History Fridge / ManOfSteel

* Applying SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome to Superman has more or less placed him in a setting akin to the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, or more specifically the world of the Franchise/XMen, where ordinary humans fear mutants for being different. Ironically enough, it's the Marvel heroes who are now the ones cheered by the public in their movies, and the DC heroes are now the ones hated or feared. While [[Film/SpiderMan1 Spider-Man's first movie]] had Jameson milking the "Dangerous vigilante" angle for all it was worth, the second film had a subway full of New Yorkers pulling Parker's mask off and realizing he's "just a kid" under it, followed by those bystanders trying to fend off Doc Ock to help! ComicBook/IronMan has little kids walking up to him asking for autographs. ComicBook/CaptainAmerica was amused, embarrassed, and horrified to learn that there were ''trading cards'' of him. Thor doesn't quite have the stack of good publicity, but he gets a few brownie points for himself. Even with the damage done to New York, the Avengers were clearly seen as heroes. Even Wolverine's latest outing is showing that he has some friends (possibly duplicitous) in high places, despite being a persecuted mutant. Meanwhile, Batman took the fall for Harvey Dent's misdeeds and became a pariah, and the Army was still sending armed drones after Superman in the coda of the film. A very odd reversal.

* So the Fortress of Solitude or its equivalent is already destroyed. That's no problem since in the comics Superman originally built it with his bare hands, and he can just do the same for future film appearances. ''[[Film/{{Superman}} Superman: The Movie]]'' introduced the concept of the Fortress being Kryptonian, which [[RetCanon the comics later used.]] It should also be noted that the ship looked like it was mostly still intact after Superman crashed it into Metropolis.

* The modified ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman'' quote means ''Man of Steel'' could be seen as its BelatedBackstory / BookEnds.

* Krypton in this version was destroyed because the Kryptonians had been tapping its core for power, destabilizing their own planet by burning away its resources, [[NotSoDifferent just like we Earthlings are doing right now]]. Jor-El's wish to teach Earth not to repeat Krypton's mistakes makes a lot of sense given the fact that we're basically setting ourselves to follow in their footsteps.

* Jor-El says that he and Lara couldn't go with Kal-El because they were "just as flawed as the rest of Krypton". And that the use of DesignerBabies cost Krypton the "element of choice". Sounds like personalities are assigned to these DesignerBabies after the initial genetic engineering (hence why Kal-El is unaffected despite having his parents' DNA). Both them and Zod would have deviated from these pre-programmed personalities by committing heresy and treason respectively. So Zod being a LargeHam and dismissing the courses of action that would have let the humans live could be signs of him being un{{Brainwashed And Crazy}} and Kal-El's parents were worried that they might turn out to be NotSoDifferent from Zod.

* Applying RealityEnsues to Superman has more or less placed him in a setting akin to the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, or more specifically the world of the Franchise/XMen, where ordinary humans fear mutants for being different. Ironically enough, it's the Marvel heroes who are now the ones cheered by the public in their movies, and the DC heroes are now the ones hated or feared. While [[Film/SpiderMan1 Spider-Man's first movie]] had Jameson milking the "Dangerous vigilante" angle for all it was worth, the second film had a subway full of New Yorkers pulling Parker's mask off and realizing he's "just a kid" under it, followed by those bystanders trying to fend off Doc Ock to help! ComicBook/IronMan has little kids walking up to him asking for autographs. ComicBook/CaptainAmerica was amused, embarrassed, and horrified to learn that there were ''trading cards'' of him. Thor doesn't quite have the stack of good publicity, but he gets a few brownie points for himself. Even with the damage done to New York, the Avengers were clearly seen as heroes. Even Wolverine's latest outing is showing that he has some friends (possibly duplicitous) in high places, despite being a persecuted mutant. Meanwhile, Batman took the fall for Harvey Dent's misdeeds and became a pariah, and the Army was still sending armed drones after Superman in the coda of the film. A very odd reversal.

