While all involved remain tight-lipped on what we can expect from Zack Snyder’s upcoming Superman reboot (the notoriously secretive Christopher Nolan is producing after all) at least we’re being treated to weekly casting updates to keep us going…

Last month we had confirmation that Russell Crowe and Julia Ormond had been cast as Supe’s biological parents, Jor-El & Lara (fuelling the rumours that we’ll be spending a lot more time on Krypton this time around), then came the news that Michael Shannon will be playing the fan favourite uber-baddie General Zod. Christopher Meloni – best known for his role in the rape-happy prison series OZ, (but should be better known for the ace cult comedy WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER) – then signed to play an as yet unnamed military officer.

Today’s addition to the cast further suggests a heavy military presence in the story – the role of Sgt. Stanwick is being filled by Henry Lennix, known to genre fans for his work in the MATRIX movies and as Echo’s handler in Joss Whedon’s under-appreciated DOLLHOUSE. As far as we can tell here at Starburst, Sgt. Stanwick appears to be new to the DC universe, so your guess is as good as ours in terms of whether the army will be allies or antagonists to the Kryptonian.

Synder and co begin shooting MAN OF STEEL in a few months, with a December 2012 release scheduled. Here’s a leaked pic from the Illinois-based set to whet your appetite…

Looks very Smallville-esque to us. Who, or what, could possibly have caused the damage? Hmmm. Maybe this, the purported ‘official’ synopsis, can shed some light on things…

“Clark Kent is a freelance reporter in his early 20’s, traveling all around the world covering various news stories. However, Kent is forced to fly back into action to attain a fleeing assassin instead of covering an ethnic conflict between the Ghuri and Turaaba clans in West Africa. Upon his return to form, Kent returns to Smallville to learn more about his origins and become the hero he was born to be.”

Guess not.

Part of me actually wants the above paragraph to be proved bogus. It all seems a little dry. Surely the way to go with MAN OF STEEL is the opposite direction to the universally derided SUPERMAN RETURNS, which suffered due to Singer’s insistence on keeping the characters grounded and the story small. With Warner Bros hiring Synder, surely this is the perfect time to give us a huge, action-packed, alien bashing action extravaganza. How many times do we need to see Clark exploring his origins? Didn’t SMALLVILLE just milk that for ten years anyway?

We shall keep you updated on further developments…

What do you hope for from the Superman reboot? Let us know with your comments below!

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