Zack Snyder Says Joe Manganiello Was The Runner Up For Clark Kent
Another piece of the puzzle of Zack Snyder‘s gestating “Superman” has been filled in tonight.
Warner Bros. has announced that Diane Lane has joined the film in the role of Martha Kent or for those of you in the dark, Mommy Clark Kent. It’s hard to believe that with all the rumors swirling that it’s only the second piece of confirmed casting following Henry Cavill. Kevin Costner was recently revealed to be up for Jonathan Kent aka Daddy Kal-El though nothing is yet signed and sealed. But Ma and Pa Kent played by Lane and Costner? Frankly, that’s a pretty solid pairing.
Plot details are being kept tightly under wraps, but the villain has been outed as General Zod, despite Snyder’s denials last year, with Viggo Mortensen being sought for the part. As much as we have our reservations about Snyder directing this thing, we will say the casting so far is top notch and it does bode well for the film.
And an interesting piece of trivia: In last week’s EW (via Vulture; not yet online) Snyder confirms earlier reports that “True Blood” star Joe Manganiello was in the final running for Clark Kent — and got down to the final two — but that for whatever ephemeral reason (maybe because people laughed while he was in costume?) he didn’t get it. “Joe’s a great guy,” said Snyder. “I really liked him. It was about seeing a quality that inspires this inexplicable, mysterious, cool emotion that says, ‘That’s my guy.'” He clearly didn’t have “that thing.”
Meanwhile, in the last piece of “Superman”-related news Moviehole reports that Snyder and Warner Bros. are interested in Daniel Day Lewis for an unidentified role (though they say it might be General Zod). Sure, and we’re interested in dating Brooklyn Decker outside her marriage, but it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. While it could be true that they’re interested, who isn’t interested in Daniel Day Lewis? This is total pie in the sky wishlist thinking and if Guy Ritchie can’t get him for “Sherlock Holmes” and their kids go to school together, that aint gonna happen. Oh well, something nice to dream about when you’re watching “Superman” in December 2012.
Given the \”star power\” that Diane Lane and Kevin Costner (a definite?) supposedly bring to this likely fiasco, you can bet that neither would elect to be in this movie for only a few minutes. This obviously means yet another telling of Superman\’s origin – a tale that anyone who\’d bother to see a Superman movie can recite in their sleep. Why bother? It would make sense to get the origin out of the way in the same way that the second Spider-Man movie did – run it behind the opening credits and be done with it.
Let\’s see a Superman movie that for a change begins with him in Action (and yes, pun intended). For that matter (and in line with the rumors) was anyone dying to see Zod again? Enough with recycling old ideas. Be creative and try for something entirely new!
Odd choice considering Ma Kent should never make you feel attracted to her.
Thank you, Ed for your explanation.
When Sucker Punch bombs in the most humiliating way possible, will Snyder be pulled from Superman? Please say yes.
another reason D. Day will never be in this movie is because he\’s so fucking method, production would have to halt for a year so he could hop a spaceship to the phantom zone to get into character. warner bros doesn\’t have that kind of time or spaceship.
don\’t waste your time Woo. No one cares. it\’s a pretty obvious choice. go pat yourself on the back at the imdb boards or aicn talkback.
If woo actually goes back and finds the post to prove he was right, I might stop visiting this site. It will have become way too AICN for me.
RJ-audiences laugh at Snyder\’s super serious, super slo-mo shots. The slo-mo shots in Inception were there to indicate the passing of time between dream layers, you know, the effects served the story. Not vice versa.
I predicted this. Did I call it or did I call it? Bam. Big name clone of Annette O\’Toole. Ha ha ha. Snyder\’s ripoff tendencies never fail me. Now I have to go back and dig up that predictive post here on Playlist.
FYI – for all the \”Snyder sucks Nolan is God\” movie snobs, who always knock Snyder for used slow mo and for being too stylish, Inception uses just as much, if not more slow mo and \”stylish\” visuals than a Snyder movie.
The slow motion shot of Leo falling into the bathtub, it just looked cool in slow mo – that simple, just like Snyder using slow mo to make a neat looking action shot. No difference. In fact, he shot that EXACTLY as Snyder probably would have.