** The Man of Tomorrow – Kal was meant to bring in a new era of Kryptonians free from genetic engineering to pursue their own wishes/dreams. As Superman he also ushers in an era of superhumans protecting the Earth.
* The LogoJoke depcts the film’s production logos in gray. Why gray? Because it’s the color of steel. Not only does it fit the Man of Steel title, but it works with the metallic Kryptonian tech seen in the film. The color however could also represent the faded and worn state of Krypton around the time of the film’s opening.
* Many viewers were turned off by the obscene amount of action Snyder put into the film, especially considering the destruction caused by Superman fighting Zod and his soldiers. However, it makes sense when you recognize Nolan and Goyer's realistic spin on the story, that this indeed is basically what would happen if a fight between a rookie Superman and any other super-powered being were to take place in real life. It's a fight amongst Kryptonians on a planet that grants all of them these destructive powers. One is fighting for the first time (let alone fighting other beings with similar powerlevels), doesn't yet know how to hold back his attacks and isn't professionally trained in combat, while the rest are all trained soldiers who aren't willing to hold back one bit. This is the most realistic way of getting him to realize all the lessons he's been taught. It will really drive home that he really truly -can- singularly change the world. Now he realizes just ''how much damage he can do,'' a figure that's absolutely catastrophic and terrifying in scale. By the time we see him again, he should have a radically different approach and have since learned that he ''must'' pull his punches if he can't get out of the way of bystanders. All of which should slowly turn him into the TheHero his world will recognize and TheParagon Jor-El and Jonathan Kent believed he can be.
* All of that death. All of that destruction. A horrible visage for the human race to witness. Why, it's enough to make [[ComicBook/LexLuthor some very powerful people]] very upset.

* If Jor-El and Lara rejected [[DesignerBabies genetic engineering]] and had a child the old-fashioned way to ensure he could choose his own path, wouldn't it be pointless since they themselves are genetically engineered to be scientists? No -- while their naturally-mixed genes may still predispose Kal-El towards science or other "brainy" stuff, he still has to be raised to be a scientist within Kryptonian society to achieve his potential in that field. Instead, Kal-El grew up as Clark Kent with a relatively normal childhood. But the movie still hints at Clark's intellectual lineage -- there are old photos of him and Jonathan at a science fair, and he appears to be bookish as a child. How many kids read Plato for fun?
* People have noticed the design quirk in Jor-El's chest insignia--that it's a combination of the Bat-symbol and the 'S'-shield. At first it looks like a subtle shout out and mythology gag, but when you think about it, Jor-El in this movie is a combination of Superman and Batman's best traits. He has the brilliant scientific mind Batman is praised for, as well as his fighting prowess as a BadassNormal, and is of Kryptonian heritage (and by virtue of that, is Clark's biological father). Not long after this movie, DC announced a Superman-Batman team up movie.
* This adaptation of Superman gives probably one of the best thought out origins of his suit. As noted by Jor-El, Krypton has sent out whole fleets of scout ships to further the expansion of the Kryptonian people. That said, whenever they came across worlds with sentient species, those ships might have carried special uniforms which were not only emblazoned with the Kryptonian symbol of Hope (which happens to looks like an English 'S'), but designed as brightly colored, open, and non-threatening. It would certainly help to put out a "we come in peace" feel as opposed to their battle armor, which was near sinister in appearance (even Jor-El's, though being blue and gold helped mitigate it for him a bit).

* During the Battle of Smallville, Faora is knocked out by a missile, thus showing that Kryptonians are not 100% invulnerable, just really really tough. Thus they subtly tone down Superman's GodModeSue qualities without directly diminishing his awesomeness. This would fit with Superman's powers in the comics, which are based off of sunlight. Zod's people were wearing gas masks so they would appear to be using EV suits, which logically would block most radiation, so they have only a fraction of Superman's abilities, until their forcefields are deactivated. This forcefield is also the thing that is providing the kryptonians with their air, so they feel like they are choking to death until the sun provides them with enough power to go without breathing. This explains why Zod experiences so much pain when he first deactivates his helmet, and would explain why the kryptonians would assume that it's the atmosphere that gives them their powers, since none of them are biologists, and they don't stay long enough to figure it out.
* The final fight between Zod and Superman very subtly established that both fighters had distinct advantages, which were clearly reflected in how they used their powers. Clark had little combat experience, and had only recently started trying to push the limits of his powers. However, he had been using the powers in limited quantities for years, so he had a pretty good idea of how to use them efficiently. Once Zod's breather is removed, he's suddenly overwhelmed by his enhanced senses, and has powers that he has no idea how to use properly...but, being a trained warrior, he adapts quickly. The scene in which Zod does a WallCrawl establishes this VERY well: he doesn't know how to fly yet, and Clark isn't going to wait around for him to practice, so he improvises. Note also, when Zod first fires off his heat vision in full, he seems to realize that there's something of a brief cooldown period where he needs to recover from the sting; this comes back in when Clark fires his off to avoid an i-beam assault but doesn't account for that same cooldown vulnerability...and is promptly smacked by Zod.

