Man of British Steel

There’s been an absolute clusterfuck of shit happening in the world of comic book movies, at least if you’re a geek, nerd or fanboy. To the “normal” person it’s awards season, all dresses, Colin Firth and shit, but for the geeks it’s jizz in your own mouth season. Aside from the slew of screenshots for the likes of Spider-Man, Captain America and the X-People (thanks Andy Gray) the big news for the socially awkward virgins is that Henry Cavill is Superman.
Holy jiminy fuck nuggets Batman! That guy from The Tudors (no, the other one) will be the first British Superman, who let us not forget is everything a symbol for America as Abraham Lincoln, Elvis Presley and obesity. How the Americans will take this news I don’t know but for us Brits we can relax in the knowledge that at the very least there will be one good performance in the film.
It’s something of a continuing trend to cast a Brit as a superhero and why not? We’re fucking Great remember. Robert Pattinson aside we have some great young actors while the US only really have Jesse Eisenberg and Michael Cera, both are hardly super hero types. With the likes of Cage, Pitt, Damon, Depp and DiCaprio heading ever further away from their youth there aren’t any big stars for the action roles. Chris Evans and Ryan Reynolds have both had multiple super hero roles already, they can’t share all the roles so Hollywood has looked towards good ol’ Britain to fill the roles.
Back in the 90’s even Robin Hood was American, but everything has changed. With Christian Bale, James McAvoy, Aaron Johnson, Andrew Garfield (he counts), Tom Hardy, Idris Elba, Anthony Hopkins, Patrick Stewart, Michael Caine, Helen Mirren, Mark Strong and even Nicholas Hoult appearing in comic book movies (let’s not forget Andrew Lincoln in The Walking Dead) is it any surprise that Cavill has been cast as Superman?
So he might not be the biggest actor out there but neither were Christopher Reeve and Brandon Routh and they did better than alright. As long as he can awkwardly fumble as Clark Kent, walk with his pants on the outside and pretend to lift things he’ll be a success. The casting of Superman should be the least of the producers concern, with numerous interpretations of the hero already out there it will be incredibly difficult to make a film that is both exciting and original all while keeping to the traditional canon.
If rumours of the casting of Lois Lane are true and any of Kristen Stewart, Glee’s Diana Agron, Rachel McAdams and Jessica Biel are cast then we can all go home now and never speak of this fucking awful monstrosity ever again, but if Olivia Wilde turns out to be Lois Lane we can all jump and high five each other, though it would be in her contract to have at least one lesbian scene…More high fives!
There’s no doubt that Lex Luthor will be the villain because Superman hasn’t got many classic enemies, it’s not like Gus Gorman will be making a comeback (on skis!) so there will be much speculation to who will be perfect for Lex Luthor, though I’m sure there are forums awash with ideas (and demands) already.
If the trend of British actors wasn’t enough we’ve found ourselves getting excited and writing about films that won’t be released for well over a year, be it about the Avengers or Batman we have a live news feed of the smallest of details and the sad thing is I’m here as always typing away about all of it - get a life you loser. The announcement of Henry Cavill may seem premature but at least it will stop thousands of fanboys ejaculating cries of “NATHAN FILLION!” to the question of who should play Superman.