When Does the Film "Man of Steel" (2013) Take Place?
"Man of Steel" is a superhero film written by David S. Goyer with Christopher Nolan [adapting "Action Comics" #1 (1938) by Jerry Siegel as well as "Man of Steel" #1 (1986) by John Byrne and "Superman: Earth One" (2010) by J. Michael Straczynski] that released June 14th, 2013. So when is "Man of Steel" set?
It takes place on the fictional DC Films timeline in the year:
We know this because during the sequence in the Canadian Arctic, a quarter into the film, Lois Lane's little digital camera screen displays a timestamp of "9/25/2013" for a clear but quick moment, attached to a photo she has just taken. So it is almost certainly September of 2013 AD.
2013 AD
We know this because during the sequence in the Canadian Arctic, a quarter into the film, Lois Lane's little digital camera screen displays a timestamp of "9/25/2013" for a clear but quick moment, attached to a photo she has just taken. So it is almost certainly September of 2013 AD.
Additionally, there's an extended prologue taking place on the planet Krypton prior to the main action of the film in which a less-than-one-day old Kal-El a.k.a. Superman is sent to Earth. Much later, Superman a.k.a. Clark Kent says, "I've been here for 33 years" in reference to his arrival on Earth not being recent.
2013 - 33 = 1980.
Therefore, the Krypton prologue takes place in 1980 AD.
Finally, there are a handful of small flashbacks that are unplaceble but one clearly takes place in the same year Clark Kent's adoptive father died and a tombstone for Jonathan Kent establishes that year as 1997 AD.
It is a chronologically early film in the DC Films timeline (a first chronological film to feature Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman) and can be watched either at its timeline point, before "Justice League" (2017) as an extended flashback, or entirely separately.
