If you caught Superman Returns this past weekend, you may have seen not one, but two Christ figures on the screen—only one of them was the real deal. A teaser trailer for Catherine Hardwicke's The Nativity Story preceded the blockbuster superhero film—making the comparisons between Jesus and Supes all the more inevitable.
If you missed the trailer in the theater, don't sweat it; it's also showing at the new official website for the New Line Cinema project. The site also includes behind-the-scenes photos and a making-of featurette, including an interview with screenwriter Mike Rich, an evangelical who also wrote such films as Radio, The Rookie, and Finding Forrester. The site also includes glimpses at some of the sets and locations, plus a synopsis of the movie.
The Nativity Story releases in theatres worldwide on December 1. Christianity Today Movies visited the movie set in Italy in May, reporting on it here.
I have never viewed The Man of Steel as some kind of messianic figure despite the subtle parallels the film may offer. Anyway, I don't recall any previous storyline since the character's creation even hinting at his being anything but the member of a highly-intelligent, albeit doomed, alien race.