Kevin Costner (Phil Klein/AP)
The rumors are right: Kevin Costner will play Jonathan Kent – the earnest, flinty Kansas farmer who takes in an alien infant who grows up to be Superman – when Warner Bros. revives Superman for the silver screen in 2012.
Director Zack Snyder, in an announcement released from the studio, said that the Oscar-winning actor will be able to convey the essence of Heartland America: “Jonathan Kent is the only father figure Clark has ever had, the man who was there to help Clark understand what he was meant to do in the world as Superman. Kevin will be able to communicate the quiet strength of this rural American man who raised the greatest superhero of all time.”
Snyder told Hero Complex on Wednesday that he won’t be looking back to the films of the past as he moves forward with a project that is reportedly titled “The Man of Steel.” He elaborated: “We’re making a movie that finally goes with the approach that there’s been no other Superman movies,” Snyder said. “If you look at ‘Batman Begins,’ there’s that structure: there’s the canon that we know about and respect, but on other hand there’s this approach that pre-supposes that there haven’t been any other movies. In every aspect of design and of story, the whole thing is very much from that perspective of ‘Respect the canon but don’t be a slave to the movies.’”
Warner previously announced that Diane Lane will play Martha Kent, the wife of Jonathan. Henry Cavill will play Clark Kent and, of course, his caped alias, Superman.
The late Glenn Ford played Pa Kent in the 1978 ”Superman” film directed by Richard Donner and his character’s death — and his son’s grief — made for one of the most evocative sequences in the film. On television, in “Smallville,” the plaid-shirted patriarch is embodied by John Schneider, the country music singer who first came to fame on “The Dukes of Hazzard.”
– Geoff Boucher (twitter.com/latherocomplex)
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If you build it, they will come.
Oh did I say "they will come"? oh sorry I meant "THE LAST SON OF KRYPTON WILL CRASH IN YOUR BACK YARD AND YOU BETTER HAVE SOME HEARTFELT WORDS OF WISDOM ABOUT THE ABUSES OF POWER AND THE VALUE OF HUMAN LIFE OR YOU AINT DOIN YOUR JOB RIGHT."
Oh boy. (Cue the "Quantum Leap" theme.)
I don’t understand the premise for this movie. Is it a continuation of superman returns from 2005 or is it a re-imagining of the original 1978 superman? If so, then why didn’t this new movie come before the superman returns movie? This is just as confusing as when the Christian bale Batman movies came out under the assumption that the Michael keeton versions never existed.
RTFA
It's going to be a stand alone film, ie: like Chris Nolans Batman movies it is starting from scratch, new style, new cast, it has nothing to due with with Superman Returns (thank god)
John, were you confused by the Coen Brothers' recent "True Grit" because John Wayne wasn't playing Rooster Cogburn? Have you been confused by every James Bond film that didn't feature Sean Connery? Did J.J. Abrams' recent reboot of "Star Trek" leave you sitting in the theater completely bewildered? Oh, and for the record, the 1978 film of "Superman" wasn't the "original." Superman had been on the big screen before. I heard a rumor that he actually got his start as a comic book character!
what about the fifties and sixties versons and all the cartoons after all Adam West was the best Batman and George Reeves was the original Superman on Tv. These where all done before Keaton, Reeves, Bale and Co so your'e point about the premise of the movies is a bit silly its all been done before again and again. Get over it, its only a fun loving movie.
Are you stupid or what? READ THE ARTICLE!
Sorry: there are only two (2) supermen- cristopher reeves&dean cain! Sorry!
Yeah, nobody like Cavill. Epic fail.
So your answer is to resurrect the dead or get an old guy to play Superman. Fail.
No desire to get in a fight with trolls, but there has been a hell of a lot of screen Supermen since 1938 and each time someone says "he isn't Superman" and somehow the franchise survives. Grow up and give it a chance.
Y'know, people used to say "Nobody but George Reeves can be Superman," then came Christopher Reeve. How about you prejudgmental haters give Henry Cavill an actual chance to prove you wrong instead of writing him off before a single scene is even filmed? Or did you people learn nothing from all the hate toward Heath Ledger as the Joker before THE DARK KNIGHT came out?
I actually thought that the Heath Ledger casting as the Joker was gonna work from day 1 just like I feel Henry Cavill is gonna pull this off…He was who I felt should play Superman in Superman returns….The dude embodies Smallville(The Town not the Show) Clark in appearance.
I hope he wears suits like George Reeve – with a fedora, of course
This seems like a small part for Kostner, but he seems to know what he is doing when he picks roles. I am sure he will be a good father to the man of steel.