FIRST LOOK: Henry Cavill as SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL!

Warner Bros. has released the first official image of Henry Cavill in his role as Kal-El for 2013's Superman: The Man of Steel. Here it is courtesy of JoBlo.com

Man of Steel is right. 

This is the gunmetal Superman we probably should've expected from director Zack Snyder. That said, it's still a little jarring to see such intensity from the character. We're reminded of Azzarello and Lee's Superman: For Tomorrow here. Though there's something about that crumpled vault and the silvery lighting that recalls the Fleischer cartoons in some curious way. Even at full resolution, we still had to squint to make sure this was actually Cavill here. He could pass for Dean "Mayhem" Winters (30 Rock, Allstate ads). Did he pluck his eyebrows? 

UPDATE: Some of you are worried about the spit curl. Before we could contact Jim Lee to ask if it's retractable, we were directed to this image from Aint it Cool News. This is evidently a current photo (note the SDCC badges) and well, I have to stop writing this sentence because it's too nerdy even for this writer to consider. 

Comments

  1. Dope.

  2. My only hope is that he is preparing to throw the door for that safe at someone/something

  3. We went back to the classic “S”.

  4. Okay, that’s pretty awesome.

  5. Looks good to me. That’s the earth-two Superman logo btw.

  6. Rad.

  7. We gotta wait 2 more years for this?  Drat.

  8. I like it

  9. As good as this looks, and it looks great, I really wish I could unsee this. I was just thinking to myself yesterday that I wish I didn’t know what Bane looked like because I want that surprise when I go see DKR. And as I thought that, I thanked the stars that I hadn’t seen Superman yet.

    Hate to be the old fogie in the room, but I miss the 70’s and 80’s…when I didn’t know what was happening in comics until I bought the next issue and Ain’t It Cool didn’t exist. I miss being surprised by what I loved.

    Le sigh…

  10. I like the look.  I do hope that parts of the movie have a brighter color pallette because the character is not super gloomy like Watchmen or Batman.  I know WB wants a more mature Superman, but that should come from the story, not a darker look. 

    That said, if this was a scene from the final battle or something, it would be completely badass.  He looks like he’s about to wreck the shit out of something.  He’s a convincing looking Superman, and I think his costume is leaning more toward what we’re about to see in the comics (minus the collar).

  11. I like it, but I hope this isn’t a still of a slow motion shot as he springs into action. That has to stop.

  12. awesome!!!

  13. sweet!  can’t wait to see it in super snyder slo-mo.  (no I’m not being sarcastic, that shit rules)

  14.  Looks great. As far as I can tell he doesn’t have the red shorts, though. So this hit early this morning? Maybe we’ll get a decent Batman / Superman photoshop by then?

  15. Super.

  16. I kind of like that Singer’s Superman was bright, used soft colours.

    This is actually kind of jarring. definately toned down

  17. This looks really great as I knew it would. Zack Snyder does great visuals, but horrible story telling. I am still very nervous about this movie. Hopefully with Nolan working on it, it’ll be better than Watchmen and *shudder* Sucker Punch.

  18. And he has a haircut like Alan Davis would draw.

    I know this is lame but if you trimmed his hair shorter he would look more modern, more like a young office worker today

  19. Hmmm, I’m not sure I like the material of the suit, at least not for a Superman suit.  And Cavill isn’t really coming across as Superman to me.  He just looks like a guy in a Superman costume.  It might be the hair, the S-curl seems to be missing.  We’ll see how things progress, I still think I’ll dig the flick given that Snyder has a solid track record, at least with me.

  20. Everytime i see a still from a new superhero movie it makes me want to work out more.

    and I’m in pretty good shape now. Just a little more motivation

  21. YES!

  22. Quite a head of hair on him! lol

    REALLY want this to be a good movie. That’s a good looking first image.

  23. Kind of reminds me of Dean Cain’s Superman, which is not a bad thing at all.

  24. That looks amazing.  Cavill looks great as Superman.  I like the “S” shield.  It looks like the Earth 2 shield.  No knee high boots so that’s a plus.  I’ve said all along, the DCnU will go back to the a version of the DCU Superman when this movie comes out.

  25. @kingslayer11  Now that you mention it I totally agree… 

    @TheLastSon21  Just because the costume is like this in the movie doesn’t mean they’ll change it in the comics. They haven’t changed Batman’s costume to match the Nolan-verse Batman and they haven’t changed Green Lantern to look like the movie costume.

  26. UP UP AND AWAY!!!!

  27. Wow…compare this post to the comments made when Routh’s costume was first unveiled!

  28. Looks fantastic!!

     It’s like he was thrown against the vault door and is now ready to give better than he just got.

  29. Looks way to gritty for me. It just doesn’t look right…

  30. Man that looks good.

  31. I love everything I see….except for the hair.  Too long, and sans curl.  Still btter than Routh looked though.  Love the Earth 2 S.

  32. Looks great, but I’m not sure about his hair… something feels off about it.

  33. He looks like Lee Garner Jr from Mad Men.

  34. That looks awesome 😀 i love the classic shield here, but then again i’d love any other shield than the one from Superman returns. And i never thought of it but it does have a kinda fleicher feel to it
     

  35. Yep. Looks like a guy dressed as Superman.

  36. Most important, there is no spit curl slicked onto his forehead, they worked it into the pomp. much better IMO.

  37. It’s okay.   Not too crazy about the Lizard Skin texture.  Cape looks too long….but I’m nitpicking.

  38. AWESOME!  I love the Fleischer Superman look and am totally down with an intense, action oriented Superman.

    Sidenote: I chafe when people complain about “slow-mo.”  Slow motion (and in this case, “ramping up) is a technique that can be awesome if used well (case in point, “Inception,” any given John Woo movie pre-1998, “Last of the Mohicans,” “Braveheart,” “The Hunger,” etc.).  However, when executed badly and/or when used in a bad movie, it can be tedious.

