Man of Steel.

Man Of Steel's teaser poster & the cover to THE NEW 52
ACTION COMICS #3

MAN OF STEEL looks like it's going to the be able to walk the tightrope paradox that tripped up the last two incarnations: namely the play-it-safe familiarity of Superman Returns or the production hell clusterfuck that was Superman Lives. Producer Chris Nolan's penchant for plausability meets director Snyder's central belief that a protaganist's perpetual suffering builds character. If an invincible alien came to Earth today and started playing Boy Scout collecting cats from trees, we probably would be at least initially skeptical, if not suspicious. Many of us would be confrontational. More to the point, persecution by his adopted planet also adds more pathos to the pre-Superman Clark Kent's pondering who he was born to be. He cannot console our human anxieties about his intentions, because not even he knows who-or-what he is,  at least not until his pilgrimage to the Fortress of Solitude to learn of his Kryptonian roots. Choosing Zod as the villain keeps this antagonism from the wider world going, even when Superman starts saving people. Joe Public can say "Hey, he may have stopped saved that man but that doesn't make up for bringing Zod's destruction to Earth." Getting the world back on side also gives
THE DAILY PLANET cast members something to do.

Covers to THE NEW 52
ACTION COMICS #1 & #2

Some of the most refreshing reboots in DC Comic's THE NEW 52 have been an itial mistrust from Metropolis at large, and significantly minimising the Clark Kent factor overall. Superman never dates Lois Lane; Ma & Pa Kent are resting peacefully in the ground long before Clark reaches Metropolis in adulthood. This allows the reflecting sides of the Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent triangle to ponder exactly what it means for a man to be Super, and to pursue a relationship with Wonder Woman to explore the intriguing dilemmas of demigod dating. What's interesting with Snyder's take on this public persecution, is that is Clark Kent as a human that feels most isolated from humanity, and it is becoming Superman that brings him back to us.

Many comic fans reject Superman because he is too powerful for any threat against him to be taken seriously. The most obvious solution then is to up the stakes with a more godly villain, and we can be thankful that they chose Zod again. Would have been nice to try someone new for a change, but it's better than them hamming up another Lex Luthor. That said, Luthor is a formidable villian done properly, and dollars-for-donuts there'll be a hint to him in the sequel ala the end of Batman Begins. With the whole world against him, it only adds to Superman's tragic heroism in trying to save that very world. Superman's suffering comes not from any threat against himself, but to all of us. He cannot be everywhere at once; he cannot possibly save everyone. Superman's whole shtick is to fight against the futility of his perpetual sacrifice to us.

The coolest thing about this Snyder's take is that he's managed to make us sympathise with Superman whilst also emphasising his growing detachment from our species. And not in a Smallville-esque way of Clark Kent's blossoming isolation relating to a teen angst we all remember, but in a wider human sense that we all recognise. We identify with Superman's inner struggles of what to do with all our power, of which talents to harness at the expense of others, of whom to spend our time on. So rarely are we ourselves under physical threat, yet so often do we each run through Superman's dilemma of whom to help most, or what to do with all the freedoms we find ourselves with.

Superman looks so simultaneously meek & proud in those paper tiger handcuffs. Don't worry, Supes. You'll inherit the Earth in the sequel. They're really cranking up the Jesus imagery in this one. Amen to that.

KnightofDuroch's recut trailers of 1978's SUPERMAN are even better than the original MAN OF STEEL teasers they're paying homage to.