* Applying RealityEnsues to Superman has more or less placed him in a setting akin to the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, or more specifically the world of the Franchise/XMen, where ordinary humans fear mutants for being different. Ironically enough, it's the Marvel heroes are now the ones cheered by the public in their movies, and the DC heroes are now the ones hated or feared. While [[Film/SpiderMan1 Spider-Man's first movie]] had Jameson milking the "Dangerous vigilante" angle for all it was worth, the second film had a subway full of New Yorkers pulling Parker's mask off and realizing he's "just a kid" under it, followed by those bystanders trying to fend off Doc Ock to help! ComicBook/IronMan has little kids walking up to him asking for autographs. ComicBook/CaptainAmerica was amused, embarrassed, and horrified to learn that there were ''trading cards'' of him. Thor doesn't quite have the stack of good publicity, but he gets a few brownie points for himself. Even with the damage done to New York, the Avengers were clearly seen as heroes. Even Wolverine's latest outing is showing that he has some friends (possibly duplicitous) in high places, despite being a persecuted mutant. Meanwhile, Batman took the fall for Harvey Dent's misdeeds and became a pariah, and the Army was still sending armed drones after Superman in the coda of the film. Very odd reversal.

* It first seems odd that the Superman costume is so brightly coloured compared to the sombre uniforms worn by all other Kryptonians, but then the brilliance kicks in: that costume is actually 18,000 year old relic from the planet's golden age, full of hope and promise, whereas the Kryptonians seen in the movie are from the era of slow decay and loss which reflects to their outlook and their fashion.

* A satellite hovering directly above Metropolis during the Zod Vs. Superman seems a little too conveniently placed. All of Earth's orbit and somehow the two kryptonians manage to crash into one right above a city that was under alien attack for the last few minutes which then falls perfectly back down to Metropolis? Then you see that it was built by [[SequelHook Wayne Enterprises.]] $20 says that satellite has spying capabilities and was deliberately directed to that spot so a certain [[TheCowl tall, dark, and spooky character from Gotham]] could observe the Black Zero in action.
* The codex has the DNA of every single Kryptonian that ever lived. ''{{Series/Smallville}}'' explored a similar concept in which the DNA of all of Kandor's citizens including Jor-El and Zod (who at the time was a Major when his DNA was contributed.) was housed in container that could bring them back to life. Ergo Kandor and to an extent all of Krypton is housed inside Superman's Cells. Which in turn means eventually in the near future. The ''ComicBook/NewKrypton'' story arc might be in the series later on.

* The soundtrack piece that could be considered Superman's new theme--"What Are You Going To Do When You Are Not Saving The World," doesn't kick in much at all until the very, ''very'' last moments of the film. Which makes a lot of sense when you factor in Superman's development; the theme doesn't even play when he puts the suit on for the first time and figures out how to fly. This is because he's ''not'' Superman really; not yet at least, as he had yet to fully commit to any direction of his own choice. The soundtrack essentially tells us that at the end, after he's cemented his place and picked Earth and Humanity as his true home; that ''now,'' the moment he takes up the job at the Daily Planet and puts on his glasses -- '''now he's Superman'''.
* There is a discrepancy in the comics concerning Kryptonian pregnancy: while some stories indicate that Krypton has DesignerBabies, other stories show that Kal-El was the result of a natural pregnancy. This film managed to combine the two, fitting for a fresh look at Superman. It also provides the basis for a science fiction aesop about the pitfalls of DesignerBabies and predestined caste systems leading to CripplingOverspecialization.

* This isn't a film about the Big Blue Boy Scout, but rather a film about the Last Son of Krypton, as it deals with Kal-El being naturally born rather than genetically engineered as well as his clash of his dual heritage of Earth and Krypton. It's also a film about the Man of Tomorrow: while all Kryptonians are decadent and decaying and stuck in the past, Kal has the oppurtunity of having a new world with a bright future ahead.

