Over the last few months, we’ve been reporting on some of the many gems released free on Tubi. That list includes films like Hugh Jackman’s monster-hunting adventure Van Helsing, REC (one of the scariest found footage horror movies), Sinister (crowned one horror film as the scariest of all time), Christopher Nolan’s Memento,and the horror classic, The Babadook. Now, one of Zack Snyder’s best DCEU movies, Man of Steel, which stars Henry Cavill as Superman, has been added to Tubi for free screening, too.
Tubi means business in terms of growing its network. The free streaming platform has added more than 600 movies and series to its library recently, including titles from Disney, Lionsgate, NBC Universal, Sony, and Warner Bros.
And if you’re a DC fan, especially of the original Snyderverse, you can now watch 2013’s Man of Steel completely free.
The Zack Snyder classic once rewired how DC (and studios, in general) approached superhero movies. The film presented a very different take on Superman – one that was nothing like Christopher Reeve’s version of the character. Instead, the smiling Boy Scout was replaced with a god-like version who battled internally with his responsibility towards mankind and his place in the world.
Snyder’s goal with Man of Steel was to deconstruct the superhero and present the conflict we’d face if a hero like Superman entered the modern world. Audiences felt the tension in every scene, whether it was Clark facing his own demons or Jonathan Kent, played by Kevin Costner, wrestling with impossible parental choices.
But it was also masterful filmmaking. The opening Krypton destruction scene, for example, presented the distant planet in a way we’ve never seen before. Russell Crowe’s Jor-El drew fans into the action as he took on a full-scale sci-fi war against General Zod. 13 years later, and we still haven’t seen anything like it.
Sure, Man of Steel faced plenty of criticism from fans, especially for the sequences involving the Metropolis battle, where innocent bystanders were killed, but it also stood as a unique work that many, including Zack Snyder’s haters, admit was one of the best titles from the DCEU.
Henry Cavill proved himself as Superman. And Zack Snyder proved that superhero movies can be more than colorful, campy comedies about men in tights.
But Tubi clearly knows what it’s doing here. According to David Salmon, the company wants to serve fandoms at scale, especially younger and multicultural audiences. Dropping a film like Man of Steel into a free library isn’t random. It’s bait for Snyder’s fandom.
And it will find an audience. 13 years later, fans still love Man of Steel. For many, this is the definitive version of Superman in film.
RELATED: The Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel Director’s Cut We Never Got
