The Man of Steel (film)

The Man of Steel is an imagined film in the DC Cinematic Universe that kicks off the world-building of the DC Universe after The Dark Knight Trilogy. The film serves as the origin of Superman and is set mostly in Smallville during the early days of his life.

Plot

 * Jor-El, the leading scientist of Krypton, develops a plan for Kryptonians to escape the dying planet via the Phantom Zone to a habitable planet, Earth. General Zod, a war-mongering rival of Jor-El, helps with the evacation. However, he soon learns from his scientist Jax-Ur that the yellow Sun near Earth will enhance Kryptonian's abilities, making them gods on Earth. Zod sabotages the evacuation and only lets the allies on his ship through. Kryptonians fight back and Jor-El traps Zod's ship in the Phantom Zone. The mini-war with Zod stimulates the Kryptonian apocalypse. Jor-El, in desperation, attaches the Phantom Zone to a missile that sends his infant son, Kal-El to Earth.
 * Kal-El/Clark Kent is raised by Ma and Pa Kent in Smallville. He befriends Lana Lang and Pete Ross, but tries to keep his powers a secret as requested by his parents.
 * A devastating tornado rips through Smallville and Clark is forced to use his powers to save people's lives. This gets the attention of the media, including reporter Lois Lane.
 * Lex Luthor, the most powerful mogul on Earth who profits off of worldwide disasters and wars is worried that Clark Kent, a symbol of world peace, will destroy his empire.
 * After the untimely death of Pa Kent, Clark goes to the Fortress of Solitude, where he gets a vision from Jor-El. He tells him that he should he a symbol of hope to these people and gifts him the signature suit.
 * "Superman" starts saving people from disasters around the world.
 * Lex Luthor pours significant resources into studying Superman. He learns about Krypton and the Phantom Zone. He uses a machine to enter the Phantom Zone and extracts Kryptonite.
 * Lex lures Superman into a trap and knocks him unconscious with Kryptonite.
 * Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen break in the LexCorp lab and save Superman, who then stops the disaster that Luthor began around the world.
 * Luthor is still at-large as there is no evidence of his nefarious activities.
 * Kent gets a job at Daily Planet
 * In the credits scene, Queen Hippolyta of Themyscira learns that a Kryptonite has arrived on Earth.

Cast

 * Henry Cavill as Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman
 * Amy Adams as Lois Lane
 * Bryan Sranston as Lex Luthor
 * Russell Crowe as Jor-El
 * Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent
 * Diane Lane as Martha Kent
 * Lance Reddick as General Calvin Swanwick
 * Tao Okamoto as Mercy Graves
 * Logan Lerman as Jimmy Olsen
 * Alicia Vikander as Lana Lang
 * Ross Lynch as Pete Ross
 * Michael Shannon as General Zod
 * Ayelet Xurer as Lara Lor-Van
 * Richard Schiff as Dr. Emil Hamilton

Members of General Zod's ship also appear: Faora-Ul, Jax-Ur, Tor-An, and '''Quex-Ul. Christopher Meloni portrays Chief Douglas Parker'''. Connie Nielsen has a cameo as Queen Hippolyta, setting up the Wonder Woman film.

Future
Wonder Woman and The Flash are the next DCCU films to be released. Superman: Dawn of Justice is the direct sequel.