Slew of Superman Updates from Zack Snyder

WithSucker Punchset to open this Friday, director Zack Snyder is making the press rounds to promote his latest film, a wild girl power flick that smashes together a multitude of genres, time periods, and role-playing fetishes. The jury is still out on that, at least until the studio lifts the critic embargo currently protecting its $85 million movie.

Luckily, Snyder was somewhat forthcoming about his next project, a fresh adaptation of the DC Comics hero operating under the working titleSuperman:Man of Steel.

Fans have been keeping a close eye on the casting, particularly after the left-field announcement ofBritish unknown Henry Cavillfor the lead. But Diane LaneandKevin Costnerwere soon confirmed to play Clark Kent’s adoptive parents (Martha and Jonathan) and that initial skepticism seemed to slowly give way to cautious optimism.

Snyder toldi09,“My idea was that Superman’s parents should be vibrant, like real people, not like some doddering ancient cliché… I think the thing you realize when you look at Diane and Kevin, in our decision to cast them so far, you sort of get a sense of how tonally we’re looking at the movie, and what you realize is that those guys are serious actors, and we’re taking this shit fucking seriously in terms of the toneof having those guys.” Love it.

Unfortunately, Snyder confirmed toLatinoReviewthat Viggo Mortensen willnotbe joining the cast. The prolific actor had beenrumoredfor the film’s widely speculated villain, General Zod. (Does this mean Mortensen is doingSnow White and the Huntsmaninstead?)

Apart from denying Internet speculation, Snyder isn’t authorized to talk much about the movie itself. Talk did, however, turn to Snyder being asked to direct the reboot.  ”{Superman} came out of nowhere really, it wasn’t what we had planned,” said Snyder’s fellow producer and wife Deborah Snyder over the weekend at the Los Angeles press event (viaThe Playlist). The300director had been working ona prequelto his 2006 sword-and-sandal actioner, a project titledXerxesand based on a new graphic novel from Frank Miller.

But the Snyders were essentially sold after a lunch meeting with producerChristopher Nolanand his own wife/producing partner, Emma Thomas. “I said to Zack ‘I don’t really know about this,’” Deborah Snyder recalled. ”Well, lets go see what they have to say, and we both left saying wow. This is great!”

Of course, the Snyders were naturally coy about details regarding the plot and characterization of Kryptonian hero, but Zack said,“I think‘Superman’ is broken and needs to be fixed, from a movie stand point.” In another interview with theLA Times, Snyder confirmed his take will follow an approach similar to Nolan’sBatman Beginsby bearing no connection to previous Superman movies while still“respecting the canon.”

Fishing for a vague enough analogy and perhaps brandishing a renewed loyalty to DC Comics, Snyder even took a few shots at Marvel’s recent superhero movie slate.

“I’m a fan ofIron Manmovies, but really? Iron Man. A whole franchise of movies.Iron Man 4? Fair enough, but the fact that we don’t have a Superman movie in the midst of this is crazy,” Snyder said.“It would be like if we were making a movie about all the Greek gods, but no one had made a movie about Zeus because they’re like, ‘I don’t know what to do with him, he’s too awesome.’ We’re at this point where all of these minor Gods have movies and franchises, and it just seems to me that it’s time to fix that… I’m like reallyThor? Like really? It’s like the world is out of balance. It’s like we lost our mind here people, ‘Come on.’”

Be sure to visit our sources for more info:The Playlist,LA Times,Latino Review,i09

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