Director Zack Snyder‘s Man of Steel took its first flight eight years ago on June 14, 2013, launching the DC Extended Universe with Henry Cavill‘s Superman. An origin story for the Last Son of Krypton sent to Earth by his parents Lara (Ayelet Zurer) and Jor-El (Russell Crowe), Man of Steel reveals the young Kal-El’s beginnings as a farm boy raised by adoptive parents Martha (Diane Lane) and Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner). With help from Lois Lane (Amy Adams), Clark Kent takes his place in the Sun as mankind’s greatest hero when Superman defends his world from General Zod (Michael Shannon) and invading Kryptonians.
Rebooting Superman is “an enormous responsibility,” screenwriter David S. Goyer said in a 2013 interview with Screen Crush. “People have a proprietary relationship with Superman. A lot of people would say that’s my Superman, but there’s the [George] Reeves Superman from the ’50s, the [Max] Fleischer Superman, Lois & Clark Superman [played by Dean Cain], and the [Richard] Donner Superman [played by Christopher Reeve].”
“It’s important to respect the iconography and respect the canon, but … at the same time, you have to tell a story,” Goyer said in 2013. “And once you sort of land on who you think the character is and what his conflicts are, you have to let that lead you. You have to throw all that other stuff away and not be worried about this epic responsibility or it will just crush you and paralyze you.”
Man of Steel grossed $668 million worldwide in the summer of 2013, becoming the ninth highest-grossing film of the year.
The reboot, produced by The Dark Knight trilogy filmmaker Christopher Nolan, spawned Snyder-directed followups in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice — pitting Cavill’s Man of Steel against Ben Affleck’s Dark Knight — and 2017’s Justice League. In 2020, Cavill briefly reprised his role for additional photography on Zack Snyder’s Justice League, a.k.a. the Snyder Cut, Snyder’s director’s cut of Justice League featuring a black-suited Superman returned from the dead.
After releasing an IMAX remaster of Batman v Superman on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, Snyder said earlier this year that Man of Steel “probably does need a remaster” and that it’s “worth a look.” Man of Steel is available streaming on HBO Max.