Several unused Man of Steel posters have been unearthed, revealing previously unseen looks at Henry Cavill's portrayal of Superman. Zack Snyder's DCEU kick-off film will celebrate its 13th anniversary later this year, marking the movie that launched the director's interconnected comic book canon. Of course, the DCEU has now come and gone, with Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn taking over the brand's on-screen efforts, but that has not stopped fans from looking back nostalgically on the now-defunct franchise.
One particular pang of nostalgia has hit the DCEU fandom like a Kryptonian tidal wave, as a former Man of Steel artist posted several unused posters from the film online for all to see. Artist Oleg Zatler shared the Man of Steel promotional materials on his personal portfolio, and each of them gained traction online quickly. There are eight total Man of Steel posters in the new release, each with their own gorgeous design that will have fans foaming at the mouth.
One particular milieu to which these unused posters kept returning seems to be the destruction of Metropolis, which served as the film's climactic set piece. The first of these sees Cavill's Kal-El perched atop a train car as it crashes through a towering skyscraper with a smoking skyline in the background.
Another featured a massive crater in the center of Metropolis with the Superman "S" symbol forming through a series of red fissures in the ground.
This particular design is seen in several variants on Latner's website as well, including a traditional movie poster and three others. One of these sees Superman floating above the leveled cityscape.
Another of these posters features the titular hero looking over the destruction from the top of a nearby tower.
And the last is more of a banner image with the city appearing in Supes' cape.
Latner provided several other designs as well. One centers on the iconic first flight sequence from the 2013 DC film, with Cavil's costumed hero flying straight upwards in the sky.
The characters' take on the House of El crest is the focus of another of these, with Superman himself visible in the lower arc of the "S".
And the last of these, which closely resembles some of the other marketing that actually was made public for Man of Steel, sees Cavill as the DC character looking out over a frozen arctic environment assumed to be in the area surrounding his Fortress of Solitude (which James Gunn completely redesigned for the new DCU).
It is unclear why these posters have resurfaced online now (after all these years), but they have fans talking. Since the end of the DCEU, a certain contingent of DC fans have been ravenous for more from the ill-fated superhero franchise. These previously unseed pieces of promotional material are sure to add a new page or two to the ongoing chronicling effort by the Snyderverse faithful.
Man of Steel soared into theaters on June 14, 2013. Led by Henry Cavill as Superman/Clark Kent, Zack Snyder's DC Comics epic followed a new, grittier version of its titular hero as he took on the villainous General Zod and his criminal Kryptonian cabal. It would launch Snyder's DCEU (DC's answer, at the time, to the MCU), which would run from 2013 to 2023.
Will Henry Cavill's Superman Ever Return to the Screen?
Just as it seemed the calls for Henry Cavill's Superman to return to the big screen had died down, these posters came along, sparking the conversation right back to life.
Of the primary DCEU cast, many would argue that Cavill's take on the Man of Steel was given the short end of the stick. His solo movie was the thing that started it the franchise, fans seemed to like his version of the iconic hero, and yet he was severely underused going forward, with not even a Man of Steel 2 to his name.
Right as James Gunn and his DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran were taking over the franchise, there were whispers of a potential return for Cavill. His character popped up in the post-credit scene from 2022's Black Adam, and there was talk that a Man of Steel sequel was in the works.
All that was thrown to the wayside as Gunn and Safran took the reins as the new DC regime opted for a wholly new Superman actor rather than returning to Cavill in the cape.
Now, it seems as though the former Superman star will never don the supersuit ever again. Cavill, as an actor, has moved on, and so has the DC franchise. Cavill has since appeared in other comic book movies, such as Deadpool & Wolverine in 2024, and is pursuing a big-budget adaptation of the Warhammer 40K franchise, which he will produce and star in.
