One of the major points of contention for fans with 2013’s Man of Steel was the slaying of General Zod at the hands of Superman. Now it seems things are about to get even stranger with the character. It was confirmed in the last trailer for the film that Michael Shannon will reprise his role as (the corpse) of General Zod in the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and in an interview with Vulture, he reveals a strange detail about his character that became inconvenient when he went to the restroom.
“I was in my costume, and I couldn’t use my fingers because in the sequel I have flippers instead of hands. So I had these wax flippers on my fingers, and I couldn’t open the door, and I could hear Zack [Snyder, the director] being like, ‘Where’s Shannon? Where the f**k is he?’ and the whole crew was standing around. I was like, knocking on the door with my flippers, ‘Let me out of here!’”
If you heard a record scratch while reading that quote, you’re not alone, because the addition of flippers to General Zod’s body is certainly not from the source material.
You might recall that the Batman v Superman release date was initially set for this summer – it’s true! The film was originally set to debut in theaters on July 17, a release date later occupied by Marvel’s own Ant-Man, but was bumped to May 6, 2016, a date that was already set for an untitled Marvel Studios film, which we now know is Captain America: Civil War.
The game of “release date” Chicken continued for some time, and WB ultimately moved the film to its current slot of March 25, 2016. Ironically, their president even mentioned they thought Marvel wouldn’t be able to have their film ready for that date. Which is where we find ourselves today, the titans of DC and Marvel will square off against themselves and their biggest rivals next year in a span of just six weeks, and fan excitement couldn’t be at a higher level.
Currently, the gap between WB’s only DC Cinematic Universe films is almost three years, but speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara elaborated on their reasoning for the release shuffle, and confirmed he’s already seen the film multiple times.
“It was a tough decision at the time because it was going to create a hole in 2015,” he says. “But it was absolutely the right decision for the franchise, for DC and the movie. Having seen the movie multiple times, and again last night, I’m extremely confident it was the right decision to make the movie better. And it’s so important for the studio to get the foundation right on DC.”
The wait from Man of Steel to the “Dawn of Justice” will have been a long one, but WB is banking on DC big time. Suicide Squad will follow “Batman v Superman” in August 2016 with production on a solo Wonder Woman to start this fall and the first Justice League film beginning production next spring. Let’s just hope that the lengthy gaps don’t happen once again.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice stars Henry Cavill in the role of Clark Kent/Superman, and Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman. The film also stars Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, with Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Diane Lane returning from Man of Steel, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Jeremy Irons as Alfred, and Holly Hunter in a role newly created for the film. Jason Momoa will also be making an appearance as Aquaman.
Directed by Zack Snyder, written by Chris Terrio, from a screenplay by David S. Goyer, the film is produced by Charles Roven and Deborah Snyder with Benjamin Melniker, Michael E. Uslan, Wesley Coller, David S. Goyer and Geoff Johns serving as executive producers.
I won't lie to when I tell you that I wasn't at all impressed with this movie, in fact I downright hated hit. The movie did nothing for me except show me some warped out version of the greatest superheroes in the world, kind of like they made a mistake with this movie. Now you might be as dishearted by this as I was but I must tell you that I was really impressed the second time around.
Not only do we get to see an alternate version of the Justice League, namely Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman but the storyline shows us a world where, as the title expresses, leaves us wondering whether our favourite heroes are gods or monsters and perhaps both.
New origin stories, an intriguing change from what we've been used to like Kal-el being Zod's son and then being sent to Earth and being raised by Mexican migrants or Batman being an actual vampire and not the Bruce Wayne we're all used to. Each story, including Wonder woman's story, are filled with emotion, love and pain and we see how these heroes are twisted into what the movie portrays them as. There is good inside them but the Justice League come across as nothing more than a bunch of government hired thugs who have no issue killing people at their leisure.
Any fans of the Justice might need to watch this as it gives you a view into a world that could've been had things turned out differently. The story is honest and filled with betrayal and heartbreak thus moulding each of the characters into harder, more violent version of the ones we've all come to know and love. Definitely worth a look.
Justice League: Gods and Monsters is a 2015 direct-to-video animated superhero film featuring the DC Comics superhero team the Justice League and is part of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies. It was released as a digital download on July 21, 2015 and released on DVD and Blu-ray on July 28, 2015.
JUSTICE LEAGUE GODS AND MONSTERS SYNOPSIS
In an alternate universe, the Justice League is a brutal force that maintains order on Earth. This universe has its own versions of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman:
This universe's version of Superman is Hernan Guerra. He is the son of General Zod who was rocketed to Earth as a child and raised by a family of honorable and hardworking Mexican migrant farmers. Having to go through the troubles that illegal immigrants have in the United States leads him to become short tempered and withdrawn from humanity.
Batman is Dr. Kirk Langstrom, a scientist who has inadvertently transformed himself into a form of pseudo-vampire in an attempt to cure his cancer, feeding on criminals to satisfy his hunger after his hunger begins to eat away at his humanity.