Look, Nolan is a much better director, I agree, but it\’s funny to me that no one can see or recognize some of the similarities between the two, or if they shoot something the same way, Nolan is amazing and Snyder sucks. Lighten up movie hipsters, it\’s OK to like an action movie or a comic book movie that isn\’t an \”emotional gutpunch.\” You won\’t lose any internet cred, I promise 🙂
um…I like Snyder. I don\’t get the hate on him. Sometimes, action looks cool in slo mo. Dawn of the Dead ,300, fun movies for what they were. I also dug Watchmen.
Look, he is not the guy to make \”Blue Valentine\” esque movies (the best movie ever according to the Playlist) – he\’s a director with a good eye for action and a nice (and commercial) visual style.
Edward, I think you and others are WAY overestimating Nolan\’s involvement. The last Superman movie sucked. Nolan is responsible for the best received comic book ever, so getting his name on it gives the movie instant credibility with both die hard fans and general fans, simple as that. He probably approved the story/concept but WB just wants to be able to use his name, I doubt at any point he was really developing anything related to the movie, or had any intention of doing so. They list him as a producer, but I doubt he ever even goes near the set.
And Snyder\’s Nolan-esq vision will require the Lois Lane actress to look like Erica Durance. LOL. It\’s big budget Smallville. I got no problem with that. As Edward points out, Snyder is under the time gun. He has to do what he has to do. As long as we are all upfront about it, I don\’t think anyone will bust Snyder\’s chops too hard about it. It is only when the PR muck gets too deep that the knives will come out. I get the feel most people are pretty sympathetic regarding the lawsuit pressures, but they won\’t tolerate being spun or treated like idiots about it.
The casting certainly seems Nolan-esque. He always points to the Donner Superman when explaining why he filled Batman Begins with strong/big name actors even in supporting parts, and this seems to be following suit. Costner and Lane could be starring in their own Nicholas Sparks movie, but here they are playing Superman\’s parents. And Mortensen\’s a leading man in his own right, but he\’s up for the villain\’s role.
Here\’s my personal speculation. WB needs a Superman movie in production fast, right? That\’s the bottom line here, what\’s really paramount. To have a great director, yeah, that\’s awesome, but they lose potential millions of dollars if they don\’t exploit the rights to the Superman film they own now, but may not after 2013.
So Chris Nolan comes to them with a great idea that David Goyer came up with, GREAT! LET\’s DO IT!
Can he direct? No, he has to finish Inception, and then do the last Batman film. Hmm, ok, can he kinda sorta produce it and help us with it? Yup.
But ok, we learned our lesson last time with Bryan Singer, his version was too emo, not action-y enough, it didn\’t make enough at the box-office. We need to bring in some muscle. Cue: Zack Snyder.
Does Snyder\’s vision jibe with the idea that Nolan/Goyer have on the page? To a point, sure, but there\’s also a point when he takes over and Nolan has to wash his hands clean of it and if you\’ve read enough interviews with him it sounds like he has already.
All film creation is like chinese whispers and without the creators there to execute it, what you get is an interpretation of a vision.
So I personally kinda think, Nolan took it as far as he could served it up and now WB ans Snyder will make of it what they will make of it. Snyder is a \”visionary filmmaker\” don\’t you know and his style and his take on things is very much his own. I think he\’ll — out of respect for Nolan — try and dial it down a bit — but i fully expect this to be a Zack Snyder film and not a Chris Nolan film.
So in short, WB have all the confidence in the world, or lt enough because they have a Nolan/Goyer script — good basic structure — and Zack Snyder — good at makign things explode in big fashion.
It will be interesting to see how the winds slightly shift at WB if/when Sucker Punch tanks as hard as it might, but it\’s not like he\’ll lose the job. And WB knows that Sucker Punch is a huge risk and audiences might not go for it and are smart enough to realize, just because that doesn\’t work doesn\’t mean a brand like Superman wont.
Why does Warner Bros. continue to have confidence in Zach Snyder ? And now Christopher Nolan has his vote of confidence. Please , someone answer me.
\”True Blood” star Joe Manganiello was in the final running for Clark Kent\”
As if I needed more proof that Snyder blows.