2012 is shaping up to be quite a year for the apparently neverendingly popular superhero genre.* Next year may represent the apex of the genre, with The Avengers facing off with The Dark Knight Rises in summer (well, separated by a couple of months) and Superman scheduled to return again in December.
Yesterday the latest element to slot into place in the Superman puzzle is the essential casting of Lois Lane. Amy Adams is going to play the plucky reporter. A brilliant bit of casting, I think - Adams has the cute girl-next-door looks combined with evident acting ability (Oscar nominated three times) and even past experience with comic timing (Talladega Nights) - important in delivering some, hopefully, witty exchanges with Clark Kent. Adams has a great chance to be the first really excellent Lois - no-one, not even Margot Kidder, has really done the part justice, and Kate Bosworth was practically a charisma vacuum in Superman Returns.
So, to prevent this article from ballooning even more than it's already going to, here I'll summarise in handy bullet point form the rest of what we know - or think we know - about Zack Snyder's Superman so far...
- Announced a while back, Henry Cavill is playing Supes/Clark. The Jersey native (that's the Channel Island, not the US state New Jersey) is probably best known for playing a lord with a knack with the ladies in TV's The Tudors. Apparently his audition was excellent. I just hope he can pull off an American accent.
- Zack Snyder is directing, as mentioned already - the recent poisonous reception of the just-released Sucker Punch may have given Warner Bros. execs some concern - and Christopher Nolan is apparently "overseeing", but with no actual say in creative choices, which he's leaving up to others.
- The specific direction of the plot is still unclear, but it does seem to be some sort of origin story. This is a reboot, folks - they are deliberately distancing themselves from the poorly received Superman Returns. Supposedly, writer David S. Goyer (Batman Begins, Blade) pitched an innovative new take on the material. Probably means they're not going to use John Williams' theme music. Shame.
- Superman's earthbound foster parents - Jonathan and Martha Kent - are being played by Kevin Costner and Diane Lane. More Smallville than Superman: The Movie in the age department, then, but some surprisingly big names. Wonder if Costner will make it to the end credits alive?
- It's heavily rumoured (or assumed) that the main villain is going to be none other than General Zod. Some have grumbled that they should be using a brand new villain from Superman's extensive roster, but I'm not against the idea - Zod's a classic villain, the evil opposite to Boy Blue Kal-El, and the thought of a Superman II-style battle with modern effects has me salivating. Better still, the casting rumours are tantalising: Viggo Mortensen. It seems unlikely to me that he'd say yes to it, but I could think of nobody better, and Viggo has just pulled out of the upcoming Snow White and the Woodsman.
- The presence of Zod means, probably, Ursa and Non too. Heresay a while back had Diane Kruger and Rosamund Pike in the frame for the former. Lately, Michael Shannon has emerged as a candidate for a villain and people have guessed it might be the mute Non.
- No confirmed title yet, but Superman: Man of Steel seems all but certain.
Once the dust has settled on 2012, though, where does the superhero film go from there? Nolan's Batman cycle will be over, the Avengers will have assembled, and, barring anything calamitous, Superman will have flown again. Perhaps it will be time for a change.
*I may have ranted rather negatively about the genre the other day, specifically the ubiquitous origin stories, but I don't hold any contempt for it - just the over-reliance on familiar plot beats.
Source: Chud.com for Amy Adams story.
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