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Henry Cavill On MAN OF STEEL's "Grounded" Approach To Superman

We've seen the Total Film Man Of Steel cover, and now we have a portion of the interview with Superman himself, Henry Cavill. The actor once again discusses this "modern" incarnation of the character, and reveals how he prepared for the role..

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By Mark "RorMachine" Cassidy - 3/11/2013


How do you ground the adventures of a super-strong flying alien who shoots lasers from his eyes in reality? Well, apparently Zack Snyder and co. are taking a stab at it! In the latest issue of Total Film Henry Cavill talks about this brand new take on a classic comic character. "This is a Superman for a modern age. It's not betraying anything that Superman is, but it is grounding everything in reality," Cavill explained to the mag. "It's the story of this incredible being who can do incredible things, but whom we can associate with. Because he's gone through troubling stuff and had to make tough choices." Cavill says he didn't know too much about Superman growing up, but since landing the role he's been preparing by reading up and watching box sets of past incarnations of the character - but, that doesn't mean he'll be taking too much influence from them. "I managed to piece together this character, maintaining that bass-line and having all the differences and nuances that our script adds, [But] this is our own thing. Stand-alone. It's about Superman, but we're not copying from any one comic in particular. And that's a good thing, because it's an original story." Be sure to keep an eye on CBM for more Man Of Steel related goodness very soon. Thanks to Henry Cavill.org for the transcript.







Source: Total Film
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39 Comments
Ghostfire - 3/11/2013, 1:49 PM
Lookin' good! Amy IS Lois. She'll kick ass in the role. Can't wait for this film!
batpod0718 - 3/11/2013, 1:50 PM
It will be awesome!
MARVELPSYCHO79 - 3/11/2013, 1:54 PM
Nice.
RorMachine - 3/11/2013, 1:56 PM
MrMxyzptlk, did you read the teaser?
thanos83 - 3/11/2013, 2:05 PM
Looks like she's bracing herself for the "super spoon"
BenderDickCumPatch - 3/11/2013, 2:06 PM
MrWhatsit is correct.
Cue skimpy chicks ;)
Jollem - 3/11/2013, 2:09 PM
arsonjack - 3/11/2013, 2:15 PM
ON SET WOLVERINE! YES
RorMachine - 3/11/2013, 2:23 PM
Sorry, didn't realize that Fresh had updated his article, so there's a slight change!
Floke - 3/11/2013, 2:45 PM
Is "grounded" the new "dark and gritty"?
sephiroth211 - 3/11/2013, 2:51 PM
Good that they will ground him a bit, and make this character a guy we can relate to. I've always had a problem with Supes because I can't relate to the guy. He never gets sick, or feels the pains a normal man does. I want them to show that he is not so different from us...even though he can breath in the vacuum of space. God i'm so pumped to see this!!
PapaMidnight - 3/11/2013, 2:57 PM
"It's not betraying anything that Superman is, but it is grounding everything in reality,"

"It's about Superman, but we're not copying from any one comic in particular. And that's a good thing, because it's an original story."

Purists and comic book shiites go fainting in 3... 2... 1...
Poor devils! LOL
hench - 3/11/2013, 3:22 PM
Bought vol. 1 of the collect Grounded series....bored me, no interest in purchasing the conclusion. It was forest jump meets, tobey maguires spiderman.
thewonderer - 3/11/2013, 3:50 PM
"It's about Superman, but we're not copying from any one comic in particular. And that's a good thing, because it's an original story."

Waiting for die hard comic fans to misinterpret this and say Man of Steel is a complete betrayal to the comics.
Superguy15 - 3/11/2013, 3:59 PM
Usually I get annoyed when people say it's "grounded and realistic", but not this time. In the case of Superman, it's time for a change!
Darth258 - 3/11/2013, 3:59 PM
For once i agree.
Drop the boy scout attitude and give us the ruthless invincible alien!
Darth258 - 3/11/2013, 4:05 PM

MrHulkSmashin - 3/11/2013, 4:20 PM
I think it's "baseline" not "bass-line" unless this is the Man of Dub. XD
thewonderer - 3/11/2013, 5:00 PM
@Robbyboy

