MAN OF STEEL (2012): Antje Traue is Superman’s Faora

Antje Traue has been cast as Faora in Zack Snyder‘s Man of Steel. Antje Traue joins the 2012 Superman cast that already includes Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Michael Shannon, and Kevin Costner. There are numerous Faoras in the Superman universe and it is unclear which one Antje Traue will portray.

The first Faora, Faora Hu-Ul, was introduced in Action Comics #471. She was a beautiful Kryptonian woman whose unexplained hatred for men led her to torture and kill 23 men at a secret concentration camp in her home. For this, she was imprisoned in the Phantom Zone to complete a sentence of 300 Kryptonian years, the second longest term after Jax-Ur. Ironically this allowed her to survive her homeworld’s destruction, along with the other Phantom Zone prisoners, albeit in an invisible ghostlike form. While imprisoned in the Phantom Zone, she was often depicted plotting against Superman with General Zod and Jax-Ur. Her hatred of men was not limited to Kryptonians, as demonstrated by her pointless murder of a young Frenchman who was attracted by her beauty.
Faora was an expert at the Kryptonian martial art of Horo-Kanu, which utilized the pressure points on the Kryptonian body. This made her an extremely dangerous foe for Superman to face in hand-to-hand combat—he was forced to flee from their first encounter. During one of her first appearances, Faora could manifest some sort of “mental lightning” to physically attack other Kryptonians, but did not exhibit this additional power during later appearances.

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There is speculation that Traue “will be playing the version of Faora that debuted in Action Comics #779 as a Pokolistanian aide of General Zod. That character was an orphan metahuman with the ability to disrupt molecular bonds, which allowed her to create a mutagenic virus that served as the linchpin of Zod’s plan.” Antje Traue is the second announced villan in 2012’s Man of Steel alongside aforementioned General Zod (Michael Shannon), written about here: Superman: Man of Steel (2012): Michael Shannon is General Zod. The other Faora versions can be found here. “Zack Snyder is directing “Man of Steel” from a screenplay by David S. Goyer, based on a story by Nolan and Goyer. Christopher Nolan is producing alongside Charles Roven, Emma Thomas and Deborah Snyder, while Legendary topper Thomas Tull is exec producing with Lloyd Phillips.”

Antje Traue, Black and White

Antje Traue, Pandorum

In case you are unfamiliar with Antje Traue

Antje Traue was born on January 18, 1981 in Mittweida/Saxony. While still a pupil, she discovered her stage fever and portrayed “Jeanne d’Arc” in school’s theatre. At the age of sixteen, Antje attended a music theatre casting at the International Munich Art Lab for the Hip Hop Musical “West End Opera” and was rewarded with the lead role. For four years she was on stage with the ensemble, touring Germany, Europe and New York City. In 2002 Antje moved to Berlin and played in various films and TV movies such as “Kleinruppin Forever”, “Berlin am Meer” and “Phantomschmerz”. In 2008 she was invited to audition for the female lead role in the international science fiction film “Pandorum”, directed by Christian Alvart. After several auditions and test shootings Antje finally got the part and played her first lead opposite Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster.

Traue recently wrapped Renny Harlin’s war drama “5 Days of August,” which stars Val Kilmer, Andy Garcia and Heather Graham.

Traue is repped stateside by Greene & Associates Talent Agency, and by Troika and Spielkind overseas.

In Superman film universe, “the female Kryptonian named Ursa in ‘Superman’ and ‘Superman II’ is believed to be based on Faora, who appeared on the eighth season of ‘Smallville’ as the wife of General Zod.” We previously wrote about the Ursa character here: Superman: The Man of Steel: Eve, Kruger, Pike up for Ursa Role. Man of Steel production is scheduled to start in summer of 2012 in Chicago and will be released in December 2012.

Source: Variety, Liveforfilms