sarah-Jane herself, Doctor Who actress Elisabeth Sladen.

Of course, your hosts also made some picks this week including Matt’s pick of the movie Fortress, Joe’s pick of the upcoming new season of Doctor Who and Chris’ pick of the classic 70’s film Dirty Harry, starring Clint Eastwood.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, at Facebook and MySpace or via email.

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Quite a big weekend for casting in the DC and Warner Bros. world, as it was recently announced that Josh Pence will be playing a young Ra’s Al Ghul in Chris Nolan’s upcoming Dark Knight Returns. However, that’s not the only caped crusader flick to get a villain.

THR is reporting that Boardwalk Empire and Revolutionary Road actor Michael Shannon will be taking on the role of the villain General Zod. Here’s what Snyder had to say about the decision.

“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,”

Shannon compliments a pretty rounded out cast including Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, and The Tudors star Henry Cavill playing the titular role. It seems that the role of Superman/Clark Kent is the only role so far to be played by a British actor, which is normally the opposite plan of producer Christopher Nolan.

For those worried that Shannon may be too “mainstream” to play an evil, super powered general, this isn’t the actor’s first foray into the world of comics. Last year, he graced the screen as Doc Cross Williams in DC’s bastard stepchild of a comic adaptation, Jonah Hex.

Now that we have our baddie for the film, we just need some iconic supporting roles like Perry White and Jimmy Olsen filled in. But who will be chosen?

We love it when a family comes together. Over the past few weeks, the entire Kent family in the upcoming Superman reboot helmed by Zack Snyder has been completely cast, with Diane Lane and Kevin Costner playing the “Ma and Pa Kent” to Henry Cavill’s Clark Kent.

Now, the circle is complete as Clark’s girlfriend/wife Lois Lane (depending on what continuity the film follows) will be played by Enchanted star Amy Adams. An interesting choice, as it seems that Snyder and producer Chris Nolan aren’t pulling any punches in terms of a well-known cast.

Snyder recently had some words about casting Adams in the classic role.

“Second only to Superman himself, the question of who will play Lois Lane is arguably what fans have been most curious about,” Snyder said in a statement Sunday. “So we are excited to announce the casting of Amy Adams, one of the most versatile and respected actresses in films today. Amy has the talent to capture all of the qualities we love about Lois: smart, tough, funny, warm, ambitious and, of course, beautiful.”

With news coming previously that Diana Lane would take on the role of Superman’s adoptive mom, Martha Kent, in Zack Snyder’s upcoming reboot of the franchise, a lingering question of who would be his father remained. Of course, there’s been speculation and rumors that Kevin Costner was in negotiations for the role, but those were just rumors.

That is, until now. According to reports, Costner is definitely being cast in the part of Superman’s adoptive father Jonathan Kent. The actor will join Henry Cavill, who is playing the title role.

The casting of Costner is quite a big deal as Snyder has seemingly gone for lesser-known actors for most of his films. However, the cast of this one seems to be featuring quite a few names, at least so far. Granted, Henry Cavill isn’t exactly a household name, but obviously Costner and Lane are.

With these roles done we can now turn to speculation on who will play other characters in the film including Lex Luthor, General Zod and Lois Lane. Although, as we don’t know the exact story of the film yet, it may be premature to even speculate on those roles because they may not be in the film at all. Still, it is kinda fun.

Let the speculation continue!

That’s right this week bring an all new episode of The Flickcast. On this week’s show Chris and Matt take on another bunch of new and recurring topics to amuse, entertain and try to keep you awake for at least thirty to forty minutes.

Some of the things discussed this week include SXSW, Emerald City Comic Con, new Tomb Raider reboot, Wonder Woman TV show casting, Superman’s mom and dad, trailers for Limitless and James Gunn’s Super and a whole lot more. And yes, there’s even a mention or two of Charlie Sheen. Sorry, couldn’t help it.

Of course, your hosts also made some picks this week including Matt’s pick of the Re-Animator trilogy featuring Jeffrey Combs and Chris’ pick of the 2002’s Road to Perdition featuring Tom Hanks, Jude Law and pre-Bond Daniel Craig.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, at Facebook and MySpace or via email.

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We’ve heard names like Kevin Costner for Jonathan Kent and Viggo Mortensen for General Zod being thrown around for Zack Snyder’s upcoming reboot of the Superman franchise, but they are not for sure yet. However, we do officially have another name to add to the cast alongside Henry Cavill as the title character. That name? Diane Lane, who is now set to play Clark Kent’s mom, Martha Kent.

The news was broken by THR late yesterday.

Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures said late Wednesday that the actress is set as “the only mother Clark Kent has ever known.”

“This was a very important piece of casting for me because Martha Kent is the woman whose values helped shape the man we know as Superman,” Snyder said in a statement. “We are thrilled to have Diane in the role because she can convey the wisdom and the wonder of a woman whose son has powers beyond her imagination.”

Considering names like Phyllis Thaxter, K Callan, and Eva Marie Saint have played the character in the past, we’re expecting Snyder to take a drastic turn with Martha, as Lane is only 56. Lane is the second name to be cast in the film, after word came in earlier this year that The Tudors star Henry Cavill was to take the lead as the Man of Steel.

Snyder, who’s normally known for casting relative unknowns who pull off amazing performances, seems to be taking to the higher-profile names for this film. Could it be pressure from WB to compete with Nolan’s all-star supporting cast of Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman for the Batman films?

We’re hoping to get some solid casting announcements in the coming weeks that will prove that theory.