Zack Snyder did everything he could to try and put some distance between Man of Steel and the Superman films made by Richard Donner. Not only did he choose to reboot the whole storyline, eliminating all previous continuity and retelling the origin tale of how Kal-El first came to Earth and grew up to become a superhero, but he also even decided to leave out elements like John Williams' classic score. But does the film actually contain a reference to the classic comic book movies after all?
That seems to be the thinking over on Reddit, where a user has posted a GIF from Man of Steel that they they claim features Christopher Reeve's face being superimposed over Henry Cavill's during the film's big third act action sequence. Take a look at the moving image below:
Watching the shot closely, you can kind of see a split-second resemblance between the two actors, but it may very well be a case of the eye simply seeing what it wants to see (or, perhaps, seeing what it's told to be seeing). Investigating the scene further, another user on Reddit took the GIF to Photoshop to break it down frame by frame, and in doing so revealed that the insertion of Reeve's face is just a bogus rumor. You can take a look at the breakdown below, and click on the image to see it full size.
There's another twist to this story as well. After hearing the Christopher Reeve rumor, ComicBook.com did some digging and discovered that while Reeve's visage may not be in Man of Steel, there might be another actor from the original films. Aaron Smolinski, who played baby Clark Kent in Richard Donner's Superman (the kid who lifts the truck) and had an uncredited appearance in Superman III as "Boy at Photo Booth," apparently has a very small role in Snyder's latest movie playing a communications officer. Unfortunately, the site doesn't specify where he can be seen in the movie.
Until the story is confirmed by the studio or the filmmakers, I can imagine that this "Christopher Reeve cameo" is going to stir up some debate amongst film/Superman fans. Looking at the GIF above, do you think that Snyder put the former Superman star into Man of Steel? Answer our poll below and tell us what you think in the comments section.
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