8. A Superman Story Spanning Generations
It's no secret, now that Man Of Steel has opened, that many people are taking issue with the story that is ultimately told by the end of the film, and the fateful choice Kal-El is forced to make during his climactic battle scene with General Zod. While the controversial decision Superman definitively makes will be discussed and dissected later in this article, the path writer David S. Goyer creates and sets viewers upon to get there is one created from years of rich Superman storytelling. The changes in the decades-old Superman narrative and his well known origin that were made for Man Of Steel were the right changes that needed to be made. Most of you don't realize that DC Comics has started anew within the last two years, relaunching all of their comic book lines, starting again with Issue #1, including every comic book from Batman to Hawkman to all of the various Superman titles. Kal-El and Clark Kent have been reborn for a new generation, and Man Of Steel is a reflection of these changes, now put on film, for a new era. And also let's not forget what this film depicts for a new generation: the very first time in which Clark Kent dons the legendary, iconic suit and ultimately becomes Superman! Midway through Man Of Steel he has only just become Superman, finally making the fateful decision to use his abilities for the good of mankind...and he will make mistakes. He has been unsure of himself and even afraid to use his powers for fear of hurting others, and rightfully so. By the middle of the film he is forced to confront General Zod or put in harm's way his adopted home world which he has spent his entire life being apart of. The internal conflict Clark faces makes this film a bolder take on Superman than we have ever seen before, and it goes without saying that the choices he makes throughout the film will go on to shape how the world views him, and how he ultimately feels about himself. Several significant Superman comic book tales stand out when looking at Man Of Steel as a finished product, and here are several of them we can look towards in order to get a better understanding of this new, fantastic world created in Snyder's Man Of Steel.
Superman: Birthright, from 2003 and written by Mark Waid, shows Kal-El returning after being out in the real world trying to find himself, and coming back home to Smallville. It's there at home that he discusses with his mother his alien heritage, and they unearth the ship in which he was sent to Earth. Notable developments taken from this story for Man Of Steel would ultimately include a discussion of the "S" symbol and it's representation of "hope" for the Kryptonian race, back when the planet of Krypton itself was flourishing with life.
John Byrne's Superman: The Man Of Steel, from 1986, introduced the world to a Krypton much like the one depicted in the new Man Of Steel film. This book shows a planet that is cold and callous, and one where births are the product of Kryptonian science and not natural selection. Also shown here is a Lex Luthor that's a more shrewd, successful businessman and less an ideological tyrant. The seeds of this Lex Luthor can be seen throughout Man Of Steel in the many representations of LexCorp that are scattered across the film.
Superman: Earth One is the probably the most compelling storyline from which Man Of Steel borrows. In this 2 volume story, written just several years ago by J. Michael Straczynski, we find a young Clark Kent discovering his way towards becoming Superman, deciding just how to use his powers as he attempts to settle into life inside Metropolis. Also depicted in this story is an invasion of an alien warlord into Metropolis who is searching the cosmos for our Last Son of Krypton.
DC's New 52 Action Comics series is the most recent of all the stories pulled from for the new film. The Superman of these comics is unafraid to show his power in public; he is brash and unrefined, he is taunting and unafraid, and still newly minted into Metropolis. The public doesn't really know how they feel about this alien from another world, and Lex Luthor most of all is skeptical of his presence on our planet. Sound familiar? These and several other Superman tales were mined and melded in order to create the world embodied by Man Of Steel. By compiling multiple stories from Superman's past and taking new initiatives with the character himself, writer David S. Goyer was able to better round-out a new Superman vision for a new era. So now that we have the story, let's move on to the stellar cast of Man Of Steel...