SMALLVILLE's John Schneider Wasn't A Big Fan Of MAN OF STEEL's Jonathan Kent
Man of Steel is arguably one of the most divisive CBMs ever. While some fans were more than satisfied, some were disappointed, including Smallville's John Schneider. It turns out he wasn't too big on how Jonathan Kent was portrayed.. Come see what he had to say!
Not only did 2013's Man Of Steel finish with a total box office gross of over $668 million, it also managed to successfully launch the DC Cinematic Universe, which will pick up again in 2016 with Batman v. Superman: Dawn Of Justice. The cast features Henry Cavill (Immortals) and five-time Academy Award nominee Amy Adams (Enchanted) returning as Superman and Lois Lane respectively, Academy Award-winner Ben Affleck (Daredevil) as Batman, Gal Gadot (Fast Five) as Wonder Woman, and Jason Momoa (Game Of Thrones) as Aquaman, amongst others.
While it was financially successful, Man Of Steel managed to be one of the more controversial CBMs in recent memory. While many fans loved and enjoyed it, an equal number of fans were left wanting and weren't as happy with some of the liberties director Zack Snyder took in the film and it looks like we can add Smallville's John Schneider to that long list of individuals who weren't happy with something, specifically the portrayal of Jonathan Kent.
As many of you know, Schneider portrayed Kal-El's adoptive father Jonathan Kent for five seasons on the hit CW show Smallville before his character passed away. After the end of his time as a series regular, he returned for three guest spots in the tenth and final season.
While, Schneider doesn't criticize Kevin Costner's performance, he does raise a valid issue with the characterization of Jonathan Kent and his parenting ability. Check out what he had to say below, skip ahead to about the 5:15 mark to hear his thoughts or read the transcript that follows:
“I love Kevin, I love what Kevin does. I didn’t care for the fact that they wanted, there was one scene in there, where Jonathan was advising Clark to do something that was kind of self-serving, it was tell a lie, I can’t remember exactly what it was. That bothered me because I think Jonathan Kent is the best dad perhaps ever depicted on television. And I don’t mean my work, I mean just the man that I was fortunate enough to play. He was a great father, and I don’t think that the one they crafted in Man of Steel was a great father. I think he had some flaws that don’t belong in a comic book. I really had wished that had been me, I mean he had my clothes, he was in front of my silo, so why not?” *chuckles*
The scene Schneider is alluding to seems to be the one where Jonathan is telling Clark that, maybe, he shouldn't have saved the school bus full of his classmates because it could have exposed his abilities to the world.
So, what do you guys think? Do you agree with Schneider? Was the characterization of Jonathan Kent a little off in Man Of Steel? Or do you disagree? Did you like how Jonathan Kent was portrayed? Sound off with your thoughts below!