Meet Faora! Zod and His Evil Lady Fight in Action-Packed ‘Man of Steel’ Trailer

Okay, enough with the dreamy, melancholy Terrence Malick-ish tone and imagery of the previous "Man of Steel" trailers. This is a Superman movie, after all, and Superman came from something called "Action Comics," which means there's going to be plenty of, well, action to go along with all the existential angst in director Zack Snyder's bold new reboot.

Superman (whether he's actually called that or not in this new movie) can fly and punch buildings and shoot heat lasers out of his eyes... and he's got some super-enemies that can do the same thing.

The new "Man of Steel" trailer opens similarly to the viral video released a few weeks ago in which General Zod (Michael Shannon), Krypton's most notorious war criminal, urges the people of Earth to be aware of the visitor in their midst: namely, the Last Son of Krypton himself, Kal-El (Henry Cavill).

We then see this static-filled broadcast being watched by people all over the planet, giving it a "Superman II" kind of vibe as Zod more or less tells Superman to surrender himself or the people of Earth will face the consequences. The General certainly makes a frightening impression with his imposing battle armor and truly evil-looking Kryptonian warship.

[Related: Superman's Weakness: Henry Cavill Reveals the New Kryptonite in 'Man of Steel']

It appears as though Kal-El indeed reveals himself to Zod, and from there it's one big extended beatdown as Kryptonian fights Kryptonian in the comic book battle fans have been hungry for ever since Superman took on Zod and his henchmen (and woman) in "Superman II" (1980). Zack Snyder reminds us that he's the man who directed "300" (and "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole," another film that features mighty flying warriors) as Superman and Zod beat the holy hell out of each other, with plenty of buildings and bridges and vehicles destroyed in the process as familiar faces like Lois Lane (Amy Adams) and Perry White (Laurence Fishburne) hold on for dear life.

The new trailer also gives us a good look at Faora (Antje Traue), Zod's gorgeous companion who's certainly reminiscent of Sarah Douglas' hot n' deadly Ursa from "Superman II." Faora manages to be even more sinister than Zod with the truly chilling threat of "You will not win. For every human you save, we will kill a million more." (Sci-fi fans might remember Traue and her perfectly art-directed grimy face and cleavage from 2009's underrated "Pandorum.")

It's good to see a trailer that focuses on Superman's enemies, and ones that are his physical equal, at that -- an element that's always noticeably missing whenever a Superman storyline features Lex Luthor as the bad guy. The images of the battle -- including a shot in which Superman looks to be descending into a pile of either human or Kryptonian skulls -- come fast and furious, revealing that the stakes are way high in the "Man of Steel" conflict.

[Related: Superman's Telling 'Man of Steel' Rebel Yell]

No doubt this new trailer was conjured by Warner Bros. so as to assure us that "Man of Steel" isn't just a mopey introspective character study featuring close-ups of pencil erasers and cute Q&A scenes with Lois Lane. This is indeed one of the biggest action movies of the summer, one that has two aliens tossing each other all to and fro across our fragile landscape.

"Man of Steel" opens June 14.

See the new "Man of Steel" trailer...