Man of Steel

It's not an "S"

Man of Steel is a 2013 reboot of the Superman movie franchise. The film is directed by Zack Snyder, produced by Christopher Nolan, and written by the team of Nolan and David S. Goyer.

The cast includes Henry Cavill (Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman), Amy Adams (Lois Lane), Kevin Costner (Jonathan Kent), Diane Lane (Martha Kent), Michael Shannon (General Zod), Antje Traue (Zod's accomplice Faora), Russell Crowe (Jor-El), and Ayelet Zorer (Lara Lor-Van).

Tropes used in Man of Steel include:

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• Anti-Villain: Zod might not care much for humans but he is not acting out of pure malice. As he himself says: "every action I take no matter how violent or how cruel is for the greater good of my people."
• Apocalypse Wow: The destruction of Krypton is nothing if not visually stunning.
• Arc Symbol: The symbol of the House of El. On Krypton it represents Hope. On Earth, it looks very much like an S and eventually comes to mean Superman.
• Awesomeness By Analysis: Jor-El. Despite being a member of the Thinker Guild, he is more than just a scientist and proves to be a skilled warrior as well, defeating several of Zod's followers and even Zod himself in hand-to-hand combat.
  • Zod himself proves to be this. As a member of the Warrior's Guild, he is expected to be a great fighter, but he takes this up a notch when he gains superpowers, learning to fly in less than a day while it took Superman 33 years.
• Badass Normal: Anyone who faces off against a Kryptonian deserves this. Special mention goes to Colonel Nathan Hardy who even prepares to duel Faora with a knife.
• Brought Down to Normal: This happens to Kal-El briefly, when he is brought on board the Kryptonian ship. His body struggles to adjust to its surroundings and he almost passes out. Lois and Jor-El help him recover with a little sunlight
• Big Bad: Surprisingly not Lex Luthor, who appears in the next film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. General Zod fills this role instead.
• Continuity Reboot
• Crystal Spires and Togas: Averted for Krypton, unlike Richard Donner's adaptation of Superman. Instead, Krypton looks more like the technological city as seen in 2010-era Superman comics (and the animated series).
• Doomed Hometown: Krypton. No surprise there.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: When Kal first arrives, he doesn't fit in with the rest. He doesn't know whether to use his powers or not and his father dies when he doesn't. Then the only survivors of his home planet arrive, but when he learns of their intent to eradicate humanity, he stands against them. After a great battle, he finds love with a human, Lois Lane, and embraces his role as a hero while reclaiming his original identity as Clark Kent.
• Hybrid Monster: Nam-Ek serves as this, his DNA being part Rondor. As such he's nearly ten feet tall and much stronger than the other Kryptonian invaders.
• No Endor Holocaust: Averted. Thousands of people are crushed to death during the terraforming process and several more die during the climactic battle. this carries over to the sequel and serves as Batman's primary justification for wanting to kill Superman.
• Fake American-raised Alien: Henry Cavill is the first British actor to play Superman.
• Race Lift: Laurence Fishburne as the first non-white Perry White in any version of Superman. Most likely a Type 8, given the gravitas with which Fishburne has played many of his roles.