Henry Cavill has played Superman in two movies so far: Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. While this iteration of the Kryptonian hero has a sizable fanbase, it's also clear that his tales haven't had the same optimistic tone as the Christopher Reeve movies or other Superman stories. Following on that track, there has been some criticism that this version of Superman is too dark, but if you ask producer Deborah Snyder, it's because of Superman's problems that makes him relatable to moviegoers.
While discussing Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice with Forbes, Snyder explained how the journeys the eponymous heroes are going are relatable, and in Superman's case, that means that he feels more "human." She said:
That's the great thing about our Superman. He is more relatable. Someone said, 'It's so dark,' and I go, 'Well, is it dark? He's going through real problems that we go through as people every day.' To me that's not dark, that's life. We're complicated people. And we're making him in that way more relatable.
Man of Steel introduced fans to a Kal-El/Clark Kent who originally didn't know if he should publicly reveal himself to the world in order to help others. Fortunately, he eventually chose the superhero life, and the DCEU has done a good job of showing his good, non-super villain fighting deeds, whether it was saving those oil rig workers before he donned the cape to coming to the rescue for that Day of the Dead celebration. Nevertheless, in the midst of being Earth's protector, he was seen struggling with humanity's perception of him. No matter what he did to help his adoptive people, there were many vocal about their distrust towards him, which led to moments of self-doubt.
Despite the perceived dark nature of Superman's DCEU movies so far, Deborah Snyder believes that the Man of Steel represents people as a whole and our efforts to keep moving forward even when we've stumbled. She continued:
So I don't think that's dark, I think that's just who we are. People are complex, we're not strictly just the good Boy Scout trying to do good. He does want to do good, and I think all of the the things Superman represents are who he is, but he also stumbles along the way and learns from it. To me, that's so much more interesting.
Despite his share of "stumbling," Superman came through near the end of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice when he sacrificed himself to stop Doomsday. However, the movie's final moments foreshadowed he won't be gone for long. When Justice League is released next year, he'll fight alongside his fellow superheroes, possibly in a new costume. From there, he'll continue his mission to keep the denizens of Earth safe, no matter what the threat.
Superman will jump back into action on November 17, 2017 for Justice League, and he'll reportedly get to headline in his own movie again, a.k.a. Man of Steel 2, sometime in the near future.
