History YMMV / ManOfSteel

* SeparatedAtBirthCasting: 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.

* {{Anvilicious}}: The film goes out of its way to portray Superman as some sort of messiah for the human race. It even has a shot of Clark, tormented by his decision over whether or not to surrender himself to Zod, framed by a stained-glass depiction of Jesus Christ's Passion at the Garden of Gethsemane (prior to surrendering himself to the high priests) to push the point across. However, that one may be more subtle than Superman floating out of Zod's ship into space in a [[CrucifiedHeroShot crucified Jesus pose]]. This isn't new for the franchise. His original creators made him an American Moses, Martha Kent quotes an extended passage from the bible in the first Reeve movie, and Routh fell to Earth in a Christlike pose in his movie.

* InNameOnly: A lot of Superman fans hated decisions made for this movie. Superman's dad telling him ''not'' to save people? Superman spending years only helping people when he was the only option? Superman [[spoiler:''killing someone?!'']]
* InferredHolocaust: The total damage and loss of life from the Metropolis battle has been [[http://www.comicsalliane.com/2013/06/18/man-of-steel-destruction-estimate-750-billion-dollars-humor/ estimated]] by architectural experts, and that it's unlikely that the city could be repaired. That being said, Superman could easily become involved in the process of reconstructing the city, and the presence of [[UnclePennybags Bruce Wayne]] and [[VillainWithGoodPublicity Lex Luthor]] in this universe would signify that some billionaires would chip in to help out with a portion of the reconstruction. Apparently {{averted|Trope}} by ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', which revealed that this section of the city was able to be [[TheTokyoFireball rebuilt in two years]]. Apparently, the ''Man Of Steel'' Universe isn't quite as dark as it was previously thought.

* {{Anvilicious}}: The film goes out of its way to portray Superman as some sort of messiah for the human race. It even has a shot of Clark, tormented by his decision over whether or not to surrender himself to Zod, framed by a stained-glass depiction of Jesus Christ's Passion at the Garden of Gethsemane (prior to surrendering himself to the high priests) to push the point across. However, that one may be more subtle than Superman floating out of Zod's ship into space in a [[CrucifiedHeroShot crucified Jesus pose]].

Vindicated By History: After coming out to a polarized reception, attitudes towards Man of Steel have softened more over the years for its willingness to lean into a take on the Superman mythos and character different from the Donner/Reeve movies (helped by Henry Cavill's rising star profile and clear passion for the role), intriguing worldbuilding (especially for the Krypton scenes in the prologue), action sequences (considering this movie was the first live-action Superman movie to have the character display the full extent of his strength in a fight against an opponent of equal power), moments of levity, having a compelling villain in General Zod, and relatively self-contained story (other than a few Mythology Gags, there weren't really many attempts at trying to make this movie the springboard for a SharedUniverse). Furthermore, the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League brought critics to revisit Man of Steel (along with ''Batman v Superman'') and appreciate it as part of a well-structured trilogy detailing Superman's journey from a conflicted and self-doubting anti-hero to The Cape that he's best known as.

** Is Zod just a bloodline supremacist seeking to remake Krypton after his own prejudices, or a loyal soldier driven to extremes by the circumstances? Is clinging to the hope of restoring Krypton the only thing keeping him marginally sane after his world was destroyed, or is his "genetic programming" so powerful he's compelled to do anything and everything to fulfill his mission?

** General Swanwick demanding Superman release all of his secrets to the military looks downright hypocritical after [[spoiler:WordOfGod later revealed that he's actually the Martian Manhunter in disguise]]. [[spoiler: Also, Martian Manhunter is supposed to be clairvoyant, which means he could figure this out anytime he wanted to, but can't say anything without blowing his own cover.]]

** Superman punching Zod across the Metropolis skyline.

* StrangledByTheRedString: Debate arose as to whether Lois and Clark actually make a good couple in this film, arguing that they only know each other for a few days, don't show much in common, and their "Glad To Be Alive Kiss" feel shoehorned into the last act.

