First off, I'd like to have a brief rant concerning Warner Bros' not rebooting the franchise until now. After Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, many people lost interest in the Superman film franchise, and even when we had a modern version of the Last Son of Krypton back in 2006, that film (Superman Returns) wasn't carried out to its full potential. It stuck too closely to the Donner formula and proved that we needed a proper reboot/modern retelling of the character. With that said, I believe that they should've ended the original series with the fourth movie, reboot with Brandon Routh and a GOOD script, and voila. It's like trying to revive the original Batman franchise after Batman & Robin without totally rebooting it...some dead horses can only be beaten for so long.
Now back to the main topic: Man Of Steel. Personally, I'm liking the tone Zack Snyder is apparently bringing to this movie. A dark, violent Superman movie always sounds good, and the fact that Christopher Nolan (who's personally my favorite director of all time) will be producing makes me believe that this will be the best Superman movie ever. However, considering Nolan's the 'creative godfather' of the movie, Snyder will probably bring in a lot of realism/realistic stuff/etc, which would be tricky to do for a character like Superman. It's easy to use that approach for a character like Batman or even Iron Man to a degree, but for a character who flies, shoots laser beams, has freeze breath, etc, using the complete Nolan approach would be very hard. Which is why I suggest (and what probably will be used) that the tone/relevance of Man Of Steel should be a mix of Nolan's philosophy and the fantasy elements (I only suggest the following since Zack Snyder's Superman won't have anything to do with the pending Justice League film): Have Kryptonians be the only beings with super powers, with the rest of Earth/other planets not having powers.
The next thing I want to address is the casting. Up to this point, I've approved of at least half of the current choices. Despite my not previously hearing of Henry Cavill until after the news of his being cast in the red boots, he seems perfect for the job. Kevin Costner is an inspired choice for Pa Kent as well, IMO. I never saw Amy Adams as Lois Lane (she's one of my favorite actresses, but I'm not sure if she can do well as Lois), but we'll see what she can do. Diane Lane seems too young to be playing Ma Kent, but if they're portraying a younger version at first and then digitalizes Lane with elderly stuff, I wouldn't have a problem.
Speaking of problems concerning the cast, we recently hit the most fan boy panned choice so far: the unknown Michael Shannon as General Zod. I've seen many complaints about MOS being a remake of Superman II (especially with the recent news of Zod having a female Kryptonian sidekick), and that Snyder won't use any villains that haven't be put on film yet. I'll have to say, although this is the weakest casting choice by far IMO, I can't really have much of a say. I'm very unfamiliar with Shannon, and he doesn't seem right for Zod, but I don't believe I could have an opinion until I've seen the guy act the role out. And to those saying that Zod will be the main villain for MOS, we'll have to wait and see. Maybe Zod will be introduced as a side villain to be set up in a sequel, with Brainiac, Metallo, or even Darkseid being the main villain for MOS. Also, Nolan has said that MOS won't be at all influenced by the Donner films, so we shouldn't have anything to worry.
Finally, I'd like to briefly discuss the main plot of the film (of what we know, anyways). I don't care for the fact that it'll likely feature Krypton and the origin story heavily, mainly because the origin story's been told before. But that's just me. However, I like how they're completely changing the look of Krypton this time around (with it reportedly looking like something from Star Wars) and that it'll have more action. Also, I'd like it if there was a main villain behind the scenes in MOS and the sequels (Darkseid?), with Lex Luthor not having a very significant role until later on in the series.
Well there's the first entry of 'My Current Thoughts', a new editorial series I'm starting. The next part will be on The Dark Knight Rises, coming hopefully by the end of the weekend or so.