Last weekend, audiences got their first look at Zack Snyder‘s upcoming Superman film, Man Of Steel. The brief clips seem to be a visual and tonal departure for Snyder, who has helmed some high profile bombs recently.

The two teasers show the same footage, but each features a different voice over. One is Superman’s Kryptonian father, Jor-El (Russel Crowe). The other is his adopted Earth father, Pa Kent (Kevin Costner).

The short clips seem to show a Superman/Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) who has sworn off society, and is hiding away from the world as a (New England?) fisherman. But something brings him back to the plains of Smallvile.

Snyder is known for an over-the-top, CGI-heavy visual style. But fanboys and wider audiences alike have been disappointed with comic book/graphic novel adaptations like 300, Watchmen, and Snyder’s original work of nerd fantasy, Sucker Punch. The films have been criticized for being heavy on special effects and light on character and story, and for losing the appeal of the original source material.

So I was more than a little surprised to see this teaser, which looks like a cross between a Terrence Malik film and the low-key shaky-cam superhero movie Chronicle. Is it possible that Snyder wants to get back to basics?

I won’t make any assumptions yet. Man Of Steel is slated for release next summer, which is plenty of time to add some computer generated explosions and unnecessary grandstanding.

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