Warner Brothers Pictures and Legendary Pictures confirmed the casting decision in a joint statement on the 30th January 2011. Zack Snyder of 300 is also said to be directing this umpteenth reboot of the Superman film franchise..

Seriously though, who saw that coming?

Like many, I thought the role would have gone to someone like Mad Men’s Jon Hamm or White Collar’s Matt Bomer. I would not have even minded if Brandon Routh was allowed to reprise the role after the ill fated Superman Returns; a movie which I, surprisingly, enjoyed (minus the terrible “Superman is a father now” scenario) but which the critics completely bashed. However, they cast Henry Cavill.

Personally I do not mind that he is the new Superman. He has the look and he can act, which is all that really matters. What I do find odd and interesting though, is that all three of America’s most iconic and truly American comic book characters are now being played by non-Americans. In fact, they are all British with Andrew Garfield as the new Spider-Man and Christian Bale as Batman.

Without a doubt, this is a perfectly prime example of globalisation!

Henry Cavill will be seen later this year playing Greek warrior Theseus in Immortals, and alongside Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver in the thriller The Cold Light of Day.

(Superman fan artwork is courtesy of RalphD)

Agan Harahap, a photographer and illustrator from Jakarta, Indonesia, has taken the concept of Superheroes and brought them into a pseudo-reality. By incorporating infamous characters into iconic World War II photographs, Harahap  has managed to blur the lines between fiction and truth. In so doing, he has managed to merge the fantastically impossible with our past physical existence, in order to create  a Superhero adorned alternate reality.

Harahap’s latest collection, aptly titled ‘Super Hero’, consists of memorable political and wartime scenes from the mid-20th century, but with one difference: the inclusion of notable Superheroes (or Villains?). This extraordinary combination is a true juxtaposition in effect.

With respect to the current global economic crisis, Harahap’s work could not come at a more fortuitous time. Coincidentally, the advent of the Superhero, according to Douglas Hyde (2009), was largely spurred on by the Great Depression and the start of World War II. As a result, comic books and superheroes were said to offer an ‘escapist form of entertainment’, where people could “go into a fantasy world where all the ills of the world were righted by these larger-than-life heroes” (Erin Clancy, 2009).

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Subsequently, audiences at large are once again returning to the warm embrace of costumed Superheroes, with movies based on comic books generally becoming box office leaders. This trend, the resurgence of the popularity of Superheroes, may be a reflection of the current global economic crises. Clancy would agree citing “the comic book superhero came out of a context in which the political, social and economic realties were a little tough and we can certainly relate to those realities now in our own day” (2009).

Superheroes are back people and they are stronger than ever!

Until the next time “Milieunairs”!