Wonder Woman is Bekka, a New God and the widow of Darkseid's son Orion who fled Apokolips for Earth using a mother box-sword after the New God Highfather killed her husband.[1][2]
The Justice League's unaccountability is ultimately challenged by the world's governments following the suspicious deaths of renowned scientists,[3] including Victor Fries being found drained of blood in the Arctic, Ray Palmer's car crushed with a woman's bootprint in the door, and Silas Stone burned alive by heat vision along with his son Victor Stone.
As all suspicion falls on the Justice League, President Amanda Waller asks that they co-operate with the Government's investigation. Wonder Woman speaks to Steve Trevor to learn what the Government knows while Superman invites Lois Lane to the Justice League's HQ, where he tells her of his goals to try to help humanity, and also reveals how little he knows about Krypton or his heritage.
Batman investigates himself and discovers an email on Silas' computer, that was sent to a number of scientists including Will Magnus, Batman's college roommate who helped his transformation. Batman asks Magnus about "Project FairPlay," which involved all the scientists under Lex Luthor's employ, but Magnus tells him nothing. Later Batman locates all the remaining scientists discussing the threat over their heads, when they are attacked by the assassins, who travel via Boom Tube. Despite the other League members intervening, the assassins slaughter the remaining scientists and 'Boom' out, with Magnus the sole survivor.
The Justice League take Magnus to their HQ to recover while Superman flies into orbit to a satellite, where Luthor now resides. Luthor reveals that "Project FairPlay" is a weapons program to destroy the League if necessary, while also revealing that he retained all the remaining information on Krypton from Superman's shuttle, and tells him the truth about Zod. Luthor tells Superman that Waller has the original files, and as Superman leaves, an assassin booms in and the satellite explodes. As Superman looks on in shock, Trevor shows satellite footage of the explosion to Waller, and she retaliates with "Project FairPlay" which consists of troops and vehicles armed with weapons powered by red sunlight radiation.
Superman and Wonder Woman face the army at their door as Batman stays inside the HQ where he activates the League's force field with the idea being that once Magnus recovers, he can clear the League. Suddenly, Batman is attacked by Platinum of the Metal Men who Magnus had disguised as his wife. With Batman restrained by Tin, Platinum revives Magnus with Nanites. He is then revealed to be the true villain of the story. The assassins are in fact the remaining Metal Men who appear with a weapon. Magnus tells Batman that he intends to use a Nanite bomb to brainwash humanity into working as a collective. We also learn that Magnus' madness stems from when he accidentally killed his wife. She and Kirk had a strong emotional bond which caused her to relentlessly push Will to help cure Kirk as they both gave him the serum which turned him into Batman. He struck her one night, and she struck her head on a table and died. Magnus replaced her with Platinum and joined "Project FairPlay" soon after, intending to use its resources to bring humanity together in a collective mind as he feels that his actions prove that humanity does not deserve to continue if even a rational man like himself could do that to his own wife.
As Magnus prepares his weapon, Lex Luthor suddenly teleports into the middle of the battle outside and tells everyone that he has discovered Magnus' plan. Inside, Batman seizes an opportunity to drop the forcefield and the Justice League do battle with Magnus and the Metal Men. Eventually, they succeed and Magnus commits suicide by disintegrating himself with nanites.
A week later, the Justice League have been cleared and the world views them differently. Bekka decides to leave the Justice League to face her past along with Lex Luthor who wants to explore other realities. Upon leaving, Lex Luthor gives Superman all the data on Krypton and tells him to be a 'real hero'. The film ends with Superman and Batman deciding to work through the data immediately to help humanity.
SON OF BATMAN REVIEW
Fans of the Batman universe will totally love this one as we get an animated movie filled with Batman mythology and characters.
Considering the movie has the League of Assassins, a new Robin, Nightwing and a badass villain in the form of Deathstroke, who could ask for more??? And as the title suggests Batman has a son!
Thanks to Deathstroke and the near destruction of the League of Assassins, Talia needs to get her son, Damian, to safety and that means finally introducing him to his father, who is none other than our hero himself, Batman who never even knew he had a son.
The two start an uneasy relationship with Damian bent on getting revenge for his grandfather's murder. Eventually after a lovely scene with Nightwing, this new team decide to take on Deathstroke and stop his evil plan of global domination as the reason for the attack on the League of Assassins is revealed.
The movie is truly fun and enjoyable and as I said before, any Batman fan will be entirely enthralled with it. It provides a good storyline, fluid animation and a bad guy who will stop at nothing to ensure his plans are fulfilled. There's revenge and enough fight scenes to keep you glued to your screen.
The movie casts Jason O' Mara as Batman with Stuart Allen as Damian, Thomas Gibson as Deathstroke and Sean Maher as Nightwing. It is directed by Ethan Spaulding and produced by James Tucker.
