Henry Cavill is Superman in Man of Steel
Man of Steel – June 14 2013
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past year, or stuck in an Iranian prison camp, you already know about the new and up coming Superman movie, Man of Steel, that’s coming out in 2013. We’re not going to bore you with the details other than Henry Cavill is a British actor who has appeared in The Count of Monte Cristo and Stardust, and played the role of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, on the Showtime series The Tudors, is playing Clark Kent/Superman. The director is Zack Snyder, who’s known for directing Sucker Punch, Watchmen, 300, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole and Dawn of the Dead (2004).
Analyses of Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel Suit
The Hair
The Hair: Here are our immediate thoughts on the new suit. First, the hair. Yeah, we’re going to talk about his hair, so shut up. No, it’s not the traditional Superman cow lick swirl, and yeah it’s reminiscent of John Travolta in Grease, but we can live with it and it’s not a deal breaker. As long as he’s tall, dark and handsome and has a mean jaw and the muscles to back it up, that’s what’s most important.
The Cape
The Cape: If you’ve ever taken time to study Superman’s cape, the way it inserts into his shirt, you’ll see that it’s quite different from what Batman has going on. In the comics, it actually kind of tucks in under the shirt. Christopher Reeve did a great job in duplicating what we saw in the comics. Here, Henry’s costume people are making some drastic changes.
Notice the outline seam and the “slots” that are specially designed for the cape to insert into. On one hand, at first glance, it mirrors the comic, but on close inspection, it’s a step in a more technical direction. If you’ve ever tried to make a Superman cape and attempted to attach it to your body, so it looks like the comic or movie, you’ll know it’s an extremely challenging task. It’s incredibly hard to pull it off correctly. Snyder’s team looks like they’ve put a LOT of thought into how this looks, attempting to stay true to the comic while incorporating a technical apsect possibly due to the realistic issues raised when one wears a cape. Yeah, it’s a deviation, but they pretty much have to in order to get the desired look we need and want.
The Shield & Blue Suit
The Shield & Blue Suit: The “S” symbol is clearly a throwback to an older school Superman symbol. Thank god. THANK FRAKING GOD! Snyder ISN’T trying to change something merely for the sake of changing it, marking his territory with something new, “Zack Snyder was here!” I’m sorry but Bryan Singer did NOT make Superman correct and took advantage of artistic license for no valid reason. The presentation of the “S” is the foundation for the entire outfit, hero and movie. Snyder is doing it right, and though it’s an older style symbol, it looks like his heart is in the right place and he’s right on course. This give us hope. …A New Hope!*
Having said that…. what the hell is going on with the fish scale/Spider-Man movie suit pattern on his blue tights? Here is what we think. Take a look at Christopher Reeve’s outfit, you see “seams.” In the comics, there are no seams, unless you’re looking at something Alex Ross did and then it’s ok. It’s not just the seams, it’s the implied message behind them, “if there is a watch then there is a watchmaker,” if there are seams, then there is a seam maker,” … a stitcher, tailor, an old lady using a Singer sewing machine adding a hem and pleats. All depictions of mortal, reality… poof! There goes our suspension of disbelief, at least for the comic-technophiles.
No… best to avoid all the questions and delve straight into the comic concept of “it’s magic, don’t ask too many questions or you’ll get slapped.” Like, “how does Spider-Man crawl on walls?” Shut up! Just accept it.” The lack of seams is an absence of distraction. .. .(what? too many double negatives) .. ok, the seams brings Superman down to Earth and gets in the way of our suspension of disbelief. Snyder’s suit here looks like it is helping us with our suspension.
We’re also thinking that in order to pull the whole thing off, (making it work and come together) the “scale” or “cell” look (as seen in Spider-Man) is part needed technical and part aesthetic. Technical, possibly as a micro, seamless layer affixed atop an underlying suit. Aesthetic as to help create that shine we see on superheroes’ suits (heroes don’t wear cotton) without it looking like Mylar. … Yeah, we’re speculating, but we’re still hoping that there is most likely a valid, technical reason for the celled look and that it was not done willy-nilly.
The Cape Pleats
The Cape Again: The cape is critical. If you look at Christopher Reeve’s photos, you’ll see that his cape is relatively flat, not much happening. (No, we’re not criticizing Christopher, that would be sacrilege. We’re just pointing out a comparison.) If you take a look at Chris Hemsworth’s cape from Thor, you’ll see that director Kenneth Branagh introduced some massive, elevated pleats that look like they literally jumped right out of the comic book. They’re perfect. Henry’s Man of Steel cape looks like they’ve gone along the same lines with the pleats, but toned them down a bit to rest on his shoulders. The pleats add dimension and girth to the cape.
Again, if you’ve ever worked with a cape before, tried to cut and sew and attach to your person, you’ll know that a pleated cape is much, much more impressive (due to overflowing and cascading material down the back) when compared to a non pleated cape that seems to just lie there. This new design is a good thing.
The Boots
The Boots: For once… the boots are perfect. PERFECT. Look at any Superman comic and you will see:
- Snug red boot coming up, just below the knee,
- “V” notch in front,
- Tapering downward towards the calf in back
- An ever so light seam about an inch below the top portion of the boot.
Notice how snug they look, not like the pieces of garbage that we saw in Superman Returns, did you take a good look at them? They’re hideous.
Overall, the colors are back on track as well, especially the red. Singer’s Superman outfit went away from the comic book red and jumped head long into “rusty brown.” However, Snyder’s red, though not as bright as Christopher Reeve’s nor as bright as we see in the comics, is an acceptable, muted red that not only honors and pays homage to the comics but is needed to maintain a realistic and plausible effect, since, too bright of colors on a superhero costume introduces the “yellow spandex” effect which just throws everything out the window.
Timex? .. or web-shooter?
We like what we see and we think Snyder is on the right path. If this picture is indicative of what we are to see in the Man of Steel movie, then we are standing beside ourselves, bursting with fruit flavor in antici….pation. … the only thing we want to know is, … is that a Kryptonian Timex he’s wearing or a web-shooter?
- Ronando
Superman is concerned about many things, specifically humanity’s safety. Sometimes, to really think about how best to assist us, he just needs to gets the hell away from all the white noise and toxic thinking! 
T-Shirt
And, ooooh….looky here! It’s Batman walking from the draping shadow, contrasted by the splatter of bats and suffused with Gothic pretense in the
adorned by one Ted Kord! Ah, good old Ted Kord. He liked to kid around. Lots. Sometimes, he and Booster Gold would get together and attempt to make ridiculous amounts of money at the expense of other super-people. Or, Blue Beetle and Booster would get together and attempt to make ridiculous amounts of money by applying little or no thought, effort or creativity into..well, anything. It was beer, pizza, Football and making fun of Guy’s face after Batman ####-slapped him in a singular strike! It was the eyes crossing that really brought out the louder bwah-hah-hawing. Classic Blue and Gold, baby.
Superman vs. Muhammad Ali’s wraparound cover shows a host of late 1970s celebrities, including Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, Tony Orlando, Johnny Carson, Ron Palillo, the cast of Welcome Back, Kotter, and The Jackson 5; sharing close-up seating with Wonder Woman, Batman, Green Lantern, and other DC superheroes; as well as Warner and DC employees.
Till then… guess it’s just more pizza, Warcraft and strippers! Yeah baby!!
