That man is Superman.
I've been a major Superman fan ever since I was a kid. I rarely ever read the comic books, and that never really mattered to me one way or the other. One of the reasons why I don't read the source material for many of these superheroes is because comic book publishers are constantly retconning themselves from one storyline to another. Every so often they'll do a story to really rip up and rebuild one or more titles at a time (Marvel's Civil War story arc from a couple years ago is a good example of redoing lots of things all at once), but more often then not publishers will do a reset in order to tell a new series of stories with their characters.
I have fond memories of watching the Christopher Reeve Superman movies when I was a kid. I recall having my own cape to run through my backyard and pretend I was flying at supersonic speeds just like Superman. The original film from 1978 still stands as one of my top five favorite films of all time, and Superman 2 still has, to this day, the greatest all-out brawl that's ever been put to film in my opinion.
I say all this because I saw the teaser trailer for Man of Steel Friday night with The Dark Knight Rises. If you haven't yet seen it, check it out for yourself:
I'm not one to review something like a trailer because there have been plenty of kick-ass trailers for movies that turned out to be crap, and vice versa. However, I had to comment on this teaser. It's not about showing Superman in action, nor is it about showing too many special effects. It's about reintroducing us to what is arguably the most iconic character in American lore. It's about creating an emotional impact for the audience. It's about doing something new with a character who most anyone knows the basics about.
The first time I saw this teaser in the theater, I was caught completely off guard. It's not what I had expected for a first teaser, and I loved that about it. When it was over, I looked over at my two buddies I was with in the theater - one of whom said straight up he was not a Superman fan at all - and we all had this look of awe in our eyes.
Zach Snyder is directing Man of Steel, and his film record to date is spotty at best. His first film was Dawn of the Dead, which was a decent enough zombie survival horror flick. Then he made 300, which was exciting to be sure, but the story had no depth to it. He followed that up with Watchmen, a film that I have seen but can't say I either liked or disliked it. His most recent film was Sucker Punch which I have not seen, but everything I've read online about it paints it to be one of the single worst films of the last decade.
Based on the few images contained in this teaser and Snyder's record to date, Man of Steel will be visually impressive if nothing else. I only hope the character has the same kind of heroism and awe that Superman has been associated with for 75 years. Superman: The Movie and Superman II both captured those factors, and I want a new Superman film that I love as much as those two films. Superman Returns tried to capture that same magic, but it ultimately didn't work. Man of Steel looks like it could be much more serious in tone than other previous Superman films, which could be a good thing for the character and the franchise. Rebooting the franchise into something entirely new doesn't spit on the great films that came before it, and it also gives a new generation the chance to fall in love with an icon all over again.
I really want Man of Steel to be something special. The film doesn't arrive in theaters till June 2013, so I have a good while to wait and build anticipation for it. If this teaser's mood and tone accurately represents the final film, I think I'm going to be very happy with it. Of course, the flip side is how much of a disaster the movie could also be if it doesn't work. At this point, I'm cautiously optimistic.
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