Son of Batman is a direct-to-video animated superhero film which is part of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies. It is an adaptation of Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert's 2006 Batman and Son storyline. The film was released as a digital download on April 22, 2014, and was released on home media May 6
SON OF BATMAN SYNOPSIS
At the headquarters of the League of Assassins, Ra's al Ghul grooms Damian Wayne (son of his daughter, Talia, and Batman) to succeed him as head of the league. The league is attacked by a group of assassins led by Slade Wilson, Ra's al Ghul's initial choice for successor before Ra's met Batman. Feeling betrayed, Slade decided to seize power. During the battle Ra's is fatally burned in a missile strike explosion, dying inches away from reaching the Lazarus Pit. Although Damian stabs Slade in the eye, Slade escapes, vowing vengeance. Talia takes Damian to Gotham City to protect him with his father's help.
In Gotham City, Batman confronts Killer Croc, who is stealing mutagenic chemicals and steroids to enhance himself, to the point were he grew a reptilious tail. Before Batman can be eaten by Croc when subdued during their fight, Talia electrocutes Croc from behind. She tells Batman about her father's death and leaves their son in his care, though Damian believes that he can take care of him self and does not need Batman. Although Damian wants to avenge Ra's al Ghul by killing Slade, Batman objects. Slade, now calling himself Deathstroke, captures Dr. Kirk Langstrom, who was working with Croc to enhance him in return for the mutagenics he stole and also had worked with Ra's, promising a formula for his soldiers. Slade threatens Langstrom's family to force him to recreate the Man-Bat formula for him and his soldiers. Damian bypasses Wayne Towers security to speak to Bruce, telling him about Slade's contact, Ubu, who was part of the raid on the League's headquarters and is stationed in Gotham. Although Damian wants to avenge Ra's al Ghul by killing Slade, Bruce objects to Damian wanting to kill. Talia is captured by Deathstroke when she and some remaining League members attack his compound.
Against Batman's orders, Damian leaves the Batcave and, after a chase and a long fight, defeats Ubu, who he located by accessing the Bat-Computer. Before Damian can kill him, Nightwing arrives, mistakes him for a criminal and subdues him before bringing him back to the Batcave. Batman berates Damian for his recklessness, willingness to kill and exposing their operation, has him don the mantle of Robin to teach him discipline. Searching for a lead on Langstrom's location, goes to Arkham to interrogate rabid Killer Croc, who supplied the mutagens to Langstrom in exchange for his enhancements and is currently going through drastic, agonizing withdrawal symptoms that cause him to shed his scales and tail. Since others are too afraid of him to medicate him without being harmed, Batman promises Croc help for information. Batman follows Croc's lead about the formula's mutagen to Langstrom's apartment, where he finds a throwing star that he takes evidence of Deathstroke's involvement. Before he leaves, he goes throughout the building and finds a storage room filled with caged bats, with one larger cage being empty and broken open from inside. Batman then finds a rabid gorilla with bat like mutations, one of Langstrom's unstable subjects, and it attacks him until it dies from its mutations. A drone aircraft sent by Deathstroke then flies past and crashes on the building, destroying it, though Batman evades the explosion. Commissioner Gordon warns them about an abandoned stadium believed to house Deathstroke's men.
At the stadium, Batman and Damian question Langstrom but are attacked when Damian becomes violent. Before they successfully escape, they fight off a swarm of Man-Bats. In the cave, Langstrom reveals Deathstroke's plan to create superhuman, flight-capable assassins. While Nightwing works with Langstrom on an antidote, Batman and Damian rescue his family. Batman guesses that Talia has been abducted when he finds evidence of torture in an empty cell, which he keeps from Damian to not set him off. They find and rescue Langstrom's family, but Batman is unaware that Deathstroke challenged Damian to a fight in exchange for Talia's life through a video device he gave Langstrom's daughter in exchange for sparing them. Both Langstrom's daughter and Deathstroke's video tell him not involve Batman in the their fight.
Nightwing learns that Deathstroke is operating in an oil rig off the Scottish coast, and when Batman is distracted, Damian goes to the rig. He finds Deathstroke and Talia in an underwater base with a swarm of Man-Bats and another Lazarus Pit, whose fluid Deathstroke intends to sell. Damian pulls a gun on Deathstroke, who holds one against Talia's head until Damian drops his gun. Deathstroke fires at him, but Talia is hit instead after she jumps in the path of Deathstroke's gunfire. As Deathstroke corners Damian, Batman appears and the Man-Bats attack. Batman wards them off with sonar-emitting batarangs, and Deathstroke flees after losing to Batman in a brief fistfight.
