Man of Steel, Zack Snyder's upcoming reboot of Warner Bros.' Superman franchise, may share more in common with DC Comics' recent relaunch than a mere change of threads.

The publisher's line-wide initiative, dubbed the New 52, debuted in late August amid much hand-wringing, overhauling the costumes and origins of such mainstay superheroes as Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman and, yes, the Last Son of Krypton. In Action Comics, we see the T-shirt-and-jeans-clad Superman of five years ago, a brash and arrogant young defender of the common man; in Superman and Justice League, meanwhile, we get the present-day hero, more even-tempered -- but without those trademark red trunks.

"When that came out, everyone went, 'Arrhhh! Everything's changed,'" Man of Steel star Henry Cavill tells The Associated Press while making the rounds for Immortals. "It's part of the evolution of the character. There is a modernization to it, and certainly our style is making him easier to associate with because it's pretty tough to associate with an invulnerable alien."

Presumably those attempts to make the invulnerable alien easier to associate with involve him being bearded, shirtless and possibly also a fisherman and/or logger.

Cavill, who was nearly cast as Superman in McG's abandoned reboot in 2003 -- Scarlett Johansson was sought for Lois Lane, Johnny Depp for Lex Luthor and Shia LaBeouf for Jimmy Olsen -- says he's done his homework for the role, but is aware of fans' concerns.

"There are a lot of people who have dedicated their life to loving this character. ... Their opinion does matter," he says. "I've done my research on the source material. I have my opinions on the various bits and bobs, but sometimes there will be a little gem out there about one of the books, and I'll say to myself, 'Yeah. That's a good point.'"

Written by David S. Goyer from a story by Goyer and Christopher Nolan, Man of Steel also stars Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Michael Shannon as General Zod, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent, Russell Crowe as Jor-El, Ayelet Zurer as Lara Lor-Van, Laurence Fishburne as Perry White, Antje Traue as Faora, Harry Lennix as General Swanwick and Christopher Meloni as Col. Hardy. The film opens June 14, 2013.