YOU DON'T KNOW ME
kenjim152 - 3/11/2013, 5:08 PM
Making Superman a guy we can relate to is ridiculous, Superman is somebody we look up at, somebody we admire and folllow and he is the only comic book character who can let Batman know he is sometimes wrong!! That is Superman when someone says Superman has to be a character he should relate to that person is only showing how much he does ignore about Superman. Have you guys EVER read the odisey? It is a great Superman story and they ground him the only way Superman can be grounded and that is by having the world react to him in a realistic way like showing that supes cannot save a person with his superspeed cause he would break all the person's bones immediatly. Singer started grounding supes with his scene having supes rescuing the plane crash. Nolan and Goyer are great writers, Snyder is a great director we will get a great movie.
ToTheManInTheColdSweat - 3/11/2013, 5:13 PM
lmbo mi padremidnight. bet ya ass some fanboy had a heart attack after reading that.

jollem

dat shield!!!



^_^
superbigguy32 - 3/11/2013, 5:22 PM
I'm getting tired about how CBMs need to be grounded and dark. Just make a good movie, damn. Everything doesn't need to be explained. He's a FREAKIN' ALIEN for God sake. He can have super breath and all of his other powers. If he doesn't have all his powers i.e. super breath. I will be very disappointed.
SnyderTrite - 3/11/2013, 5:35 PM
There is a certain sense of irony to grounding Superman.
Scooby - 3/11/2013, 7:00 PM
I'm getting tired of fans who don't know what they want saying what they want only to get what they said they wanted and realizing its not what they wanted. The truth is all fans want compelling and gripping stories involving characters they love (that's what I think) - and as we get older, it's easier to relate to the darker, grittier, and more "realistically" grounded stories than more of the happy go lucky whimsical stories. So dark, gritty, and real are good things if done with integrity, heart and love. All you need is love man :)

If done because some douches want to follow some sort of trend, it will fail miserably.
sephiroth211 - 3/11/2013, 7:02 PM
They don't mean they will ground him...they mean they are making him a character we can relate to. He will fly, use heat vision, freeze things with his breath, and he will also feel like a human instead of this all powerful God figure. If this franchise is going to survive the CBM wars it has to give Supes a heart. They have to make us care what happens to this alien.
thewolfx - 3/11/2013, 7:55 PM
I hope he uses all his base powers
AmericanPsychoWolf - 3/11/2013, 8:10 PM
Drop the bass!
mgeoff88 - 3/11/2013, 10:22 PM
"This is a Superman for a modern age."

YES!!!

"I managed to piece together this character, maintaining that bass-line and having all the differences and nuances that our script adds, [But] this is our own thing."

Henry Cavill is slappin' da bass! :P

I'm excited to see his portrayal of Superman!!!
fangz - 3/11/2013, 11:06 PM
@kenjim152 - No, I relate to the character, I think a ton of people do .
you probably do too, it's just that certain words imply different things to us both.
But we both seem to really like the character and think this movie is gonna kick all kinds of ass. all over the place.

But I totally disagree that people relating to Superman is ridiculous. Or that anyone should be ridiculed for saying they feel that way.

When you actually take the time to think about what a person might be saying, it makes it a lot easier to understand what they're saying.