Batman heals Talia in Lazarus Pit, while Nightwing and Langstrom reach the oil rig and cure the Man-Bats. Damian defeats Deathstroke, refusing to kill him because he is his father's son. The elevator from the rig to the underwater base is destroyed when the Man Bats, overwhelmed by the sonar devices, overcrowd the the glass elevator shaft, flooding the base. Batman, Talia and Damian escape, but Deathstroke is left behind. Batman believes that Damian should stay with him and remain Robin, while Talia still wishes to recreate the League with Batman, who would rather disband the League, and Damian at her side. She decides to let him care for their son, and leaves with the League of Assassins though she still says she will return for him.
As the credits roll, a slideshow of the fight between Damian and Nightwing is played between credits.
SUPERMAN RETURNS (2006) SYNOPSIS
Following a mysterious absence of several years, the Man of Steel comes back to Earth in the epic action-adventure Superman Returns, a soaring new chapter in the saga of one of the world's most beloved superheroes. While an old enemy plots to render him powerless once and for all, Superman faces the heartbreaking realization that the woman he loves, Lois Lane, has moved on with her life. Or has she? Superman's bittersweet return challenges him to bridge the distance between them while finding a place in a society that has learned to survive without him. In an attempt to protect the world he loves from cataclysmic destruction, Superman embarks on an epic journey of redemption that takes him from the depths of the ocean to the far reaches of outer space.
SUPERMAN RETURNS TRIVIA
Will Smith was offered the role of Superman/Clark Kent but declined, saying: "You mess up white peoples' heroes in Hollywood, you'll never work in this town again!"
Amy Adams auditioned for the role of Lois Lane. She later eventually played Lois in Man of Steel (2013).
When Clark is walking around the office with the TVs displaying news reports (after Luthor steals the kryptonite) the news reports can be heard mentioning the city of Gotham, home of the Batman.
Dedicated to Christopher Reeve and Dana Reeve.
When Bryan Singer became interested in possibly hiring Brandon Routh, he arranged for them to meet in a coffee shop. When they met at their table, Routh stumbled and spilled hot coffee all over the table. Although he panicked, thinking he had just lost the part, Singer laughed and said it actually helped him get the part. The incident convinced Singer that Routh could pull off the clumsy, bumbling Clark Kent.
The stars on Clark Kent's ceiling are astronomically correct.
During filming, Kevin Spacey would drive around in a golf cart ("Lex's Super Buster") dragging a stuffed Superman doll behind on a rope and yell "Superman Must Die" with a megaphone.
DC Comics' character Aquaman is on Jason's pajamas.
Bryan Singer wanted Christopher Reeve to make a cameo appearance in the film but Reeve died before filming began. Singer then decided to dedicate the film to him.
Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth and Kevin Spacey signed on without having read the script.
The last line of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) (the one before "Returns") is Superman saying to Luthor, "See you in twenty." That scene was filmed in 1986. Coincidentally, twenty years later, in 2006, the next Superman Returns (2006) movie was released.
The role of Lex Luthor was always intended for Kevin Spacey. The production schedule was adjusted to accommodate Spacey's six week break from his duties as the Old Vic theater director.
Brandon Routh, who plays Superman, is two years younger than Tom Welling, who plays the teenage version of the same character on the TV series Smallville (2001).
During Brandon Routh's screen test, people would come up to him between takes and tell him how much fun filming in Australia would be and what a great opportunity playing Superman would be. Routh was confused as he was under the impression that he hadn't officially got the part yet, and he was starting to get a little nervous that people might be jinxing him. It turns out Bryan Singer pretty much made up his mind at that point on who he was going to cast.
It took twelve years and three vastly different directors to finally get the project off the ground.
Bryan Singer is on record as saying Superman Returns is a loose follow-up to Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980), but does not follow those movies' continuity strictly. It ignores Superman III (1983) and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987). However, there is a reference to Supergirl (1984), which was released between the later two: a radio announcer reports Superman is off on a space mission to a far away galaxy.
A break-in on the set of Superman Returns (2006), in which the crew's walkie talkies were stolen, forced filming to be halted. Pranksters caused chaos during a stunt sequence, being filmed in Martin Place, by shouting "cut" and "action" over the airwaves. The thieves with the walkie talkies listened in to much of the night's filming to learn key phrases which they later yelled at key moments. The mischief almost caused serious injury, with the night's filming centering on a Mustang car jumping down steps and landing between extras. It stopped a number of times.
When Superman saves Perry White from the falling globe off the roof of the Daily Planet, he resembles Atlas, a mythological figure who bore the weight of the world on his shoulders.
When offered the director's chair, Bryan Singer rejected J.J. Abrams script as too far a departure from the source material. Abrams story re-imagined Superman as a Kryptonian prince sent to earth as a baby to avoid an impending civil war between king Jor-El and his brother Kata-Zor. Raised as Midwestern teen Clark Kent, and in love with his high school sweetheart Lois, Superman becomes humanity's defender when Kata-Zor invades Earth, aided by CIA Agent Lex Luthor, who is actually a Kryptonian in disguise. The film ended with Superman returning to Krypton to rule over his people after the death of Jor-El. Singer disagreed with these changes to one of America's most well-known characters, and decided instead to pursue a storyline to act as both a sequel and a re-make which would honor the character's history, as well as the popular films by Richard Donner.
