Superman

Well, considering the amount of time Syfy’s proposed Superman prequel drama Krypton has spent on the bench, the Man of Steel’s grandpa was bound to leap forth eventually. So it is, that Syfy has given an official order to Krypton, taking us to a time way, way before Superman first donned the cape.

Lois Lane, who debuted alongside Superman in May 1938's Action Comics #1, wasn't just the first superhero love interest. At her best, Lois serves as proof that people who don't wear spandex and don't have superpowers can be heroes by doing their jobs well. Of course, she has also had superpowers on multiple occasions. Over the last eight decades or so, Lois has done just about everything a comic book character can do. And yet she's never gone stale. Quite the opposite. Lois has proven as adaptable and eternally relevant as any superhero.

A line-wide relaunch provides a great opportunity for a publisher to take a look at the visuals of their books, specifically costumes and decide what needs tweaking, changing and updating. We’ve already seen new looks for Batman, Deathstroke and Birds of Prey but today artist Tom Derenick posted on his Facebook page a detailed design sheet for the new look Superman post-Rebirth and in true ComicsAlliance tradition, we’re going to pick apart and analyze it see what works and what doesn’t.

Superman is often defined by his powers or his quite literal alienation, but the Man of Steel is so much more than that. Superman represents the potential of humanity through his kindness, his empathy and his generosity. All of these qualities he learned directly from two people, Jonathan and Martha Kent, and when you change anything about that dynamic, you wind up with a very different Superman. In John Byrne’s classic reinvention, Man of Steel, there’s no mention made of ancient Kryptonian family crests; instead, Clark sits down with his dad and designs a logo based on the “Superman” name already coined for him by the Daily Planet, while Ma works on the costume. It isn’t all fun family crafts however, as it’s Pa Kent who takes Clark aside when he’s young and inspires him to be more than just a high school football star.

February 29 is a day that has a little bit of magic to it, if only because it's the one date on the calendar that won't show up next year. It's literally an extra day, a hiccup in the order of months, and that makes it feel like it comes with infinite possibilities. It's a day for something special, something unique, full of strange promises that show us that even the calendar isn't immutable and unchanging. And that, more than anything else, is what makes it perfect for Superman's birthday.

In the tradition of ScreenCrush series like You Think You Know Movies and You Think You Know TV comes a new YouTube series: Top Five! Each week (or so; we’ve got a lot of other stuff going on), ScreenCrush editor and critic Matt Singer will count down a particular topic from the world of movies (and probably write these introductory posts in the third person).

After yesterday’s three new Batman vs. Superman images from the pages of Empire magazine, today we have even more from the upcoming superhero film. From that same magazine article, we have both Ben Affleck and director Zack Snyder talking about this film’s version of Batman (which Affleck describes as a “f---ed up Batman”), plus a bunch of new photos from the film.

Following the Batman vs. Superman info dump that came out of Comic-Con, we thought it might be a while before we saw or heard anything from the upcoming superhero movie. After all, we did get an extended new trailer, new images and a new poster. But today, we have three new Batman vs. Superman pics each showing off one of the film’s three main characters: Batman, Superman and Lex Luthor.

Current Superman and Man of Steel star Henry Cavill was officially cast in the role in January of 2011. But, seven years earlier Cavill was also cast as Kal-El in a different Superman project. That film, which was written by J.J. Abrams and would've been directed by McG, was eventually canceled and Cavill never shot a frame of Superman. Until many years later when he was called back for a new Superman reboot and given the job. This is just one of the facts packed into the latest episode of You Think You Know Movies, which follows the last son of Krypton in Man of Steel!

CBS ‘Supergirl’ recently revealed a more procedural format that had many fans worried about the series, but the casting of Kara Zor-El should leave all positively ‘Glee’-ful. Melissa Benoist will don a cape and tights for the title role in CBS’ ‘Supergirl’ series, chronicling the adventures of Superman’s cousin.