- Ability over Appearance: The Race Lift in casting Laurence Fishburne as Perry White had few complaints as Fishburne is exactly the kind of actor you'd want for the role.
- Approval of God: Dan Jurgens, who wrote and drew several Superman comics, has said that Zod's death was "handled better than in the comics".
- Backed by the Pentagon: The US military was very helpful with their portrayal in the film. Makes sense as they ultimately help save the planet alongside Superman.
- California Doubling:
- Chicago stands in for the fictional city of Metropolis, similar to The Dark Knight Trilogy and Smallville. Kal finally kills Zod in the Great Hall of Chicago Union Station.
- Plano, Illinois stands in for the fictional Smallville in Kansas. Kansas was not at any point an actual filming location.
- Creator-Preferred Adaptation: Unlike
some other Superman writers, Dan Jurgens (of The Death of Superman fame) has no problem with Superman killing Zod and actually prefers how Zod's death was handled as something done in the heat of the moment to protect a family Zod was actively threatening as opposed to Superman outright executing a depowered Zod at the end of The Supergirl Saga. - Creator's Favorite Episode: Man of Steel is Henry Cavill's favorite out of all the DC films he played in as Superman.
- Dawson Casting: Henry Cavill also portrayed teenage Clark in the flashback. Also slightly inverted, as Superman says he's been on Earth for 33 years, yet Cavill was only 30, though considering how Clark ages, it might all be irrelevant.
- Deleted Scene:
- A longer battle scene on Krypton that would have featured more of Kelex.
- A scene with an infant Clark being treated by a pediatrician was filmed but cut. David Goyer explained, "There's a scene, placed between Kal-El's rocket ship crash-landing in Kansas and an adult Clark working at the fishing boat, where Jonathan and Martha take baby Clark to a pediatrician, because he's acting strange, due to his superpowers beginning to develop. The doctor decides to check baby Clark's hearing by emitting sounds into his ear canal. Due to the super-hearing, baby Clark lets out a cry that shatters all of the hospital's windows as well as setting off alarms of all cars nearby. It was filmed, but cut because it felt out of place."
- An extended oil rig scene where Clark is searching for the trapped.
- A small scene of Clark petting a dog in Canada.
- A scene of General Zod attacking other Earth cities.
- A scene with Lois being interrogated by the FBI following Zod's announcement, and refuses to talk.
- A scene of Clark leaving the church after speaking to Father Leone in which there's dialogue, "I won't betray them." and "You already have." cut. This dialogue was used in the promotional trailer.
- After Clark is bullied, Jonathan Kent takes him fishing without telling Martha.
- A scene set in Canada where Clark tries to hitchhike.
- A scene showing the Kent Farm covered in fog.
- Development Hell: The sequel to 2006's Superman Returns, tentatively titled Superman: Man of Steel sat in limbo before becoming Man of Steel in 2010 as David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan were writing The Dark Knight Rises, and started shooting one year later.
- Disowned Adaptation:
- With regards to Superman killing Zod near the end of the movie:
- Mark Waid, the writer of Superman: Birthright and Kingdom Come, hated it so much that he nearly walked out from the theater after that scene was played.
- Mark Millar, writer of Superman: Red Son, said that film was "traumatizing," and it led to minor Creator Breakdown for him.
- While they did not react as strongly as Millar or Waid, Grant Morrison wasn't too happy about the scene either. A somewhat ironic position coming from the writer of the book that gave us the Trope Namer of Batman Grabs a Gun.
"In fact, the more you think about it, unless you're in one of the Armed Forces, killing is illegal and immoral. Why would we want our superheroes to do that?"note
- With regards to Superman killing Zod near the end of the movie:
- Dyeing for Your Art:
- Henry Cavill worked out and dyed his hair black for the role.
- Averted for Amy Adams. She said she was prepared to dye her hair to play Lois Lane, but Zack Snyder preferred to leave her as a redhead.
- Executive Meddling: Attempted, but failed with good reason. Writer David S. Goyer was instructed that Superman’s escape pod couldn’t be destroyed in the climax because it left Superman with no method of returning to Krypton. After a moment of Stunned Silence, Goyer had to explain that Krypton blew up at the beginning of the movie, and the execs dropped the order.
- Fake American: The British Henry Cavill is the first non-American to play the America-raised Superman.
- Fan Community Nicknames: "Cavillry"
- Follow the Leader: Though not set in the same continuity, the direction Warner Bros. took this film in trying to created a more grounded and serious version of the mythos was informed by the prior success of their Batman films directed by Christopher Nolan starting with Batman Begins who went on to be a writer for this one.
- He Also Did: The show's staff is certainly experienced in comic book film adaptations:
- Zack Snyder directed the film adaptations of 300 and Watchmen.