* NeverLiveItDown: [[spoiler:Superman killing Zod, despite him clearly having no other choice, [[ShootTheDog only did it as a last resort to save a family]] and he was [[TheseHandsOfKilled obviously anguished about having to take a life to accomplish it]], and this was before he officially adopted his ThouShallNotKill rule. It is still cited and brought up by DCEU detractors as emblematic of everything they consider wrong with the series, even more than [[InferredHolocaust the massive destruction of the city caused by the fight prior]]. What makes it even more egregious is that those same detractors will often [[DoubleStandard give a pass to the Christopher Reeve movies while condemning this one on this sort of thing]] (for context, Superman killed General Zod back in ''Film/SupermanII'', yet nobody complained about it back then, yet when he kills Zod in this movie, everyone loses their minds)]]. [[note]]While it took many years for it to come to light, it is worth noting in the Richard Donner cut that the Kryptonian prisoners are revealed to have survived their fall and are arrested; and later on Superman reverses time to undo their escape and any possible deaths.[[/note]] Making it even more nonsensical was that not too long later, it's revealed that the Superman of the Series/{{Arrowverse}} also [[spoiler:killed Zod as well]], but since it happened offscreen, it's barely looked at.

** Jonathan Kent had already gotten a lot of hate for telling Clark he was wrong to save his classmates from the bus crash, but then the ''Series/{{Supergirl 2015}}'' series made him look even worse, as Kara also gets a family member chewing her out for revealing herself to the world... and not only does Alex have a much more concrete and understandable reason for it, but she completely turns around just by the end of the first episode.

*** Johnathan's insistence that Clark hide his powers and alien heritage - even when said powers can be used in a heroic manner - gets reinforced when ''Film/TheSuicideSquad'' reveals that [[spoiler: the US government imprisoned an extraterrestrial in a developing nation where it was subjected to unethical experiments]].
** Only a month-and-a-half after ''Man of Steel'' premiered, the animated film ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueTheFlashpointParadox'' was released. In that story about history getting altered, what happened to Kal-El was [[FateWorseThanDeath even more horrible than what Lara feared]].
** Superman being forced to [[spoiler:snap Zod's neck]] painted him as a much darker interpretation of the character. Years later, ''Film/BrightBurn'', Homelander from ''Series/TheBoys'', and Omni-Man from ''WesternAnimation/Invincible2021'' would take a ''much'', '''much''' darker route.
** A Sears store is [[ProductPlacement clearly shown]] as a location wrecked during Superman and Faora's battle. In the years after the film's release, the store chain has been rapidly fading into becoming near-defunct.

** Superman being forced to [[spoiler:snap Zod's neck]] painted him as a much darker interpretation of the character. Years later, ''Film/BrightBurn'' and Homelander from ''Series/TheBoys'' would take a ''much'', '''much''' darker route.

** Jor-El's view of humans as flawed yet inherently good is validated by the end of ''Film/SuicideSquad2016''.

* NeverLiveItDown: [[spoiler:Superman killing Zod, despite him clearly having no other choice, [[ShootTheDog only did it as a last resort to save a family]] and he was [[TheseHandsOfKilled obviously anguished about having to take a life to accomplish it]], and this was before he officially adopted his ThouShallNotKill rule. It is still cited and brought up by DCEU detractors as emblematic of everything they consider wrong with the series, even more than [[InferredHolocaust the massive destruction of the city caused by the fight prior]]. What makes it even more egregious is that those same detractors will often [[DoubleStandard give a pass to the Christopher Reeve movies while condemning this one on this sort of thing]] (for context, Superman killed General Zod back in ''Film/SupermanII'', yet nobody complained about it back then, yet when he kills Zod in this movie, everyone loses their minds)]]. Making it even more nonsensical was that not too long later, it's revealed that the Superman of the Series/{{Arrowverse}} also [[spoiler:killed Zod as well]], but since it happened offscreen, it's barely looked at.

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains:
** Superman gets far more blame for the destruction in the climactic battle than General Zod, the villain of the movie who instigated the battle in the first place and the one who is actually responsible for most of the destruction. Even though Clark's actions are a result of him never being in a fight in his life prior to this moment and him doing the best he could with no combat training and no back up.
** Jonathan Kent also gets a lot more hate compared to Zod for insinuating Clark should have let a bunch of children die to protect his secret. This is said in a moment of hesitation and weakness, and is followed up by Jonathan more clearly explaining that Clark simply has to be careful with using his powers and when he should reveal them, something many other versions of Jonathan Kent have said.

