In the pantheon of sueprheroes, Superman has, admittedly, never been my favorite. I largely blame over-saturation ("Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman," "Smallville," "Superman Returns"), but there's also something I find very aesthetically unpleasing about the Man of Steel. For one, there's the black shellacked 'do that looks a bit like a Mallard caught in an oil spill. Then there's that garish blue suit that only succeeds in covering the much more visually appealing muscles underneath. And don't even get me started on the red panties. But even I have to concede that Henry Cavill is working very hard to change my mind...and is succeeding.
For the second time in a month, the hunky Brit was snapped shirtless on the set of 2013's "Man of Steel," and as my colleague Brian Phares pointed out, this is not your waxed-beyond-recognition, sanitized superhero. This is a hairy chested crime fighter who's not afraid to get a little (or a lot!) dirty. (Side note: We're all ignoring those white sneakers, right?) For those of us who appreciate a man that's a little rough around the edges (and doesn't pluck his eyebrows more often than we do), Henry appears to be the Superman we've been waiting for.
Now, I've been a fan of the 28-year-old's since he sexed up 16th century England as Charles Brandon on Showtime's "The Tudors," and it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that I'll watch anything he's in. But I had my reservations about "Man of Steel" (again, see reasons above). But if even five minutes of this movie features Henry hurtling through the tundra faster than a speeding bullet (sans shirt), my $13 admission price will have been well worth it.
What say you, Crushers? Are you more convinced than ever (based on these shirtless pics) that you'll be lining up at the box office for "Man of Steel"? Tell us every dirty detail in the comments and on Twitter!
** Hollywood Crush Twitter