* An odd example as it only applies when watching the movie for the first time, but it's a horrifying fridge moment when you connect the dots and realize that as Zod is about to kill an innocent family, Clark has no choice but to break his one rule as Zod cannot be talked down. To fans not fond of the idea that Superman will kill when necessary, this is not a happy thing to realize and you're hoping that the writers won't go with it... And then he goes and does it. On a more positive note, you can see the act of taking a life had a deep effect on Clark, since this was his first outing as Superman here perhaps in ''this'' continuity; this is the moment where he adopts the no-kill policy that the other versions of him were so known for--which, according to WordOfGod, is exactly what they were going for. It's possible Clark didn't mean to break his own nascent moral code at all -- he may not have meant to kill him even if he didn't want to, only to turn Zod's head, and then catastrophically mis-estimating his own strength just the slightest bit again when up against another similarly-powered Kryptonian. (Albeit one who was clearly in DeathSeeker mode and ''trying'' to force Clark's hand.) Zod has forced him to do what he's spent his whole life in terror of.
* Superman's mourning of Zod after the former kills the later is made even more powerful when you realize that apart from the ones trapped in the Phantom Zone (who would eventually, if not have already died), Zod is the only other Kryptonian in the universe. In other words, Superman made himself the last of his kind.

* All of the destruction in the movie--not to mention the barely averted extinction of all life on the planet--was done with civilian-grade equipment. Zod's ship is a retrofitted prison, unarmed and unarmoured. Their personal armour, guns and shuttles were scavenged from dessicated corpses, and the World Engine was never intended to be used as a weapon. Bearing that in mind, imagine what Zod could have done with a fraction of the military might he controlled during his attempted coup.

* Scientist Charles Watson and his hazard-assessment team at Watson Technical Consulting ran an analysis (using analytical models of the Metropolis stand-ins of New York and Chicago) to calculate the collateral damage and deaths Superman and General Zod's fight caused. Watson estimates that some 129,000 people would have been killed, with another 250,000 going missing in the rubble, and nearly a million more maimed and injured. Now remember, Superman has super-senses; he can SEE and HEAR all of that suffering....
* The Kryptonians used to be space explorers, only to eventually abandon the planets they'd colonised. When Zod and his troops travelled to these outposts, they found only wastelands filled with corpses. Then ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' reveals that Darkseid and Steppenwolf have spent several millennia wiping out planets and are familiar with the Kryptonian race. Connect the dots.

* The LogoJoke depcts the film’s production logos in gray. Why gray? Because it’s the color of steel. Not only does it fit the Man of Steel title, but it works with the metallic Kryptonian tech seen in the film.
** The color however could also represent the faded and worn state of Krypton around the time of the film’s opening.

* During the Battle of Smallville, Faora is knocked out by a missile, thus showing that Kryptonians are not 100% invulnerable, just really really tough. Thus they subtly tone down Superman's GodModeSue qualities without directly diminishing his awesomeness.
** Actually, it was more likely that her powers were dullened because she was wearing her kryptonian armor, none of Zod's people displayed full kryptonian abilities when they were wearing their armor, Zod was the only one who displayed full power (flight, superspeed, heat vision), and he was the only one who deactivated his forcefield on his armor.
** This would fit with Superman's powers in the comics, which are based off of sunlight. Zod's people were wearing gas masks so they would appear to be using EV suits, which logically would block most radiation, so they have only a fraction of Superman's abilities, until their forcefields are deactivated. This forcefield is also the thing that is providing the kryptonians with their air, so they feel like they are choking to death until the sun provides them with enough power to go without breathing. This explains why Zod experiences so much pain when he first deactivates his helmet, and would explain why the kryptonians would assume that it's the atmosphere that gives them their powers, since none of them are biologists, and they don't stay long enough to figure it out.

** Building onto that. Why does Clark pick, "Joe" as his name in order to keep people from learning his true identity? Because Joe was the first name of the man who created Superman, Joe Shuster. Bonus points for the scene taking place in Canada, where Joe was from.

** Or, in the words of Creator/RobertAHeinlein: ''"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."'' Krypton moved into CripplingOverspecialization, and thus doomed themselves, writing off space exploration and colonization, and even it seems innovation, as no longer worth the effort. Adaptation is survival: choose to stop adapting, and you're choosing extinction.

