Superman: Year One

Superman: Year One is a 2023 superhero film based on the DC Comics character Superman. Produced by Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures, DC Entertainment, Syncopy and Peters Entertainment, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, it is an American production and serves as a reboot/prequel of the DC Extended Universe Man Of Steel and Batman vs Superman. The film is directed by James Gunn and is primarly based on Frank Miller's graphic novel Superman: Year One. Development began in 2020, after the blockbuster film released in the same year Justice League was panned by critics and fans alike. Superman: Year One was released on August 11, 2023 in 2D, 3D and IMAX, and was also made available for HBO Max subscribers for one month.

Synopsis
After the movie Flashpoint events, the entire DC Extended Universe's continuity has been erased and the story of Superman is open to be told from the beginning. The film follows Clark Kent/Kal-El's story from his arrival on Earth to his arrival in Metropolis and his first year as Superman, the greatest superhero of them all! The film will also guest stars the superheroes Batman and Wonder Woman as the film follows faithfully the plot of Frank Miller's graphic novel with only some minor changes. This film will contain more blood, campy humour, cursing, stereotyping and sexual scenes than any previous Superman film as it will follow Gunn's notorious over the top action-comedy style like it did with Suicide Squad and Guardians of the Galaxy. It will also be the first Superman movie to be Rated R due to the cursing, sexual and nudity scenes as well as brief graphic scenes (most of whome were deleted for the theatrical release; HBO Max features both the theatrical and the original Rated R release).

Act I
It will focus on Superman's childhood from his arrival on Earth to him deciding to leave Smallville after college. It will show Clark Kent as an outcast who later use his powers to help his friends against the school's bullies and rises to be the most popular kid in the town as he easily becomes a football champion. He will also fall in love with Lana Lang, the prettiest girl in Smallville, with whome he will lose his virginity. However, after Pa' Kent's sudden heart attack and death, Clark will decide that his powers are too big for Smallville and decides to take on a world's journey to decide the best way to change the world for the better.

Act II
Clark Kent has joined the US Marine Corps and, though he managed to keep his powers a secret, he easily outclass and outperform all of his comrades. He takes advantage of the army's missions to help people across the world. In his free time, Clark has finally adopted the Superman suit (though he still doesn't call himself like that) and, while on a trip on the bottom of the ocean, he finds the legendary Merfolk from Tritonis (one of the underwater cities also seen in the Aquaman movies) and meets Lori Lemaris, a beautiful mermaid princess who immediatly fall in love with him and begs him to take her hand in marriage. Clark is eventually expelled from the Army after he refuses to execute civilians in a Middle-East conflict (instead he turns on his comrades and superiors and help the people escape), He is nonetheless greeted with honor and affection by his army's friends and saluted from his old colonel who has deduced about his superpowers but promises to keep the secret. Clark journeys to the sea to reunite with his beloved Lori who immediatly greets him with open arms (and legs..). However, her father Neptune, the king of Tritonis, feels threatened by his presence and decides to "test him" by sending his warriors and even the mighty Kraken to kill him. Clark overcomes any challange and eventually cast the tyrant out of the kingdom. The entire Tritonis bow to him and cheer him as their new hero and lord with Lori happily gives herself to him. Clark spends some time in Tritonis enjoying the beauty and the luxury of palace's life with his beautiful princess at his side and seriously contemplate remaning like this forever. However, he cannot resist the call of duty and the responsabilities he feels toward human kind, so he must move on and travel back to the surface, bidding farewell to his princess and his kingdom.

Act III
Clark has finally becomes Superman, the hero who protects and save everyone across the world. He settled in the city of Metropolis where he works and lives undercover as a journalist at the Daily Planet where he mets all his historical friends: Jimmy Olsen, Perry White, Steve Lombard, Cat Grant and of course Lois Lane, the woman he is deeply in love with from the moment he saw her and saved her as Superman (she is also the one who came out with the superhero name). As the Man of Steel, Kal-El keeps fighting a never-ending battle for truth, justice and the american way and becomes popular and beloved through all the world! Thanks mostly to the Daily Planet's articles. The entire world adores him, except Lex Luthor, the most powerful and richest captain of industry in the world, owner of the LexCorp, the largest multinational on the planet, who feels threatened by this newcome alien. Nonetheless, Luthor will try to pose as Superman's ally at first and convinces him of the goodness of his projects and to stop Batman, the lawless brutal vigilante from Gotham City, who has sabotaged several Luthor's labs. Superman and Batman meets and fights (mostly because of Batman's violent and arrogant attitude) but Superman quickly overpowers the Dark Knight until they are both stopped by Wonder Woman, the Amazon Princess, who convinces the two that Lex Luthor has conspired against the two from the beginning. The three superheroes reach out to Lex Luthor and Wonder Woman uses her Lasso of Truth to force him to confess his plans: Luthor has launched satellites to destroy most of the world's population, leaving him with a more manageable number of people to rule. Batman takes out Luthor to be imprisoned while Superman greets Wonder Woman with a kiss before flying into open space and destroys Luthor's satellites. The world is saved and Superman gets acclaimed by all the people of Earth. In his civilian identity, he manages to ask Lois for a date to which she reply by kissing him passionately. Meanwhile, Batman and Wonder Woman discuss about rallying together more superheroes... the last scene see Clark awakening by a lovely night with Lois as he hears the sound of people in distress. He takes on his suit and yells UP, UP AND AWAY! before he flys to the rescue.

Act I

 * Jackson A. Dunn as Clark Kent/Kal-El
 * Emmie Hunter as Lana Lang
 * Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent
 * Diane Lane as Martha Kent
 * Peyton Wich as Billy Bob Markham
 * Cade Jones as Baleson
 * Dacre Montgomery as Chartrand
 * Christian Finlayson as Halford
 * Matthew J. Vasquez as Macauley
 * Bryce Cass as Travis

Act II

 * Dylan Sprayberry as Clark Kent/Kal-El
 * Sophie Turner as Lori Lemaris
 * Ian McShane as King Neptune
 * Mickey Rourke as Colonel Jacob Kurtzberg

Act III

 * Henry Cavill as Superman/Clark Kent/Kal-El
 * Felicity Jones as Lois Lane
 * K.J. Apa as Jimmy Olsen
 * Bruce Campbell as Perry White
 * Susie Abromeit as Cat Grant
 * Billy Zane as Lex Luthor
 * Jared Leto as The Joker
 * Ben Affleck as Batman
 * Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman
 * Mark Wahlberg as Hal Jordan
 * Laura Haddick as Carol Ferris
 * Munro Chambers as Wallace "Wally" West
 * Laurence Leboeuf as Artemis Crock