Kevin Costner Reveals How Man Of Steel Pushed Him And Diane Lane To Work Together Again

Diane Lane and Kevin Costner in Man of Steel
(Image credit: (Focus Features))

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Kevin Costner and Diane Lane star as husband and wife living in the Midwest whose lives take a turn after an incident concerning their son. But no, it’s not a Man of Steel spinoff starring Ma and Pa Kent. Let Him Go is completely unrelated to their work in the DCEU, but it did inspire the actors to reunite for this weekend’s latest release.

Let Him Go follows Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as George and Martha (... another Man of Steel coincidence regarding the latter name), who are fresh off the tragic loss of their son. The couple go on a dangerous trip to retrieve their grandson, who is living with the shady Weboy clan in the Dakotas. Here’s how Man of Steel brought them back together, per Kevin Costner to EW:

Well, number one, she's a world class actress, I think. She's one of the best that we've ever had. There's just no doubt about it. You can go to the Golden Age of Hollywood, and I would stack her up against any of the Barbara Stanwycks and the Hepburns. We felt like we only worked together for a minute on [Man of Steel], but the promise of what could be wasn't going to be extended in that particular movie, so this was an interesting way to circle back. And she's very dynamic in a very difficult role.

Of course, as the Superman story goes, Jonathan Kent must die in Clark’s adulthood and leave Martha Kent by her lonesome on the farm. The moment made for a memorable scene in the 2013 movie, which differed from the typical get-sick-and-die narrative of Kal-El’s adopted Earth dad. Jonathan gets killed in a tornado trying to save others, and I cry every time I watch it! Take a look:

Kevin Costner played a small, but key role in Man of Steel, but it didn't allow him to work as much with Diane Lane as he wanted to. Enter Let Him Go. On the surface, it may look like the couple crafted a Ma and Pa Kent scenario just to do it, but the movie is based on a novel by Larry Watson. Although it has been labeled a Western, neither Costner or Lane define it as such.

Though Kevin Costner and Diane Lane could technically go back to their roles of the Kents in flashback sequences in a future DCEU movie. When CinemaBlend spoke to Costner ahead of the film’s release, our own Michael Reyes asked if the actor may return to the upcoming Snyder Cut of Justice League, the legendary actor said the following:

I don’t know. You don’t want to be kissin’ and tellin’ in life. You’re pokin’ me a little bit. I’m not… I can’t tell you.

That’s a tease if I ever did see one. The new cut of Justice League will be released on HBO Max in four parts next year. You can sign up for an HBO Max subscription now, and the service is currently streaming Man of Steel. Let Him Go is playing in theaters now.

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.