bbiz20 - 3/12/2013, 12:02 AM
I for one am really looking forward to this iteration of Superman. I think trying to ground Spider-Man in 'reality' was the wrong choice. But I feel Superman has served well in 70+ years of onscreen storytelling. I think its about time we got a Superman who feels like he could exist on this earth. Cant wait!
bropous - 3/12/2013, 4:41 AM
We'll see.
knocturnalzen10 - 3/12/2013, 6:12 AM
@kenjim152
i get what u mean but usually when those sup stories are like that , they usually aren't good. for fact of u sitting trying to figure out why are the bad even in the fights or what way can the writer ad kryptonite in the mix to make him weak.
i hope this is more relatable an grounded, the best superman stories are. the ones in the begining when he's trying to get a grip of who he is an his purpose being on earth, rather then in the later yrs him just walking around as that young JC carrying planets on his back. read sercet origins that's what goyer is getting a good portion of his idea from for man of steel
kenjim152 - 3/12/2013, 7:37 AM
@famgz @knicturnalzen10 I know that most of people who can relate to Superman is because they have read supes stories or because they are supes fans, the word itself implies that someone has a relationship with the character, but saying that supes powers have to be eased or reduced so people can relate to him is what drives me crazy. Best heroes stories are the ones that have heroes go through an internal journey not only supes has has those stories in comic book History. Supes has a great list of rogues, zod, Luthor, blaze, brainiac, parasite, metallo, etc. I do not think we have to reduce supes powers to make him interesting, you just give him a great story (he has many) and a foe who is a real challenge for him mentally and phisically. Then you have a great movie in which people do not relate to the character, but that people like!!!! I do not relate to these small beings with big feet and big hands, for CHrist sake i have never read a LOTR book!!, but TLOTR Trilogy are great movies no one can deny that and thats is the way they should go (if not they are going) with Superman. I am not ridiculing anyone, just saying reducing supes powers is ridiculous, I know We do not want supes be moving planets or having time move backwards on MOS, but that does not mean supes can still be the character he has been for ages and being relatable, and i am almost sure Snyder, Goyer and Nolan got that idea as far as the material we have seen can tell.
knocturnalzen10 - 3/12/2013, 9:25 AM
that's very understandable.
just remember when they don't reduce his powers , u'll start getting superman prime activities happening an no one wants that lol smh he snapped a guardians neck with his bare hands ...................
sephiroth211 - 3/12/2013, 10:25 AM
@Batmaniac: You are correct in stating they will not cut back on Supes' powers. He will be doing everything a Superman is supposed to do, but at the same time he will feel human. What is so hard to understand about that? I guess some folk just need something to worry about.
ShazamandtheMonsterSocietyofMetal - 3/12/2013, 10:46 AM
As many people have said, making some heroes in a grounded and realistic world is just a mistake, but for Superman, at least in his first movie, I don't think it is...if they can also manage to show his impact on society.

It should be about Superman of course, but we should see how an alien with godly powers fighting for humanity affects the everyday world. We only need to see it a little bit, not like The Dark Knight Returns-esque talking heads every five seconds, but like that news segment at the end of the Avengers.

But making Superman himself grounded and relatable? Not too certain, but I'm excited to find out.
fangz - 3/12/2013, 11:48 AM
@Kenjim152 - no, no, no, i'm totally with u on that.
entirely. I love how stylized Snyder gets with his movies and Nolan, for sure, understands that there's a difference between Superman and Batman. And if he ends up working on Justice League, I'm sure he understands that too. ::)

I was just commenting at you becuz it was really unclear to me what you were reacting to. The actor's quote is pretty benign and everything about the production looks like we are gonna get real deal Superman this summer. especially as far as his powers go.

If there's anything to worry about, i could imagine people reading some of the press coming leading up and seeing the first trailer and feeling like it'd be possible to overdo it where he comes off brooding or angst-ridden. but I don't really see that, myself, either.
fangz - 3/12/2013, 11:57 AM
i think basically, i'm trying to suggest that the words realistic or grounded shouldn't immediately start this whole debate.

No one who made the Nolan Batman films ever claimed that they were going to be like real life. the realistic, grounded thing was a talking point for interviews, but it's simply a repackaging of something that people have always done.

think of Dracula films in the 30's, Bela Lugosi.
then think of every decade or so's Dracula films.

He's just saying that now becuz interviews are pretty ridiculous and that is kind of the perfect little pill to repeat for reporters. becuz it gives them lots of ways to best make a connection between this and that and Nolan's immensely successful previous superhero films. So he's gonna say that like a million times more, he's trying to make it as easy as possible for any reporter to write a decent article that makes people maybe want to see this movie. that's all.
you can't blame anyone in the situation, it just is what it is.
well you can blame us for getting worked up about it, but that's it. haha ::)
kenjim152 - 3/12/2013, 3:07 PM
@fangz It was not the actor's comments, but people who still insist that supes powers have to be eased in order to make him relatable, I still believe those are the ones who have just read the dead of Superman and they still believe they can say how Superman should be made

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