Man of Steel

Man of Steel, released in 2013, was a Continuity Reboot of the Superman movie franchise and the first film in the DC Extended Universe. The film is directed by Zack Snyder, produced by Christopher Nolan, and written by the team of Nolan and David S. Goyer.

The cast includes Henry Cavill (Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman), Amy Adams (Lois Lane), Kevin Costner (Jonathan Kent), Diane Lane (Martha Kent), Michael Shannon (General Zod), Antje Traue (Zod's accomplice Faora), Russell Crowe (Jor-El), and Ayelet Zorer (Lara Lor-Van).

Baby Kal-El is sent away by his parents from Krypton, their native planet, as it explodes. His space ships lands on Earth, where he is found and adopted by the humans Jonathan and Martha Kent. As Clark grows, he discovers his super-powers, but his father, afraid he will be persecuted or experimented, insists for him to hide his gifts from the world.

Jonathan eventually dies while refusing help from Clark during an hurricane. In angst, Clark leaves Smallville, the town where he grew up, looking for a purpose in life.

Clark eventually learns from a Kryptonian spaceship stranded on Arctic his origins and his biological father's desire for him to help the people on Earth. And just in time, Kryptonian criminals from the Phantom Zone escape containment, seeking Clark to obtain genetic information stored on his body and hoping to make Earth their new home. But there will be no place for humans on the future they plan, forcing Clark to fight for his foster home against his biological race.

Tropes used in Man of Steel include:

• Abusing the Kardashev Scale For Fun and Profit: The Kryptonians were a borderline Type II civilization but were unable to foot the massive energy bill to become a full-on Type II, leading them over-mining Krypton's insides.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: The responsibilities of his awesome power and Jonathan Kent's (preventable) death have led to a much more reserved and grim Clark Kent than usual.
• Adaptational Heroism: While the idea of General Zod as a Well-Intentioned Extremist isn't a new one, his usual motivation is to kill Superman as revenge for Jor-El getting him banished to the Phantom Zone and then rule Earth to appease his own ego. Here, he's more of a Tragic Villain whose takeover of Earth is motivated by his desire to save his functionally extinct species and he doesn't appear to have any plans to become a Galactic Conqueror after he conquers Earth.
• All There in the Manual: Expanded materials reveal a lot more information about the film, such as the World Engine having been recovered from Daxam.
• Ancient Astronauts: The crashing of Scout Ship 0344, the local equivalent to the Fortress of Solitude, sometime in the Stone Age, was said to have inspired several mythologies.
• Awesome but Impractical: Zod's view on leaving Earth as it is. The powers are great but the constant Sensory Overload is too much, to say nothing of how it would affect the newborns that Zod intends to populate New Krypton with.
• Believing Their Own Lies: Hinted at for Jor-El. Jor-El claims that the Fantastic Caste System of Krypton prevents people from breaking free of the mould that society cast them in. Yet he, a scientist, shows off athleticism on par, if not greater, than the military caste, even managing to best Zod in combat; while Zod shows off some rather unconventional brilliance beyond the scope of a military commander. It overall seems that a Kryptonian's rigid adherence to their caste's role is more psychological than the product of any physical limitations.
• Big Bad: General Zod.
• Continuity Reboot: Wholly unconnected to the Reeve movies or Superman Returns.
• Could Have Avoided This Plot: When speaking to the Council, Jor-El outright says that Krypton becoming unstable could have been neatly side-stepped if they'd continued exploring space for more resources rather than mine the planet's core.
• Crystal Spires and Togas: Averted for Krypton, unlike Richard Donner's famous film. Instead, Krypton has a more technological feel while mixing aspects of Vestigial Empire to show how well past its prime it is.
• Death by Adaptation:
  • Jor-El's AI is deleted by Zod.
  • Professor Hamilton is banished to the Phantom Zone along with Zod's crew.
  • The Daxamites killed themselves in a civil war before even Krypton exploded.
• Demoted to Extra: Lana Lang.
• Designer Babies: All Kryptonians are grown in Genesis Chambers for a specific role they'll serve in society. The one exception is Kal-El who was the first natural birth in centuries.
• Destructive Saviour: Superman.
• Doomed Hometown: Krypton. No surprise there.
• Face Death with Dignity: As Krypton dies, Lara does not try to run or seek shelter, but calmly accepts her fate.
• Fantastic Caste System: The Kryptonians were a race of Designer Babies made to fit into one. The guilds are:
  • Artisan.
  • Laborer.
  • Mediator.
  • Thinker. Of which the House of El belongs to.
  • Warrior. Which Zod's crew comes from.
• First Contact: Humanity learns that they are not alone in the universe.
• Fling a Light Into the Future: Jor-El's motivation as always. It's taken one step further as he also planned for Kal to one day resurrect the Kryptonian race.
• Humans Need Aliens: As is typical for Superman media, only the Big Blue Boyscout can offer meaningful resistance against the alien invaders.
• Hollow World: Thanks to over-mining of its insides, Krypton. Why do you think it blew up?
• Hostile Terraforming: Though a World Engine and his ship, Zod attempts to turn Earth into New Krypton. In an interesting take of this, the World Engine actually has defences to protect it from any native lifeforms who might protest this.
• How Do I Shot Web?: It takes the Kryptonians varying degrees of time to understand how their powers work.
• Mind Probe: The Sword of Rao uses one on Clark and Lois when they arrive on Earth.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • Zod when he sees that he's killed Jor-El.
  • Comes full circle when Kal-El kills Zod.
• Offscreen Teleportation: Justified. Jor-El is an AI and project his image anywhere he chooses.
• Ragnarok Proofing: Scout Ship 0344 has been buried for 18,000 years yet is in perfect working order. It's implied that it has a self-repair mechanism but even then, it's in remarkably good condition. The World Engine itself is likewise fully functional after being left for Rao knows how long on Daxam.
• Race Lift: Laurence Fishburne as the first non-white Perry White in any version of Superman. Most likely a Type 8, given the gravitas with which Fishburne has played many of his roles.
• Reimagining the Artifact: Rather than a fortress grown from Kryptonian crystals or something carved out of ice, the Fortress of Solitude is reimagined as a lost Kryptonian space ship.
• Robot Buddy: Kryptonians use them as assistants in their society.
• Scars Are Forever: The face cut that Jor-El gave Zod doesn't even heal under a yellow sun.
• Sensory Overload: Very prone to happen to Kryptonians. It's why Zod's crew stay in their spacesuits.
• Space Age Stasis: As evidenced by the Command Keys still working on Scout Ship 0344, Kryptonian technology has not changed even a bit since the Age of Expansion.
• Superhero Paradox: The Sword of Rao is invading Earth because Superman unknowingly summoned them to Earth when he activated the Scout Ship.
• Superman Stays Out of Gotham: The film ran into trouble retroactively justifying this as the DCEU took shape. Batman, as shown in the sequel, was there but couldn't do anything to help, Flash was still getting used to his powers and found them frustrated by the Gravity Screw, and Aquaman was living in a remote corner of Iceland at the time so he likely didn't even hear about it until it was over. Where Wonder Woman was has yet to be revealed.
• There Was a Door: If Zod can make an entrance via an explosion, then he will.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: Averted for Superman, who slays Zod in the climax via a Neck Snap. He's so horrified by it though that it leads to him adopting the pledge afterwards.
• Too Dumb to Live: Why did Krypton blow up? Because the High Council thought it a good idea to mine the core, that thing whose gravity field keeps the planet in one piece, rather than seek exploitable resources on other planets.
• Unskilled but Strong: Compared to the other Kryptonians, who are warrior caste, Superman has been soaking up solar rays his whole life, giving him a good strength advantage over the invaders. His actual fighting abilities leave something to be desired against the Weak but Skilled invaders.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: When Superman plugged his Command Key into Scout Ship 0344, he unknowingly reactivated the ship's distress beacon, drawing Zod to Earth.
• Villainous Breakdown: Zod when his ship is destroyed.