Milliskin, a type of cloth, was used as the material of Superman's suit. Unfortunately, this cloth restricts movement when new. Worse, it sags after being worn and becoming comfortable. As a result, 80 suits, 100 capes, 30 boots and 90 belts were made.
While the project was under Brett Ratner's supervision, actors Josh Hartnett, Paul Walker, Matt Bomer, Brendan Fraser, Ashton Kutcher, David Boreanaz, Ian Somerhalder, Henry Cavill, Jerry O'Connell and Hayden Christensen were considered for the part of Superman. Brett Ratner left the project primarily because he and Warner Bros. executives could not agree on whom to cast as Superman. Henry Cavill later landed the role for the Superman reboot Man of Steel (2013).
When Tim Burton was attached to direct, the Superman costume was all dark blue, featured a blood-red cape, and featured the classic "S" symbol in the form of daggers.
Jude Law was Bryan Singer's only choice to play General Zod. After Law turned down the role several times, Singer eliminated the character from the script. Zod went onto subsequently appear as the main villain in the reboot Man of Steel, with Michael Shannon as the character.
The tattoo on the back of Brutus' head is a fairly accurate representation of the clown makeup worn by John Wayne Gacy, a notorious serial killer.
Brandon Routh put on 20 pounds of muscle for the movie.
The chemical name of Kryptonite is given as "sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide with fluorine." In 2007, Dr. Chris Stanley of the London Natural History Museum discovered the very same mineral, albeit without fluorine, in Jadar, Serbia and named it Jadarite. In reality, it is a white powder rather than a green crystal.
In interviews, Kal Penn revealed he originally had a much greater role. It would have been revealed that his character was a disgraced former Daily Planet science reporter who was bribed by Lex Luthor to plant false evidence of Krypton's possible survival, thus inspiring Superman to leave Earth and explore Krypton's ruins.
In an interview with the Washington Post, Bryan Singer discussed a scene that was in an early draft of the screenplay but never filmed: "At one point," the director recalls, "I had a scene in the script which I never shot, and I probably was never going to shoot, where Superman would be standing - after flying around rescuing people at night - would be standing at dawn at Ground Zero. Sort of standing there, almost as if to say, 'If I had been here, this might not be.'"
In an interview on Larry King Live (1985), director Bryan Singer said that had he not had access to John Williams' original music, he would not have done the film.
The publishing date of "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman" is 13 February 2005.
In one of the scenes with Lex's Train set a sign saying 'Smallville' can be seen briefly.
Kevin Spacey convinced Bryan Singer to cast Kate Bosworth for the role of Lois Lane after her performance in Beyond the Sea (2004).
Tim Burton's "Superman Lives" was far enough into pre-production at the time it was canceled that the studio had already designed a teaser poster to be displayed in theatres. It consisted of a stylized silver "S" shield set against a black background, with the phrase "Coming 1998" displayed across the bottom third of the poster. Finalized copies of the poster were printed up, but it's unclear how many were made before the movie was called off.
Bryan Singer was still under a three-picture deal with Fox from X-Men 2 (2003) when he decided to jump ship to direct this movie. As the consequence, his deal was terminated and one of his under-development projects with Fox, a remake of Logan's Run (1976) was ultimately shelved and the third X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) picture was under jeopardy. The vacant's director's role for the third X-Men would go to Brett Ratner who lost to Singer for the first X-Men (2000) movie.
Workers constructed 7km of road and planted 15 hectares of corn to recreate the Kent farm. This is especially a difficult task in that the farm was created during a 7-year drought in Australia.
Anthony Hopkins was set to play Jor-El of Krypton when Brett Ratner was attached to direct.
The reappearance of Superman in Metropolis by saving an crashing airplane is a direct nod to an episode of Paul Dini's Superman (1996) cartoons titled: The Last Son of Krypton Part 2 as well as an episode of the Max Fleischer-animated Superman called Japoteurs (1942).
Lex Luthor says, "To the primitive mind, any sufficiently advanced technology would be indistinguishable from magic," which is a paraphrase of an Arthur C. Clarke quote, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" ("Profiles of the Future," 1961). Clarke is mentioned in the closing credits of the film for this reason.
A sign in the plaza of the Daily Planet building reads, "Shuster Square." This is a reference to Joe Shuster, one of the co-creators of the original Superman character.
These words appear on Martha Kent's Scrabble board the night Clark/Superman returns: paddings, dawnings, squirms, jets, fax, fare, rarer, nary, revere, bent, jag, drag, oho, way, men, tee, hod, voiced, hill, zoo, quoit, foot, feet, view, kir, alienation. A few of the words - jets, fax, revere, dawnings, alienation - may deliberately presage themes and plot points in the movie.
