We’ve all been holding our collective breath waiting to see what British actor Henry Cavill was going to look like as the title role in the new Zack Snyder-directed “Man of Steel” Superman reboot, the release of which has now been pushed back to 2013. And, apart the observation shared by many that he has Too Much Hair, we think he might be able to pull this off. We like the sort of armor mesh appearance of the new suit. He looks tough in this, and he makes the suit look good. Cavill said in an interview with Total Film Magazine that he trains for two and a half hours a day to make that suit look as good as it does. He’s very aware that there is a huge mantle of responsibility to the role, and we’re not just talking about that heavy pleated cape.

However, as usual, they couldn’t resist tinkering with the traditional design of the suit itself, and the red trunks are gone (no, he’s not naked, he’s just wearing his underwear inside instead of outside now, to go along with the new DC Universe restyling of the famous costume). Oh, well, at least they didn’t point the buckle and make the trunks into hot pants.

A few days ago we received word that Lawrence Fishburne has been cast as Perry White. We hope this doesn’t portend other arbitrary tinkering with the elements of the Superman mythos – and that reminds us that what most of the fans are looking for is a faithful treatment of the material.

Here’s the press release:

BURBANK, CA, August 4, 2011 – Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures have provided the first look at the new “Man of Steel,” revealing star Henry Cavill as Superman in the film from director Zack Snyder.

The film also stars three-time Oscar® nominee Amy Adams (“The Fighter”) as Daily Planet journalist Lois Lane, and Oscar® nominee Laurence Fishburne (“What’s Love Got to Do with It”) as her editor-in-chief, Perry White.  Starring as Clark Kent’s adoptive parents, Martha and Jonathan Kent, are Oscar® nominee Diane Lane (“Unfaithful”) and Academy Award® winner Kevin Costner (“Dances with Wolves”).Squaring off against the superhero are two other surviving Kryptonians, the villainous General Zod, played by Oscar® nominee Michael Shannon (“Revolutionary Road”), and Faora, Zod’s evil partner, played by Antje Traue.  Also from Superman’s native Krypton are Lara Lor-Van, Superman’s mother, played by Julia Ormond, and Superman’s father, Jor-El, portrayed by Academy Award® winner Russell Crowe (“Gladiator”).

Rounding out the cast are Harry Lennix as U.S. military man General Swanwick, as well as Christopher Meloni as Colonel Hardy.“Man of Steel” is being produced by Charles Roven, Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Deborah Snyder.  The screenplay was written by David S. Goyer, from a story by Goyer and Nolan, based upon Superman characters created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster and published by DC Comics.  Thomas Tull and Lloyd Phillips are serving as executive producers.

“Superman Returns” did well, since its place in the pantheon of films about Earth’s Greatest Hero was pretty much assured, but it also had problematic story elements.  The film was supposed to pick up where Superman 2 left off, but the direction they took things had Superman discovering that he and Lois had had a child out of wedlock, giving them what was essentially a radioactive storyline.  There was certainly nowhere you could go with the concept once it had been laid out like that, and apparently cooler heads have prevailed and the new “Man of Steel” movie follows the lead of other superhero movies and pretends the events of the previous film simply never happened.  We think that was a wise move.

“Man of Steel” is scheduled to be released on June 14, 2013.