** Zack Snyder was criticized by many DC comics purists for removing Superman's red trunks. Said purists forget that it was the execs at both Warner Bros. and DC Comics who mandated that Superman be depicted without said trunks since 2011.
** Many people, including WebVideo/ScreenJunkies, have blamed Creator/ChristopherNolan for the infamous scene of [[spoiler:Superman killing Zod]]. As noted in the Trivia section, Christopher Nolan wasn't the one who initially suggested this scene, and actually was ''against'' it before being convinced otherwise.

** To a lesser extent is Ludlow, the trucker who got on Clark's bad side. Some of the film's more extreme haters will try to paint him as an undeserving victim and "proof" that Zack Snyder made Superman an angst-filled thug. This is ignoring the fact that the very first thing Ludlow did onscreen was sexually harassing a waitress before humiliating Clark for defending her.

** [[spoiler:Superman killing Zod]] at the end of the climactic battle between them still continues to bring about debates that go right into FlameWar territory even years after this movie's release. Detractors of that event call it a betrayal of all the character stands for while fans fervently defend it on the grounds that there was literally no other way for him to [[spoiler:stop Zod's rampage]].

* BrokenBase: The film has divided various ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' fans with a majority of the arguments boiling more or less down to, "TheyChangedItNowItSucks" applied to multiple aspects of it. In many ways, whether one judges it as a beginning of a franchise or as a standalone film can often be the difference in liking it or not. Here's some of the specifics:

** The amount of action. Before the film was released, Goyer said it had more action than any of the ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy''. He wasn't lying. On that note, the level of destruction involved. Some think Superman didn't try enough to stem the level of carnage being done to Smallville and Metropolis, and he sometimes even voluntarily adds to it. He's responsible for bringing a fight from an isolated farmhouse into central Smallville. Though when he does send Zod into orbit, Zod takes them right back to Metropolis. The amount of damage Superman creates also really isn't much different from city fights with powerful villains like Darkseid in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' and other recent media, and the US military dealt most of the damage to Smallville through MoreDakka. Others also argue that there wasn't much Clark could have done to avoid endangering anyone; after all, Zod and his follows not only have his powers, but they're also highly trained warriors.

** To a lesser extent is Ludlow, the trucker who got on Clark's bad side. Some of the film's more extreme haters will try to paint him as an undeserving victim and "proof" that Zack Snyder made Superman an angst-filled thug. This is ignoring the fact that the very first thing Ludlow did onscreen was sexually harass a waitress before humiliating Clark for defending her.

* EvilIsCool: Zod and his minions sport some pretty badass ships, armor and weapons.

** Ben Affleck turned down the offer to direct ''Man Of Steel''. Now he plays Franchise/{{Batman}} in the same universe. He also played George Reeves in ''Film/{{Hollywoodland}}'' and wore Superman's suit in that movie. And speaking of which, Creator/DianeLane also starred in this as Toni Mannix, who had an affair with George Reeves. And given that Diane played Martha Kent (Superman's adopted mother) in ''Film/ManOfSteel'', does that count as CastIncest? Oh, this is worth an headache.

* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: The film has faced many accusations of trying to piggyback on the success of [[Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy Christopher Nolan's Batman films,]] with its dark tone and washed out color palate, except those things don't fit Superman at all. Given that production on ''Man of Steel'' occurred in the aftermath of both Zack Snyder's take on ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'' (which received mixed-to positive reviews and three Saturn awards) and the light-hearted but negatively-received ''Film/GreenLantern2011'', it looks like Warner Bros. was hoping to play to their strengths.
* ItWasHisSled: [[spoiler:Superman kills Zod, which inspires his ThouShallNotKill policy from then on.]] It doesn't help that plenty of memes based on this moment still show up almost a decade later.

* ItWasHisSled: [[spoiler:Superman kills Zod, which inspires his ThouShallNotKill policy from then on.]]

* ItWasHisSled: [[spoiler:Superman kills Zod, which inspires his ThouShallNotKill policy from then on.]] It doesn't help that plenty of memes based on this moment still show up almost a decade later.

* ItWasHisSled: [[spoiler:Superman kills Zod, which inspires his ThouShallNotKill policy from then on.]]