- Christopher Nolan wrote/produced/directed The Dark Knight Trilogy.
- David S. Goyer assisted with the former project, also writing the scripts for Ghost Rider (2007) and the Blade Trilogy.
- Hans Zimmer scored The Dark Knight Trilogy filmsnote .
- Meaningful Release Date: The film was released in June 2013, the 75th anniversary of Supes' debut in Action Comics #1 (June 1938).
- Pop-Culture Urban Legends: For a time, it was believed that frames of Christopher Reeve's face were superimposed over Henry Cavill's during the scene where he's about to destroy the World Engine as an Easter Egg. Zack Snyder later denied this.
- Predecessor Casting Gag: In the European French dub, Superman's biological father Jor-El is voiced by Emmanuel Jacomy. He voiced Superman himself in the French dub of the DC Animated Universe, a few video games, and several other animated adaptations such as many of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies.
- Presumed Flop: With the DCEU dying by with a string of flops, many have blamed this film for setting a bad foundation, and think it did poorly as a result of the association. It was also often unfavorably compared to Marvel's contemporary output. In reality, Man of Steel was a massive success by almost any metric: following decades of flops for Superman (and non-Batman DC in general) it grossed $668 million in 2013 USD.note Not only is this more than most MCU films (including the first two Iron Man films), it's Superman's second highest grossing movie adjusted for inflation. It also seemed to leave a good path for future films if anything, as the next few DCEU films all had very high opening weekends (notable in the case of Batman v Superman as it quickly dropped off in it second weekend, implying goodwill from this movie was initially present and then dispelled by the bad word of mouth of that one).
- Promoted Fanboy:
- Henry Cavill auditioned for the role of Superman once before and didn't make it to the final cut (the project was aborted and replaced with Superman Returns). He later said he called all his friends and family when he heard that he'd landed this one.
- Amy Adams was a huge fan of the Superman films since childhood and wanted to play Lois Lane for just as long; she had auditioned for Lois twice before, one being a failed Brett Ratner project and the other being Superman Returns (not to mention getting a taste of the Superman universe with her appearance in Smallville). On going out for Man Of Steel:
"I just never saw myself as any other character than Lois Lane and I figured it was a very Lois-y thing to do to try again." - Recycled Trailer Music:
- Fans were quick to note that the music in the first pair of teasers was from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
- The trailer that debuted at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con used Zimmer's music from The Thin Red Line.
- The epic choir music heard in the second trailer is called "Storm" and was originally scored for Elizabeth: The Golden Age.
- Role Reprise:
- In the European French dub, Superman is voiced by Adrien Antoine, reprising his role from Superman Returns.
- The Brazilian dub has Guilherme Briggs returning as Superman following the DC Animated Universe (plus Injustice: Gods Among Us, and the later seasons of Lois & Clark - where he replaced Alexandre Lippiani following his death in a car crash) and Sylvia Salustti as Lois Lane, a character she voiced in Smallville (she also dubbed over other Amy Adams characters on occasion, such as Charlie Wilson's War and the singing in Enchanted).
- Separated-at-Birth Casting: Dylan Sprayberry, who portrayed Clark Kent as a young teen, looks as if a 13-year-old Henry Cavill briefly time-traveled from the mid-90s to 2011 for filming. You might also say the same for Cooper Timberline who played Clark at age 8.
- Show Accuracy/Toy Accuracy: Russell Crowe remarked that the action figure of him looks more like Kenny Rogers.
- So My Kids Can Watch: In an interview, one of the reasons why Russell Crowe took the role of Jor-El is that he wants his two sons to see him as a father figure in a movie catered to their age group.
- Star-Making Role: For Henry Cavill. While he already had some attention with The Tudors and Immortals, Man of Steel was the biggest boost to his career.
- Throw It In!: In the soundtrack piece "Oil Rig", at about fifteen seconds in, you can faintly hear a young voice shout "Uh-oh!" That's Zack Snyder's daughter, whom he brought in to watch the recording session. It got picked up by the microphones, and was subsequently put into the final mix.
- Said "Uh-oh" can also be heard during the WB logo at the very end of the credits.
- Said "Uh-oh" can also be heard during the WB logo at the very end of the credits.
- Vindicated by Cable: The film had unusually strong DVD/Blu-Ray sales ($112 million domestic sales) and TV revenues despite its mixed reception, handily outperforming films that did far better than it at the box office and in critical reviews like Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($69 million domestic DVD/Blu-Ray revenues) and Iron Man 3 ($82 million domestic DVD/Blu-Ray revenues).