* This isn't a film about the Big Blue Boy Scout, but rather a film about the Last Son of Krypton, as it deals with Kal-El being naturally born rather than genetically engineered as well as his clash of his dual heritage of Earth and Krypton.
** It's also a film about the Man of Tomorrow: while all Kryptonians are decadent and decaying and stuck in the past, Kal has the oppurtunity of having a new world with a bright future ahead.

* A satellite hovering directly above Metropolis during the Zod Vs. Superman seems a little too conveniently placed. All of Earth's orbit and somehow the two kryptonians manage to crash into one right above a city that was under alien attack for the last few minutes which then falls perfectly back down to Metropolis? Then you see that it was built by [[SequelHook Wayne Enterprises.]] $20 says that satellite has spying capabilities and was deliberatley directed tot hat spot so a certain [[TheCowl tall, dark, and spooky character from Gotham]] could observe the Black Zero in action.

* The LogoJoke depcts the film’s production logos in gray. Why gray? Because it’s the color of steel. The color however could also represent the faded and worn state of Krypton around the time of the film’s opening.

* Kal-El's supersuit is revealed to have been on the 20,000 year old ship buried under the ice - possibly because one of the crew members was a member of the El family (As revealed in the prequel comic) and presumably the use of the genesis chamber would have been used to establish an El bloodline on the colony - and it is brighter and friendlier than the outfits worn by the modern Kryptonians, as it reflects a time when Krypton was not isolationist, and they were explorers of the unknown, boldly going and all that. The ship is also a scout ship, and exactly whom is known as the [[IncrediblyLamePun Big Blue Boy Scout?]]

* Applying RealityEnsues to Superman has more or less placed him in a setting akin to the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, or more specifically the world of the Franchise/XMen, where ordinary humans fear mutants for being different. Ironically enough, it's the Marvel heroes are now the ones cheered by the public in their movies, and the DC heroes are now the ones hated or feared. While [[Film/SpiderMan1 Spider-Man's first movie]] had Jameson milking the "Dangerous vigilante" angle for all it was worth, the second film had a subway full of New Yorkers pulling Parker's mask off and realizing he's "just a kid" under it, followed by those bystanders trying to fend off Doc Ock to help! IronMan has little kids walking up to him asking for autographs. ComicBook/CaptainAmerica was amused, embarrassed, and horrified to learn that there were ''trading cards'' of him. Thor doesn't quite have the stack of good publicity, but he gets a few brownie points for himself. Even with the damage done to New York, the Avengers were clearly seen as heroes. Even Wolverine's latest outing is showing that he has some friends (possibly duplicitous) in high places, despite being a persecuted mutant. Meanwhile, Batman took the fall for Harvey Dent's misdeeds and became a pariah, and the Army was still sending armed drones after Superman in the coda of the film. Very odd reversal.

* Applying RealityEnsues to Superman has more or less placed him in a setting akin to the MarvelUniverse, or more specifically the world of the Franchise/XMen, where ordinary humans fear mutants for being different. Ironically enough, it's the Marvel heroes are now the ones cheered by the public in their movies, and the DC heroes are now the ones hated or feared. While [[Film/SpiderMan1 Spider-Man's first movie]] had Jameson milking the "Dangerous vigilante" angle for all it was worth, the second film had a subway full of New Yorkers pulling Parker's mask off and realizing he's "just a kid" under it, followed by those bystanders trying to fend off Doc Ock to help! IronMan has little kids walking up to him asking for autographs. ComicBook/CaptainAmerica was amused, embarrassed, and horrified to learn that there were ''trading cards'' of him. Thor doesn't quite have the stack of good publicity, but he gets a few brownie points for himself. Even with the damage done to New York, the Avengers were clearly seen as heroes. Even Wolverine's latest outing is showing that he has some friends (possibly duplicitous) in high places, despite being a persecuted mutant. Meanwhile, Batman took the fall for Harvey Dent's misdeeds and became a pariah, and the Army was still sending armed drones after Superman in the coda of the film. Very odd reversal.

** Building onto that. Why does Clark pick, "Joe" as his name in order to keep people from learning his true identity? Because Joe was the first name of the man who created Superman, Joe Schuster. Bonus points for the scene taking place in Canada, where Joe was from.