Kevin Smith's original script, to which Tim Burton was immediately attached, was the 1993 comic book story arcs "The Death of Superman" and "The Return of Superman". After a lengthy development process, Warner Bros. chose not to go with Smith's script and hired other writers, such as Alias (2001) creator J.J. Abrams, to revive the series.
All previous scripts revolved, in one way or another, around the death and subsequent return of Superman. Jonathan Lemkin wrote a draft in which Superman impregnates Lois before he dies, she gives birth soon thereafter (also dying in the process), and a fully-grown new Superman emerges to save the world. Lemkin's work was quickly discarded.
Lex's computer map on the boat shows Metropolis in the real-world location of Bayonne, New Jersey.
The location where Lex Luthor intends to create his new landmass is given as 40°N 73°W. This site is actually about 56 miles East of Seaside Heights, NJ.
In a scene in the paper room, several cities are named off. One of them is Gotham from the Batman series.
Brandon Routh's sister Sara Routh was one of the choir members for the production orchestra.
The Kent farm was originally built on a sound stage and was then disassembled, moved to Tamworth, Australia, and reconstructed and redressed.
The first Superman film to receive a PG-13 rating by the MPAA. All the previous Superman films were rated PG.
It is revealed in the video game that Krypton's discovery was a hoax devised by Lex Luthor to draw Superman away from earth so Lex could be released from prison (i.e. When Superman was called to testify, He was a no show).
Jim Caviezel expressed great interest in the role of Superman, but director Bryan Singer refused to cast him because he felt that Caviezel was "too famous" after starring in The Passion of the Christ (2004).
Hugh Laurie was cast first in the role of Perry White. However, the popularity of his TV show House M.D. (2004) caused schedule conflicts. Frank Langella was then cast.
Eva Marie Saint (Martha Kent) made her cinematic debut in On the Waterfront (1954), coincidentally opposite the late Marlon Brando (Jor-El).
Robert Downey Jr. was cast as Lex Luthor when McG was attached as director.
Alias (2001) creator and writer J.J. Abrams wrote a complete shooting draft of the script, which both Brett Ratner and McG were planning to shoot when they both left the project for both creative and budget reasons.
There are numerous references to specific Superman comic books. Superman recreates the cover of Action #1 in one scene where he holds a car above his head, and the entire "Space Plane" sequence was from John Byrne's Man of Steel miniseries in 1986, explaining how he first met Lois Lane.
The space shuttle engineer was played by Richard Branson, the owner of The Virgin Group. The monitors inside the jet display the words "Virgin Galactic", the name of Branson's commercial spaceflight company that will utilize the SpaceshipOne crafts, which are launched from the underbelly of an airplane, much like the space shuttle in the film.
According to an article in the 12 September 2005 issue of Newsweek, the biggest question concerning Superman's costume involved the size and shape of the bulge in the front of his tights. Costume designer Louise Mingenbach finally decided on a bulge that wasn't too big. "Ten-year-olds will be seeing this movie," she explained.
This was Jack Larson's first film since Johnny Trouble (1957) 49 years earlier.
The movie was filmed in Sydney, Australia at Fox Studios. The Kent family home was filmed in Tamworth, Australia.
Johnny Depp was considered for the roles of Lex Luthor and Jor-El when McG was attached to the project.
The crew in Tamworth grew their own corn. It took twelve weeks for them to get the corn just right.
Promotional material was shipped to cinemas in the UK under the title "Red Sun".
Director Bryan Singer decided on using stock footage of Marlon Brando that was originally shot by Superman (1978) director Richard Donner for the Singer version. Brando and Christopher Reeve were once filmed interacting for Superman II (1980), but due to a lawsuit against the Alexander Salkind and Ilya Salkind for a percentage of the sequel, the scenes were deleted and re-shot with Susannah York as Kal-El's mother Lara.
Actors including Eric Christian Olsen, Topher Grace, and Shawn Ashmore were being considered for the role of Jimmy Olson before Sam Huntington was cast. Shawn's brother, Aaron Ashmore, later portrayed both older brother Henry James "Jimmy" and younger brother James "Jimmy" Olsen in Smallville (2001).
Reportedly, Frank Langella was instructed to play the role of Perry White much more calm and laid back than previous portrayals. In an effort to avoid any comparisons to J.K. Simmons' now iconic portrayal of J. Jonah Jameson in the Spider-Man (2002) films. Ironic, considering the fact that Jameson appeared over 20 years after White in comic books, and was created as a Marvel counterpoint to DC's newspaper editor.
Actors McG was screening before his departure include Jason Behr and Jared Padalecki for the role of Superman, Scarlett Johansson for Lois Lane, and Shia LaBeouf for Jimmy Olsen.
In the scene after the kryptonite is removed from Superman's back, the date over the headline SUPERMAN DEAD on The Daily Planet reads: VOL. LXII, NO. 34 FRIDAY SEPTEMBER, 29TH 2006 35 CENTS.