- What Could Have Been:
- Matt Bomer was approached for the role of Clark Kent before Henry Cavill was cast. Bomer previously voiced the titular character in Superman Unbound, and would go on to portray Negative Man in Doom Patrol.
- Joe Manganiello also had discussions for the part of Clark Kent, but backed out due to scheduling commitments to True Blood. Manganiello would later go on to play Slade Wilson in Justice League and Zack Snyder's Justice League.
- Jamie Dornan, David Giuntoli and Tyler Hoechlin auditioned for the role of Clark Kent as well. Guintoli would go on to voice Bruce Wayne in Batman: Soul of the Dragon and Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham, while Hoechlin would portray Superman in Supergirl and Superman & Lois. Coincidentally, Giuntoli's wife, Elizabeth Tulloch, would star as Lois Lane opposite Hoechlin.
- Colin O'Donoghue, Matthew Goode, Armie Hammer and Zac Efron were also considered for the part of Superman before the casting of Cavill.
- Zoe Saldaña was the runner-up for Lois Lane before the casting of Amy Adams.
- Amanda Seyfried, Rachel McAdams, Dianna Agron, Kristen Stewart, Jessica Biel and Malin Åkerman screen-tested for the role of Lois Lane as well. Åkerman previously collaborated with Zack Snyder on Watchmen as Silk Spectre II.
- Olivia Wilde, Emmy Rossum, Saoirse Ronan, Charlotte Riley, Natalie Portman, Kristen Bell, Sandra Bullock, Kaya Scodelario, Anne Hathaway and Mary Elizabeth Winstead were also considered for Lois Lane before the casting of Adams. Hathaway previously played Selina Kyle in The Dark Knight Rises, while Winstead would eventually go on to portray Helena Bertinelli in Birds of Prey.
- Daniel Day-Lewis, Viggo Mortensen and Édgar Ramírez were considered for the part of General Zod before Michael Shannon was cast.
- Gal Gadot was approached for Faora before the casting of Antje Traue, but turned it down due to her pregnancy at the time. Gadot would later go on to play Wonder Woman in the DC Extended Universe.
- Alice Eve, Diane Kruger, Rosamund Pike and Kate Mara were considered for the role of Faora as well before the casting of Traue.
- Ben Affleck was offered to direct the film before Zack Snyder was hired, but declined due to his dissatisfactions with the script. Affleck previously portrayed George Reeves, whose roles included Superman, in Hollywoodland. Affleck would go on to play Bruce Wayne in the DC Extended Universe.
- Robert Zemeckis and Guillermo del Toro were also approached to direct the movie. Del Toro turned down the offer in order to helm a film adaptation of At the Mountains of Madness, which was later shelved due to various reasons.
- Darren Aronofsky, Duncan Jones, Tony Scott, Jonathan Liebesman and Matt Reeves were considered to direct the film as well before Snyder was hired. Reeves would eventually go on to direct The Batman.
- A number of reboot ideas were thought up between Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and Superman Returns, including ones with Tim Burton, Kevin Smith and J. J. Abrams respectively involved.
- Henry Cavill was almost cast as Superman in 2004 for the reboot Superman: Flyby (written by J. J. Abrams, with McG attached as director and Robert Downey Jr. in talks for Lex Luthor), even getting down to the last two choices, before the project was redesigned as Superman Returns. There's a picture of his screen test in costume. The other top choice was none other than Brandon Routh, who also screen-tested in costume.◊
- Mark Millar and Matthew Vaughn wanted to do a three-movie, eight-hour epic that detailed Superman's entire life, with Charlie Cox in mind for the part, from the early days on Krypton right up to when he's the last living thing on Earth as the Sun goes supernova.
- According to Zack Snyder, he tried very hard to keep Superman's red trunks as part of his costume, but ultimately couldn't.
- David Goyer mentioned there were supposed to be two scenes added in the movie: One where Jonathan and Martha Kent took the baby Kal-El to a pediatrician and have hearing test on him where the baby screams and it blows out all the windows. And two, where after Zod announces how powerful the Kryptonians are, Faora and Namek dropped into two foreign cities as a demonstration. The second one wasn't actually filmed.
- Initially, the original ending was supposed to have Zod being thrown into the Phantom Zone alongside his soldiers. But Snyder and Goyer decided to have Superman kill Zod instead. Christopher Nolan was against the idea at first, until Goyer convinced him otherwise.
- Matt Bomer was approached for the role of Clark Kent before Henry Cavill was cast. Bomer previously voiced the titular character in Superman Unbound, and would go on to portray Negative Man in Doom Patrol.
- Word of God: There was a brief mention of S.T.A.R. Labs, which David Goyer claims was meant as a nod to Cyborg.
- Working Title: "Autumn Frost", named after Zack Snyder's daughter Autumn.
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