10 Things We Want(ed) in MAN OF STEEL: Are We Getting

Metropolis MakeoverSuperman Returns Metropolis (presumably Sydney, Australia with American license plates on the cars) came off as a perfectly clean, pleasant, and contemporary, director Bryan Singer's vision of the world's most famous fictional city didn't leave much of a lasting impression.

Thirty years earlier the Richard Donner films made little attempt to hide that "Metropolis" was actually Manhattan. The real city and its flavor also played a pivotal role in the 3-on-1 showdown with General Zod and his crew in Superman II, despite most of that scene being shot on a set.

The Dark Knight Perspective:Christopher Nolan has made a point to use Chicago locations to both ground Gotham City in reality and provide a sense of urban scale in his Batman films, so here's hoping as producer he and director Zack Snyder can spin a mix of The Man of Steel's downtown Vancouver locations and some CGI trickery to give their version of Metropolis the not-quite-like-any-place-else-on-Earth punch it deserves.

WHAT WE MIGHT GET:

Not much has been seen -- or said -- about Man of Steel's Metropolis at this point, other than glimpses from leaked set photos, so a better impression will likely come after the release of the full trailer.

See the rest of our Man of Steel coverage by visiting Newsarama.com today.

Superman Going Global?Unlike most other superheroes, Superman isn’t bound by time nor geographical distance nor even the boundaries of space. As an example, Washington D.C., the Golden Gate Bridge, Paris, France, and the moon were just some of the various locales used in the original '70s films.

The Man of Steel should up the ante with an injection of globe-trotting adventure.

What might be revealed:

Could a fishing boat be an indicator of how far Clark Kent has traveled in this latest installment?

Clark Kent: Personality Re-examined

The comic book Clark Kent is a respected and eminently capable reporter who as far as the world knows has also managed to woo the beautiful and dynamic Lois Lane.

Ditching the physical humor and “nerd” clichés, lead actor Henry Cavill will need to dig deeper to find 2 sides of Clark Kent.

What might be revealed: In the teaser trailer, Clark Kent is rugged and noticeably bearded, and doesn't appear nerdy or meek in the slightest., could this be cause to celebrate and position the reboot for success?

Origin of the Mild Manner Reporter

Should Nolan and Snyder skip the "origin" all together. The death of Krypton story is so well ingrained into the public conscious that it should simply be recapped during the opening credits or even skipped entirely. (Though with Russell Crowe recently signing on as Jor-El, the latter seems like a remote possibility at this stage.)

In 1978's Superman: The Movie, after Clark spends his late-teen/early 20s in the Fortress learning from Jor-El's crystals and then flying away as an adult wearing the costume, the film jumps to Clark in Perry White's office just having been hired as a new reporter, with his typing prowess cited as his main qualification. Could there be a benefit in explaining why Superman chooses to become a newspaper reporter of all things (particularly in 2012), and why he chooses the Planet.?

WHAT WE MIGHT GET: With top-flight actors like Amy Adams and Laurence Fishburne being cast as Daily Planet employees (Lois Lane and Perry White, respectively), we might actually get some real time at The Daily Planet.

See the rest of our Man of Steel coverage by visiting Newsaram.com today.

A Charm OffensiveWHAT WE SAID BACK THEN:

Superman isn't a badass like Batman. He isn't a wiseass like Spider-Man, and he just isn't tragically hip like Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark/Iron Man. Never will be. There's an undeniable square-ish, Boy Scout quality to Superman for sure.

Superman needs to be a little cool, ooze a little charm, and yeah, we're going to say it ... have some sex appeal? Look at that Henry Cavill guy. Not a bad-looking dude. Run with it...

Cavill’s take on Superman to date:

"I don't mean anything against the movies and TV shows that have come before, because they were of their time, but this is epically cool. People in the past have criticized the character for being a bit chocolate-box, a bit vanilla, and this is not that -- at all. The lore is there that we're drawing from, but to create something from that which is reflective of life today -- that's the trick."

Will cameos, name dropping and background references be left out?

• Let's leave the past in the past, the in-jokes to a minimum and not have any cameos by Margot Kidder as a Daily News copy editor, any police officers named Sgt. Curt Swan, or passing references to other DC Comics' cities or characters ...unless Warner Bros. really means it this time .....if you know what we mean?

WHAT WE MIGHT GET: Nolan stated recently that screenwriter David Goyer's take was a "brilliant way to make Superman relatable and relevant for his audience." Snyder recently commented to the New York Post, "We tried to approach this as though there's never been a Superman movie before, but at the same time respecting the canon and mythology.”

The Costume• Superman is an icon and even though some

attempts at contemporizing are fine we’re hoping that the kneepads, body armor, or uni-leggings are left at home.

The Reboot Vision:The costume is very modern, but the relationship to the original costume is strong," Snyder told the Post, noting that he "tried like crazy" to keep the briefs.

Offensive vs. Defensive Powers

• In Superman Returns, Bryan Singer made Superman's flying scenes beautiful and elegant, but all he did was lift things the entire film?

• With this installment will fans see Superman throw a punch, swing a redwood tree like a baseball bat, or otherwise kick some ass.

• If Michael Shannon's Zod (and his underlings) will also be super-powered, how about a contemporary, CGI-powered, no-holds-barred throw down of a fight scene -- inspired by (although not a recreation of) Superman II's famous tag-team match?

WHAT WE MIGHT GET: Remains to be fully seen, but keep in mind that Snyder is the same guy that directed 300, so you can probably count on some fights.

See the rest of our Man of Steel coverage by visiting Newsaram.com today.

Create a BRAND NEW Sensory ShorthandWe touched on whether or not the origin should be told again a bit earlier. We're here to argue not only that it should, it has to be told again to some degree, because Snyder has to completely rewrite everything and anything we know about Superman from the movies and TV.

The Crystal Fortress. The ghostly visage and voice of the wise Jor-El. The Salkind-Donner monochromatic vision of Krypton. Jor-El and the George Washington hair. Gone. All of it.

Synders’ Thoughts:"You come onto a project like this, and you hear about modernization and you hear about bringing things forward to today, and all you can do is hope that it's going to look cool and different from anything you've seen before."

John Williams' Theme Music RetiredUnderstand there is a part of us tempted to hold onto this. Williams' iconic theme music (which may, in fact, be aging even better than his original Star Wars theme) is maybe pitch perfect. Perhaps no string of musical notes has ever better captured the essence of a familiar character than this one did. And we'll even take it one step further -- whomever tries to write a new Superman theme for Man of Steel, be it James Newton Howard and/or Hans Zimmer, won't be as successful.

But perhaps of all sensory sensations, music has the power to evoke memories and place the listener in a specific time and place. And while William's theme may be the best contribution to the Superman mythos ever made outside of a comic book page, this is the very same reason why The Man of Steel must forge ahead without it.

WHAT WE MIGHT GET: Well, looks like there's no "might" about it -- Snyder has confirmed that the film won't use the John Williams theme, and instead have music by Hans Zimmer, who scored Nolan's Batman trilogy.

See the rest of our Man of Steel coverage by visiting Newsaram.com today.

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