Superman: Man of Steel - Coming December 2012

Director - Zack Snyder
Lead Actors
Superman/Clark Kent - Henry Cavill
Lois Lane - Amy Adams
Martha Kent - Diane Lane
Jonathan Kent - Kevin Costner

So, since the release date for this movie is still so far in the future, I was unable to get a trailer, for obvious reasons, but couldn't even find an official movie poster for this go 'round of our favourite alien in blue spandex.
Since my boyfriend is big into both the Marvel and DC comic book universes, and Superman is arguably his favourite person in either, I'm always hearing about what's happening with the Superman movie franchise long before the movie hits the silver screen, and this time has been no exception.

Of course, the 6 million dollar question was again, who is going to play the Man of Steel? When I heard that Henry Cavill was chosen,  it was a definite 'yay' vote for me, I mean, have you seen the guy? He is HOT! But I did have to ask the question, 'Have you seen the guy?' Could the Superman franchise be suffering because of the choices that have been made to cast lesser known actors in the lead role? Its no secret that the previous incarnation of Superman starring Brandon Routh in 2006 didn't do nearly as well as expected. I mean we know that comic book lovers like my boyfriend will always line up to support their favourite super heroes, but what about movie goers such as myself, who aren't really into the comic book universe? When it comes to a Superman movie for someone like me, its needs to stand on its own as a great movie.

With names like Kevin Spacy and Kate Bosworth in the 2006 attempt to resurrect this franchise, could it be that the secondary cast members simply outshone Brandon Routh as the lead?

I knew exactly who Henry Cavill was when I heard he had landed the role of mild mannered reporter Clark Kent, but that's because I have a fascination with Tudor era England, and very much enjoyed watching him as Henry XIII's (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) right hand man, and loyal friend Charles Brandon in that series. I've also seen him in a couple of my other favourite movies, Stardust, Tristan & Isolde  and The Count of Monte Cristo. Notice what all of these rolls have in common? I consider them all 'period movies', which just so happens to be my favourite genre. Not however a list of movies that I would suspect that your average comic book aficionado has on their Netflix cue. In fact, I'm the only person I know that has seen all of those movies, along with the Tudors, and owns any of these titles and wants to own the rest.

I know when the Batman franchise was reinvigorated in 2005 with Batman Begins my draw to see that movie was Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne. He was already a well known name in Hollywood, and to me personally, having seen him first in Little Women years ago, but more recently in movies like The Machinist, Reign of Fire  and Equilibrium. Of course, after attending Batman Begins I was only to excited to see The Dark Knight cause lets face it, the story line was great and the action was awesome. Because of this Christopher Nolan, director of the wildly successful Batman movies was brought on to help with the revamp of the Superman series as a creative consultant. But I have to wonder, will it be enough?

Take a look at the other names in this movie. Amy Adams? Diane Lane? Kevin Costner? It was even rumored that Kevin Spacey would be reprising his role as Lex Luthor, although, I can't find any confirmation of that at the moment. Even looking at some of the lists that were circulating of contenders for the role of Lois Lane, many were dismissed out of hand simply because the were too well known to play opposite Henry. Natalie Portman, Jessica Biel, Ellen Page, and Olivia Wilde to name a few. Personally, I would have loved to see Erica Durance have the chance to explore her take no prisoners portrayal of Lois Lane from Smallville to the big screen.

So to sum it up, I guess the question this movie is going to answer for me it this:
Is a great story enough to propel a movie with a rumored 175 million dollar budget to the status of 2012 Blockbuster, or will it fall short without a better known leading man? Henry does have a couple of movies scheduled to come out this year, perhaps they will be successful enough to put him in the spotlight. Maybe by the release of Superman: Man of Steel in late 2012, Henry Cavill will be a household name.

Personally, I'm pulling for Henry. He's a great actor and oh so easy on the eyes. I hope he is the Superman in the movie that brings this franchise new life.