* NeverLiveItDown: [[spoiler:Superman killing Zod, despite him clearly having no other choice, [[ShootTheDog only did it as a last resort to save a family]] and he was [[TheseHandsOfKilled obviously anguished about having to take a life to accomplish it]], and this was before he officially adopted his ThouShallNotKill rule. It is still cited and brought up by DCEU detractors as emblematic of everything they consider wrong with the series, even more than [[InferredHolocaust the massive destruction of the city caused by the fight prior]]. What makes it even more egregious is that those same detractors will often [[DoubleStandard give a pass to the Christopher Reeve movies while condemning this one on this sort of thing]] (for context, Superman killed General Zod back in ''Film/SupermanII'', yet nobody complained about it back then, yet when he kills Zod in this movie, everyone loses their minds)]]. Making it even more nonsensical was that not too long later, it's revealed that the Superman of the Series/{{Arroverse}} also [[spoiler:killed Zod as well]], but since it happened offscreen, it's barely looked at.

*** Many old school fans, especially supporters of the Reeve movies, feel this movie completely missed the point with a dark, depressed Superman. Many older fans were also disappointed that this copied and amplified the flaws of the Reeve movies, such as the depiction of Jor-El (see above).

* {{Anvilicious}}: The film goes out of its way to portray Superman as some sort of messiah for the human race. It even has a shot of Clark, tormented by his decision over whether or not to surrender himself to Zod, framed by a stained glass depiction of Jesus Christ's Passion at the Garden of Gethsemane (prior to surrendering himself to the high priests) to push the point across. However, that one may be more subtle than Superman floating out of Zod's ship into space in a [[CrucifiedHeroShot crucified Jesus pose]].

* CatharsisFactor: Some fans actually enjoyed the movie's focus on action and epic fight scenes, considering it a massive cathartic release after having five straight live action ''Superman'' films without having Kal-El really cut loose and display his power set to its fullest. There are also fans who enjoyed the climax scene when Superman, [[ThouShaltNotKill out of all people]], decides to snap [[spoiler: Zod's]] neck. While it is shown to be controversial for being out of character moment for Superman, many fans actually praised this scene to show that sometimes, you won't have answers to the situations that are always [[ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption ethical.]]

** The soundtrack as well. It earned one star reviews from some critics, but debuted in top 5 on iTunes.
* CryForTheDevil: The brief moment when Zod laments that now he has "no people" (after his crew was sent into the PhantomZone and the Scout Ship with the genesis chamber got wrecked, leaving no possibility of reviving the Kryptonian race). It's cut short by his RoaringRampageOfRevenge, but still poignant.

* DirectorDisplacement: Due to the success of ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'', many associate ''Man of Steel'' with executive producer Creator/ChristopherNolan rather than director Creator/ZackSnyder. However, this has changed since the release of ''[[Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice Dawn of Justice]]'' and especially ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'', with this movie being the first installment of the [[FanNickname Snyderverse]].

* EvilIsSexy: Faora's earned herself quite the brigade of fans on both genders.

** And now there's fans of Cavill vs fans of Creator/TylerHoechlin from ''Series/{{Supergirl|2015}}''.

** Creator/RussellCrowe once had a song called "I Want To Be Like Creator/MarlonBrando". Now he's playing Brando's role as Jor-El.
** There's brief footage of a polar bear, calling to mind producer Jon Peters' rabid insistence that Creator/KevinSmith include a polar bear fight scene in his 90s Superman script.

** Henry Cavill was previously cast as Clark in [=McG=]'s 2004 Superman film, before it was cancelled and became ''Film/SupermanReturns''.
** Creator/JohnCleese's 2004 comic ''ComicBook/SupermanTrueBrit'', which shows a [[{{Elseworld}} world]] where Superman was raised in England, is kind of funny now that Superman's actor is British.

