Below are various movie posters I designed for the Man of Steel. I started these posters before I had seen any villain casting, logo or official images.
Brainiac concept design
My choice for the role of Brainiac is Charles Dance. I have decided to use the humanoid form of Brainiac as opposed to the artificial intelligence version. Photo manipulation was done in Photoshop. I overlayed a circuit board over Brainiac’s skin. The idea is that Brainiac’s skin is actually an organic circuit board that is also integrated into the layers of skin and flesh below the outermost skin. I have also made it look as if the top layer of his skin is broken or coming loose as a result of the bio-electro circuit board technology that is woven into his skin and flesh. I have chosen to place the diodes exactly on Brainiac’s temporal lobes.
Brainiac poster
I created the lava cracks in one layer, added more orange and superimposed the layer over an image of the Earth. I added a glow to the lava and a slight bevel. I reduced the saturation of the Earth to make it look like a decaying planet. Brainiac appears malevolently holding the dying Earth in his hands (which also have the circuit board texture embedded in the skin).
Bizarro
I always liked Bizarro as a villain for Man of Steel and I started working on this poster before I was aware that Zod would be the main antagonist. The image of Bizarro is incorporated into sharp shards of broken mirror. I have also duplicated the text and reversed it to emphasize the idea of Bizarro being a duplicate and mirror opposite of Superman. I used a texture to give it a grungy feel.
Welcome to New Krypton
This poster uses General Zod. The idea of this was to keep it fairly simple
I desaturated the colours and added Zod’s (Michael Shannon) face in the background to give the poster an ominous feel. The version of Zod in this poster is the one who wants to make Earth in the image of New Krytpon and impose a forced utilitarian structure on humans.
Man of Steel – motion blurred
Since this movie is called Man of Steel, I decided to use the famous theme concept from the Fleischer animated series i.e. “Faster than a speeding bullet….”
Man of Steel
I used bright colours in this poster to make it really stand out. Also, the bright and vibrant hues in the background represent the sun. I used a mottled texture in the background so as that colours do not look like flat colours. Included in the list of actors are those whose characters would likely be involved with Metropolis i.e Perry White (Laurence Fishburne).
Lex Luthor
My choice for Lex Luthor is Ralph Fiennes. This poster is meant to be grunge and arty, and therefore it is not exactly photo realistic. This version of Lex Luthor is the billionaire “humanitarian” who owns LexCorp. He is a high profile public figure who, at least in the view of the public and media, is a kind and charitable man and adored by Metropolis’s citizens. On the down low he has nefarious dealings with the criminal underworld and even has various important Metropolis officials (e.g. the mayor) in his pocket. He therefore controls the entire city. That is why the image if Lex is placed behind the city in the poster. The tagline refers to Lex’s opinions on Superman but also to Lex himself.
Teaser poster with logo and sun
The idea of this was to feature the sun which also reveals the logo. This is a teaser poster and therefore the concept was to remain simple, which is why it features the sun, earth and logo. The sun of course ties in to Superman’s powers.
Costume design
I started this design before the official image of Henry Cavill was released. I decided to keep the iconic look but added a texture and few seams to the costume so that it is not a flat colour. I based the design of the belt on the newly revamped costume from DC. The only difference is I kept the belt a golden colour and not red.