In a pivotal moment from Man of Steel, a teenaged Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) lets his adoptive father Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner) die to keep Clark’s unrevealed superpowers a secret, acting on Jonathan’s wishes. Many argued that as a powerful Kryptonian, Clark could have easily saved him.
However, in a new interview with GQ, director Zack Snyder spoke about the decision and defended the controversial scene, explaining the underlying rationale behind Clark’s decision.
“The conversation is exactly what he says to Lois…I let my father die to protect the idea that my father was trying to protect,” Snyder said. “The idea that I wasn’t ready to be outed to the world because I wasn’t Superman. I’m just a teenager that could’ve made a mess of it. I have the power to do it, but have I ever used my powers in this way?”
I trusted that his vision for what I could be was bigger than him,” Snyder added. “This little incident in Kansas was not the thing that was going to expose me to the world.”
After directing ambitious comic book films like 300 and Watchmen, Zack Snyder took on the Superman reboot Man of Steel in 2013. While the DC movie garnered a pretty vocal and dedicated fanbase, certain elements of the film and the DCEU movies that followed like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice proved highly polarizing. Man of Steel drew initially criticism for the mass destruction that occurred in Metropolis, the high number of civilian fatalities that Superman failed to save, and Superman’s decision to ultimately kill General Zod and snap his neck.
Watch the full interview with Snyder in the embed below.
Pruitt Taylor Vince is the new Jonathan Kent
Last week the news hit that James Gunn’s upcoming Superman movie has cast Taylor Pruitt Vince as Pa Kent, as first reported by TheWrap. Known for his roles in Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, The Walking Dead, and The Mentalist, Pruitt Taylor Vince is an unexpected choice but brings substantial experience to the iconic role, shaping a new portrayal of Superman’s adoptive father in the first project of Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Universe saga.