** The first movie of what became the Marvel Cinematic Universe is called "Iron Man," while the first movie in the DC Universe is called "Man of Steel." In the song "Iron Man," the character is actually made of steel.
** General Swanwick demanding Superman release all of his secrets to the military looks downright [[spoiler: hypocritical when Zack Snyder revealed that he's actually the Martian Manhunter in disguise.]] [[spoiler: Also, Martian Manhunter is supposed to be clairvoyant, which means he could figure this out anytime he wanted to, but can't say anything without blowing his own cover.]]
* InferredHolocaust: The total damage and loss of life from the Metropolis battle has been [[http://www.comicsalliane.com/2013/06/18/man-of-steel-destruction-estimate-750-billion-dollars-humor/ estimated]] by architectural experts, and that it's unlikely that the city could be repaired. That being said, Superman could easily become involved in the process of reconstructing the city, and the presence of [[UnclePennybags Bruce Wayne]] and [[VillainWithGoodPublicity Lex Luthor]] in this universe would signify that some billionaires would chip in to help out with a portion of the reconstruction. Apparently {{averted|Trope}} by ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', which revealed that the city was able to be [[TheTokyoFireball rebuilt in two years]]. Apparently, the ''Man Of Steel'' Universe isn't quite as dark as it was previously thought.

* NeverLiveItDown: [[spoiler:Superman killing Zod, despite him clearly having no other choice, [[ShootTheDog only did it as a last resort to save a family]] and he was [[TheseHandsOfKilled obviously anguished about having to take a life to accomplish it]], and this was before he officially adopted his ThouShallNotKill rule. It is still cited and brought up by DCEU detractors as emblematic of everything they consider wrong with the series, even more than [[InferredHolocaust the massive destruction of the city caused by the fight prior]]. What makes it even more egregious is that those same detractors will often [[DoubleStandard give a pass to the Christopher Reeve movies while condemning this one on this sort of thing]] (for context, Superman killed General Zod back in ''Film/SupermanII'', yet nobody complained about it back then, yet when he kills Zod in this movie, everyone loses their minds).]]

** In addition, some have taken issue with the notion that [[spoiler:Superman didn't ''have'' a code against killing at first or that he needed to try it once and decide he didn't like it]]. However, there is evidence from post-Crisis comics to support this, in particular a story called "The Green Bullet" by John Ostrander, printed in [[https://comicvine.gamespot.com/jla-80-page-giant-1-the-green-bullet-for-sale-the-/4000-45101/ JLA 80-Page Giant #1:]] [[spoiler:Superman refers to the execution of Zod in ''Superman'' #22 and implies this was what cemented his code to begin with.]]

** An insecure, angst-ridden Superman is not at all a new concept, as Christopher Reeve's original interpretation was so torn between being a hero and being "normal" that he actually tried to become human. The DCAU Superman lost his temper many times, in both his Clark Kent persona and his secret identity, and was willing to kill Darkseid with his own hands (or at least stand by while others did the job).

** Superman not having red trunks on his suit. They were already scrapped in the New 52 comics, and a photo of the defunct ''Justice League Mortal'' project showed that there already was to be a live action adaptation without them.

* CatharsisFactor: Some fans actually enjoyed the movie's focus on action and epic fight scenes, considerin it a massive cathartic release after having five straight live action ''Superman'' films without having Kal-El really cut loose and display his power set to its fullest. There are also fans who enjoyed the climax scene when Superman, [[ThouShaltNotKill out of all people]], decides to snap [[spoiler: Zod's]] neck. While it is shown to be controversial for being out of character moment for Superman, many fans actually praised this scene to show that sometimes, you won't have answers to the situations that are always [[ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption ethical.]]

* EndingFatigue: The last 45+ minutes of the movie being action set-piece after action set-piece and brawl after brawl--combined with a relatively short denouement after the climax--left some fans weary. Other fans however felt it was a massive cathartic release after having five straight live action ''Superman'' films without having Kal-El really cut loose and display his power set to its fullest. Notably, the film has Clark have heart-to-hearts with Lois following rescues three times in the third act.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: The climax scene when Superman, out of all people, decides to snap [[spoiler: Zod's]] neck. While it is shown to be controversial for being out of character moment for Superman, many fans actually praised this scene to show that sometimes, you won't have answers to the situations that are always [[ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption ethical.]]

* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: The film has faced many accusations of trying to piggyback on the success of [[Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy Christopher Nolan's Batman films,]] with its dark tone and washed out color palate, except those things don't fit Superman at all. Given that production on ''Man of Steel'' occurred in the aftermath of both Zack Snyder's take on ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'' (which received mixed-to positive reviews and three Saturn awards) and the light-hearted but negatively-received ''Film/GreenLantern'', it looks like Warner Bros. was hoping to play to their strengths.

A: Lex Lutheran!