Brandon Routh auditioned for the role of Superman when McG was attached to direct.
Newton Thomas Sigel initially planned on shooting the film in 65mm in order to achieve the "glossy" look he was aiming for. This idea progressed far enough that extensive filming of 65mm test footage was done during pre-production. Sigel eventually abandoned the 65mm format after being repeatedly told that "nobody projects it anymore".
Elements of the film are from a 1993 rough-draft screenplay. The same year DC Comics publishes The Death of Superman. As well as the 55th anniversary for the character.
Brandon Routh has naturally brown eyes, Superman on the other hand has baby blue eyes. For his role Routh had to wear blue contacts. When asked in an interview how they made his eyes blue he said "Blue prescription contacts, because I wear contacts myself. They were a little bit infuriating because they were painted. There was white around them, and I would blink and they'd shift. I think they've had to go and retouch some stuff, I'm sure."
The set design for the offices of The Daily Planet, with its mushroom-shaped columns, were inspired by architect Frank Lloyd Wright's S.C. Johnson Wax building in Racine, Wisconsin.
Mischa Barton and Keira Knightley were considered for the role of Lois Lane when McG was attached to the project.
Frank Langella's character, Perry White, was played on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993) by Lane Smith. This is actually the second part the actors have shared. Previously, they both played former President Richard Nixon.
The train set was provided by the German train model manufacturer "Märklin". The set featured 280 meters of track. Train scales of both gauge 1 as well as H0 were used to realize the different filming perspectives. It took 14 weeks to construct the train set.
Oliver Stone, Michael Bay, Robert Rodriguez, Martin Campbell, Shekhar Kapur, and Stephen Norrington all turned down the chance to direct throughout the ten-year project development.
When Bryan Singer took over this project, he immediately brought over his production staff consisting of cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel, composer/editor John Ottman, production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas, and writers Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty from X-Men 2 (2003) to meet Warner Bros.' release date for the film.
Billy Zane was once considered to play the role of Lex Luthor when McG was attached to the project.
Brandon Routh is a Superman fan and has a striking resemblance to Superman actor Christopher Reeve.
The new Panavision Genesis camera was constructed based upon feedback of director Michael Mann and director of photography Paul Cameron during the production of Collateral (2004). The feedback was documented in American Cinematographer, June 2004 issue. It has features that were missed out in previous models (HDR-950) including support of standard 35mm spherical lenses, full color bandwidth, and better ergonomics. Eight units were used for the entire production. Despite being the first movie to use this camera, other titles including Click (2006) and Scary Movie 4 (2006) were shot later but released earlier.
The building used for the exterior shots of the bank robbery scene is University House in Newcastle, Australia, which is home to the Newcastle Conservatorium of Music (among other schools of the University of Newcastle). Francine Bell, who portrays one of the news anchors in the film, is a well-loved voice-tutor at Newcastle Conservatorium, although none of her scenes were filmed at University House.
Contains 1,400 VFX shots
The production of the film occupied seven sound stages and two workshops for eight months at Fox Studios, Sydney in 2005.
The two fighter planes escorting the space plane are Lockheed Martin F-35s. At the time of the release the F-35 was still in production. The first real F-35 would not fly until December 2006, nearly six months after the release of the film.
This is the first film to use the Panavision Genesis HD camera. Developed jointly by Panavision and Sony, it was the latest of the specific 24p HD used by the likes of George Lucas and Robert Rodriguez, among others.
News reporter mentions Gotham on the TV channel.
Ryan McPartlin auditioned twice for the role.
Frank Langella (Perry White) and Kevin Spacey (Lex Luthor) both later played U.S. President Richard Nixon: Langella in Frost/Nixon (2008) and Spacey in Elvis & Nixon (2015).
The film cast includes three Oscar winners: Kevin Spacey, Eva Marie Saint and Marlon Brando; and one Oscar nominee: Frank Langella.
Actresses being considered for the role of Lois Lane when McG was to direct included Elisha Cuthbert, Claire Danes and Keri Russell.
Luthor's henchman Stanford is played Kal Penn (real name: Kalpen Modi), who has a similar name to Kal-El, Superman's identity in Kryptonian.
The scene of Lois Lane going barefoot to fly with Superman was improvised on the day of filming. It came out of a technical discussion about how to properly shoot the scene. The reasoning was that Lois wouldn't fly with her shoes, and taking them off would be part of the routine she and Superman would do before flying together.
Cameo
Jack Larson: the original Jimmy Olsen from Adventures of Superman (1952), appears as a bartender who serves to Clark and Jimmy.
Noel Neill: as Gertrude Vanderworth. She played Lois Lane in several 1940s and '50s productions, and played Lois Lane's mother in Superman (1978).
Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris: the two writers of the screenplay make an appearance as school kids making notes as Lex Luthor arrives to steal the meteorite and shoos them away.