    Still, I think it’s easy to say “no more slow-mo!” or “no more hand-held” when really the rallying cry should be “write and direct better movies!” or “more appropriate use of good slow-motion!” 

  39. Correction: I chafe at people who complain about “slow-mo.”

    If I chafed when people complained about slow-mo, then I’d probably have to buy a special cream.

  40. I love it. He’ll be more of a man of action in this. And i love that they are not using that god-awful new design that Jim Lee created, the armour jumps suit with the red metal boots and red utility belt. Classic Superman with even a nod to earth 2 Superman in the S symbol.

    I’m not a huge fan of Synder, Sucker Punch lands nearly at the top on worst movies this year. Though I expect the action to be like he usually does.

  41. From what we can see it kinda looks like a cross between what Lee Bermejo did for Wednesday Comics and what Shane Davis did for Earth One.  The overall image seems evocative of the Flesicher cartoon for somer reason which I hope means we get a “pulpy” Superman not a “dark” Superman like they keep threatening us with.

  42. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    Updated with photo of potential spit curl. 

  43. Bad casting.  Plus whats with the scaley suit?

  44. Boner at maximum level.

  45. I really like it, I’m ready for a badass Superman. The only thing I don’t like is the Glad ForceFlex trashbag texture of the suit, especially on the shield. With Nolan producing, does anybody think (or hope to god) that he will rein in Snyder’s slo-mo and green screen fetishes?

  46. Is this movie in black and white?

  47. Like I said, the shield looks really cool.  I think the hair thing will change and I think the suit kind of looks like the Spider-Man suit.  I hope we get to see him actually punch something this time.

  48. Fuck yeah!  

  49. Keep in mind we don’t know when that first picture was taken.  It might have been prior to the pre-filming haircut.

  50. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    I have no problem with the textured costume, but @BanjoDuck wins for the “Glad ForceFlex” analysis.  

  51. Love it! Seriously, this looks great. This is shaping up to be a Superman movie that I can actally get behind. Bring it on.

  52. The superman picture looks good. the man on the street picture is not my favorite but that may be because its not in motion.

  53. @Minion that man on the street pic was taken from SDCC

  54. All in!

  55. This may sound totally fanboyish but I love everything except the hair. I mean the costume and the color pallette in the picture has Snyder written all over it, which is bad ass if you ask me, but I just don’t like his hair. It looks like some 70’s disco hair style, and there is no spit curl. Im guessing that there may be some minor changes though since this is a promo pic and filming apparently hasnt started.

  56. @RaBoogie  The hair is pretty “full” isn’t it?It’s almost poofy. I think shorter would look better, but not too short. At least it’s not a mullet like after Death of Superman! LOL

  57. I LOVE THIS!!!!!

  58. @DarkKnightDetective  It’s possible that they are going for a Lois & Clark thing where he has slicked back hari as Superman and regular hair plus the S curl as Clark.

  59. When people say bad casting and etc, it makes me happy that some of the fans have NO choice in casting.

  60. @kennyg, Yeah, lol. If you look at the pic from SDCC, his hair looks longer than in the promo shot, and that was like a week and a half ago. So presumably that picture was taken a little while ago. hopefully we’ll see a trim by the time filming starts.

  61. Before i even read the blurb, i thought “damn that looks kinda old school” yeah really love the classic “S” and the look and feel. So far so good. 

  62. the textures a little weird kinda like chain mail or something 

  63. Not really a big Superman fan, and DEFINITELY not a fan of Zack Snyder, so I guess this image wasn’t made to please someone like myself. Rather than ruin everyone’s fun, I’ll just let you guys enjoy this picture!

  64. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    @thewolfmancometh  This was invaluable!

  65. Not so sure about this. I’m being nitpicky but the cape looks too long, at least in this picture. The colors are way too muted, needs more saturation ( this got retweeted by graphicly http://yfrog.com/z/h454390556j ). The texture of the suit looks weird. The sleeves seem to be a little too long, they crease at the end. He also looks like he has no eyebrows. All that being said, I’m sure I’ll love it in motion. Can’t wait 🙂

  66. @PaulMontgomery  YOUR FACE IS INVALUABLE! No but really, I started to type out how awful I thought this costume looked, but then started reading all the positive comments. If people really want to read my venomous comments about it, you can look on my site where I don’t feel bad for cursing.

    http://thewolfmancometh.com/2011/08/04/have-you-guys-seen-that-new-superman-guy-it-looks-so-bad-hahaha/

  67. @HeX  I agree, it looks like a fish scale, but then again there are people who think Cap’s chain mail and pirate boots look good. I guess you gotta know your audience.

  68. He has NO eyebrows when you zoom in on the first pictue.  Does Superman not have eyebrows?

  69. Will the spit curl will be added later with CGI? What’s up with the muted colors? The suit looks like it’s made out of rubber and has scales. The colors are all wrong. Should be blue and red not gray and maroon. I hated that in Superman Returns. The maroon cape just doesn’t look right. The hair’s too long and looks slicked. Don’t like it at all. Already disappointed.

  70. The real question is…. is he wearing red pants on the outside (I’m British and have no idea what you call your underwear in US). Or is Cavill a pantless Superman?

  71. Wouldn’t American underwear …. just be underwear?
    But I increased the brightness on the pic, and no I don’t think he’s wearing his knickers outside.

  72. @midwinter  Yes, underwear.