Prepare to be confused about what direction Superman: The Man of Steel is going.  Our previous reports indicated that the new film would be a reboot of sorts.  Director Zack Snyder said the new film would "focus on early days of Superman."  There was also a logline that said the new film would have Clark Kent traveling the world and wondering if he should even become Superman.  However, screenwriter David Goyer previously indicated that the new film would not be an origin story.

Now comes the baffling report that the production may be looking for an actor that is around "35-40" to play the Man of Steel.  Hit the jump for why Jon Hamm may be smiling.

In an interview with Armie Hammer (The Social Network, right), Vulture mentioned that he was on plenty of fan-casting lists to play Superman in the new film.  Here's the exchange:

You've made a lot of people's Superman fantasy-casting lists. Did you have your people put in a call to Zack Snyder, who's directing the reboot?

[Laughs.] You know what's funny? I did talk to my people recently about that for the first time, and I think they're going a little older with Superman. I hear they're going 35, 40.

For those wondering, Hammer is only 24 (although if they were/are casting a younger Superman, I think he'd be fantastic).

And while Snyder recently told News of the World that Brandon Routh may not be out of the running, Routh is only 31 (although with age make-up I could see him passing for older).  Then you have the 39-year-old Hamm, who told Movieline that he was open to the possibility.  But Hamm, Routh, and Hammer are all fan-casting and fans don't know what kind of movie Snyder, Goyer, and producer Christopher Nolan are going for (beyond setting the film in a "modern context", whatever that means) and which actor will be right not only for the new Superman, but presumably for the franchise that Warner Bros. is trying to re-invigorate.

It's not out of the realm of possibility to cast an older actor as Superman.  Paramount recently brought on Jeremy Renner (age 39) to the Mission: Impossible franchise with the plan to have him lead future films in the series.  However, it is generally better to cast younger simply to keep the same face attached to the franchise as long as possible.  Superman as a character poses his own problems because (depending on which comics you read) he doesn't age since "aging" would be a counter to the whole invincibility thing.

Personally, I'm getting the feeling that wires have been crossed somewhere and that this game of telephone has yielded some erroneous or at least out-of-date info.  It's already happened as it looked liked General Zod would be the villain in the new movie, but then Snyder said that was only a rumor. We'll keep you updated on this bizarre turn of events that now has the film with an old Superman at the beginning of his career.

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