Guy Hendrix Dyas: Production Designer: one of the journalists of Daily Planet who first notices the tremor at the building.
Spoilers
The trivia items below may give away important plot points.
Numerous homages to the original Superman (1978) film include:
The appearance of Superman in the silver suit right after crashing back to Smallville is a direct nod to the Kryptonian costumes of 1978 which were made out of a screen material that, despite it's glow, appeared dark gray when not properly lit.
The truck which Martha drove during the opening was the exact truck used for the first movie. The producers managed to find that truck and rented it for use.
After Superman stops the airplane crash, he says to the passengers (including Lois Lane), "I hope this doesn't put any of you off flying. Statistically speaking, it's still the safest way to travel." Superman said the same thing to Lois after rescuing her from the helicopter crash in the original. And, as in the first movie, Lois faints just after Superman flies away.
There is a framed photograph of Glenn Ford (Jonathan Kent from the 1978 film) on the piano during the reunion scene at the Kent farm. In a deleted scene from Clark's bedroom, more photos of Ford can be seen. These were created by the graphic design team during the film's production, as seen in Bryan Singer's on-line video journal #21 "In Graphic Detail", and were digitally enhanced to include Eva Marie Saint as Martha and young incarnations of Clark.
Marlon Brando posthumously reprises his role as Jor-El with some help from VFX. Rhythm & Hues took footage from the 1978 movie and hand-modeled and animated a CG-replica of his face upon the footage. It was then textured and new mouth shapes were then animated onto the model.
After Lex Luthor and his gang steal the meteorite at the museum, a broken glass has the year 1978 written with the description of the meteorite; which was also the same year the first Superman came to theaters. Not only did it say 1978, but it had "Addis Ababa" above the year, which is where Lex Luthor found the kryptonite meteorite.
After showing Lois Lane why he thinks the world needs a savior, Superman returns Lois Lane back to the roof of the Daily Planet. Subsequently, the original film's musical motif "Can You Read My Mind", when Superman first took Lois for a flight, can be heard.
The main theme is heard in the opening credits
Superman and Lex Luthor meet face to face only in one scene.
Ever since BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE was announced, fans have been arguing just how the mortal Bruce Wayne could ever defeat the Kryptonian Kal-el in battle. We have seen the mechanized suit Ben Affleck sports as Batman in the trailers as well as Lex Luthor in possession of General Zod's body, so the assumption has been that Luthor and Wayne will team up to stop Superman. It could be Kryptonite or something else (like Doomsday), but we still don't know exactly what can stop Superman.
The actor who embodies Supes, Henry Cavill, shed his own insight on what could stop the god-like hero and it definitely doesn't involve green rocks from his home planet. Here is what he told The Guardian.
“People think Kryptonite can beat him. No. The only thing that can really beat Superman is Superman. His own noggin messing with him. His own moral choices. When you have that to start with, the storytelling can really delve into something rich.” He stops for a moment, then heads off in a surprising direction. “It’s like shagging someone for the first time. Sometimes it turns out to be amazing. Mostly you’re trying to get each other’s rhythm going. It’s on the next go that you start to expand.” Playing Superman repeatedly will make possible such an expansion. “That’s why I do it. That and the money.”
So there you have it. BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE is not just going to be full of explosions and action but also psychological warfare. We all saw Superman scream after killing General Zod in MAN OF STEEL, a moment many questioned as being appropriate for the character. Now, that moment can be exploited to mess with the developing hero as he tries to do right even when others see him as a threat.
Cavill's comment about doing it for the money is quite interesting as well. Born to a financially well-off family, Cavill understands acting for a paycheck helps maintain a nice lifestyle and he is not shy about saying he is happy to play the "grandaddy of all superheroes" for the rest of his career.
BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE hits theaters March 25, 2016.
Batman - Superman - Wonder Woman - Trinity (2004-06) HC
English | CBR | 198 pages | 237.97 MB
BATMAN/SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN: TRINITY tells the remarkable tale of the turbulent first encounter of the world's most iconic heroes. When Batman's greatest nemesis, Ra's al Ghul, recruits Bizarro and an Amazon warrior to aid him in his plan to create global chaos, the Darknight Detective suddenly finds himself working with the Man of Steel and the Amazon Princess. Looking to thwart the madman's plot to simultaneously destroy all satellite communications as well as all of the world's oil reserves, Earth's greatest heroes reluctantly band together. But if Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman are to have any hope of stopping Ra's' nuclear missile assault, they will first need to overcome their own biases and reconcile their differing philosophies.
“I was in my costume, and I couldn’t use my fingers because in the sequel I have flippers instead of hands. So I had these wax flippers on my fingers, and I couldn’t open the door, and I could hear Zack [Snyder, the director] being like, ‘Where’s Shannon? Where the f**k is he?’ and the whole crew was standing around. I was like, knocking on the door with my flippers, ‘Let me out of here!’”
