Russell Crowe Says Jor-El Will Throw Down in 'Man of Steel'

Wednesday, 19 October 2011 11:27 Written by Jordan DeSaulnier

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Russell Crowe Says Jor-El Will Throw Down in 'Man of Steel'

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.

Crowe, who tweets under the convenient handle @russellcrowe, took to Twitter for a quick update, saying,

"15km bike ride,umpteen hours fighting Michael Shannon. He’s very hard to put down."

A follow-up question prompted him to respond,

"Hard to tell who wins, we are still fighting tomorrow.”

Michael Shannon is playing the villainous Kryptonian General Zod, who is aided and abetted by the also villainous Faora, played by Antje Traue. So a good guy in a comic book movie will be fighting a bad guy. Not terribly big news, except for what it indicates about the new origin story for Superman. Traditionally, little Kal-El is put in a rocket and sent to Earth to save him for the destruction of Krypton, but if Jor-El is actually fighting Zod before Krypton goes boom, then there is perhaps a more intricate reason for the planet's fate. In the Donner version, Zod and his gang were criminals condemned to the Phantom Zone by a Kryptonian council heeding the advice of Jor-El. How will the rebooted mythos differ? Ponder away, folks.

Henry Cavill stars as Kal-el/Clark Kent/Superman, with Amy Adams as Lois Lane. Ayelet Zurer is a recent addition to the cast, playing Jor-El's wife, Lara Lor-Van. Laurence Fishburne, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Harry Lennix, and Christopher Meloni round out the cast of the Zack Snyder-directed origin story.

Man of Steel is scheduled for release on June 14, 2013.