There's well over a year until Man of Steel arrives at a theater near you, but it's not to early to reveal the Superman reboot's official logo via a banner baring a familiar symbol.  That would be a new variation on the iconic "S" that Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's creation has worn on his chest ever since his first appearance almost 75 years ago.

I recently had the immense pleasure of speaking with one of my all time favorite actors, Titus Welliver, about his prolific and impressive television work. But as accomplished as his TV resume is, the actor has just as distinguished of a film and stage career. Welliver first gained attention in the groundbreaking off-Broadway play “Riff Raff,” which was written, directed and co-starred actor Laurence Fishburne. He would eventually reprise the critically acclaimed role that he originated on stage as the sympathetic drug addict and part-time thief Billy “The Torch’ Murphy in the film adaptation of the play entitled Once in the Life, which also starred Fishburne and marked his feature film directorial debut. In fact, while the actor and I were chatting about the making of Once in the Life and his work in "Riff Raff," which also happens to be my all time favorite stage play, the actor happened to mention that he and Fishburne are discussing doing a revival of the show. “I have to say Laurence and I have been sort of toying with the idea of doing the play again even though it's been about twelve years since we made the film,” Welliver admitted.

While the actor is probably best known for his extensive television work that includes playing Silas Adams on HBO’s Western-based series Deadwood, the pivotal role of Kyle Hollis on the brilliant but short-lived NBC series Life, season three villain Jimmy O’Phelan on FX’s motorcycle gang series Sons of Anarchy, a recurring role on the current Fox series Touch with Kiefer Sutherland, and of course, as the Man in Black (A.K.A. the Smoke Monster) on ABC’s cultural phenomenon Lost. But he’s also appeared in many popular feature films including The Doors, Mobsters, Twisted, Assault on Precinct 13, and most recently Man on a Ledge, which opened on January 27^th and is in theaters now. But his most famous film roles have come from his collaborations with fellow actor and now critically acclaimed writer/director Ben Affleck. Welliver first appeared in Affleck’s Boston-based directorial debut Gone Baby Gone as Lionel McCready, and also appeared as FBI agent Dino Ciampa in The Town (also set in the Boston area) opposite Jon Hamm (TV’s Mad Men). Now, Welliver will achieve the hat trick by also appearing in Affleck’s upcoming third directorial effort Argo, which will be the first of his films, as a director, not set in Massachusetts.

Months ago, when Man of Steel was shooting on location in Illinois, we were seeing photos from the set of the Superman reboot regularly.  These included plenty of looks at Henry Cavill in the newly redesigned Superman costume, as well as a small sense of the scale on which director Zack Snyder is setting up the film's action sequences.  Since the production began shooting on soundstages in Vancouver, British Columbia, though, set photos and the like have become rare.  A new behind the scenes image reminds us of the good times and provides a solid, close up look at Cavill in costume.

After a flurry of set photos gave some insights into the Superman reboot Man of Steel months ago, when it was shooting on location in rural Illinois and Chicago, things have been while the production shoots studio stuff in Vancouver.  In that time, our collective attention has been focused pretty firmly on The Dark Knight Rises, but the Christopher Nolan-produced retelling of Superman's origin is indeed still in principal photography.  As if to remind us of this fact comes news that Richard Schiff has joined the supporting cast as a character very much familiar to fans of Kal-El's DC Comics history.

Remember about three weeks ago, when unofficial images from the set of the Superman reboot Man of Steel showed new Clark Kent Henry Cavill in a mocked-up Alaskan fishing village with a distinctly un-Kentish beard and vagrant's outfit?  Sure you do.  How about those other unofficial images with an equally bearded Cavill topless and sporting nothing but tattered pants?  Of course you remember those.  New photos from the Vancouver Man of Steel set prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that 300 director Zack Snyder will indeed be providing plenty of super-shirtlessness in the newly rebooted Superman adventure.

In 1978's Superman, as directed by Richard Donner, Marlon Brando played Superman's Kryptonian father Jor-El, a wise,beneficent, silver-coiffed scientist attempting to warn his doomed homeworld of impending planetary disaster.  Some digital work even allowed Brando to briefly reprise the role posthumously in Superman Returns, but in the currently-filming Superman reboot Man of Steel, Jor-El is played by none other than Russell Crowe.  Earlier this month, a batch of unofficial pictures from the Vancouver set gave our first look at Crowe in costume, which is traditionally regal, but more martial than past Jor-Els.  Now, Crowe himself has indicated that his version of Superdad is more physical, getting into a proper fight with a combatant the identity of whom is a minor spoiler.

Just yesterday, a slew of official images from the 3D action epic Immortals featured lead Henry Cavill looking ridiculously fit and consistently shirtless.  Today, a crop of photos from the British Columbia set of the Superman reboot Man of Steel indicate that the latest iteration of Clark Kent will be no stranger to occasional shirtlessness.  Last week, images from the set of the Zack Snyder-directed franchise restart showed Cavill looking rather destitute and bearded in an Alaskan fishing town, but these new pictures do the destitution one better.

On Tuesday, we saw our first look at Russell Crowe in costume as Jor-El, Superman's Kryptonian progenitor in the franchise reboot Man of Steel, currently filming under the watchful eye of Zack Snyder in Vancouver, British Columbia.  While those images showed a costume of ornate Kryptonian finery, today's round of set photos show Henry Cavill as Clark Kent sporting an outfit on the opposite end of the spectrum.  Shooting a rainy, cold looking scene in a mock-up Alaskan fishing village, Cavill looks very much like a vagrant, with a bushy beard and a dirty outfit.  It doesn't jive with typical conceptions of Clark Kent, and that's exactly the idea.

Man of Steel, the Warner Bros reboot of its cinematic Superman franchise, once again tells the Big Blue Boy Scout's origin story, following little Kal-El from doomed Krypton to the cornfields of Kansas and finally to bustling Metropolis.  Hopefully, rather than simply hitting the expected beats, Man of Steel will give some weight to its hero's start, like Batman Begins before it.  To portray fresh new versions of the characters on every step of Clark Kent's journey, director Zack Snyder has been populating his film with familiar faces, and though the film has been in production for almost two months, he has made a surprising move and cast Ayelet Zurer as Superman's biological mother Lara, a role Julia Ormond was thought to play.

Over the last month or so, production on the Superman reboot Man of Steel was based in the rural environs in and around Plano, Illinois, which will stand in for Smallville in the film.  As such, the profligate set photos focused on epic destruction, Henry Cavill as plaid-wearing corn-fed Clark Kent, dudes in mo-cap outfits, and the best looks at the new Superman costume.  Now, though, principal photography has moved on to Chicago, which is providing appropriately metropolitan locales for the new onscreen Metropolis.  A new photo from the downtown set of Zack Snyder's take on the Last Son of Krypton has revealed an iconic location: the lobby of The Daily Planet, Metropolis' finest newspaper and the workplace of Clark Kent, Lois Lane (Amy Adams), and Perry White (Laurence Fishburne).