Fresh Man of Steel story details have been in short supply lately - as attention has turned to a major marketing push for the film with the release of The Hobbit. As we've previously reported, Zack Snyder's Superman film will debut a new trailer alongside The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - as both films fall under the Warner Bros. banner.

Recently, the director described the forthcoming trailer as "crazy," a major departure from the somber (but beautiful) Man of Steel teasers, a point that is further supported by a new official poster for the film - one that features a handcuffed Superman surrounded by a heavily armed military escort.

The new poster is the "reward" that Warner Bros. promised Batman fans on the official Dark Knight Rises Facebook page two weeks ago. For every "Like" that the Dark Knight Rises countdown page received, followers would get one step closer to a sneak peek piece of Man of Steel content. Conveniently, the timing of the "unlock" coincides with the near-end of the countdown, The Dark Knight Rises releases tomorrow (at the time of this writing) on DVD/Blu-ray, but nevertheless the poster is certainly bound to generate a positive response - not to mention plenty of speculation.

Check out the new Man of Steel image below (click to enlarge):

Full Superman 'Man of Steel' Poster

Aside from continuing to ground Man of Steel with a Christopher Nolan-like "serious" tone, the poster features an image that is somewhat foreign to typical Superman iconography. Instead of "Is it a bird? Is it a plane?" free-flying or "Stronger than a locomotive" super-strength imagery, the Man of Steel is bound with (possibly Kryptonite) handcuffs and guarded by a group of no-nonsense soldiers.

Some fans might initially dismiss the image as little more than a provocative piece of marketing material. However, a similar in-action shot from the film (depicting Superman climbing to his feet) was later revealed to be an actual sequence from the movie - where the Man of Steel is on the receiving end of a hit that sends him careening into a vault door. As a result, expect this shot of a detained Superman to actually factor into the Man of Steel plotline.

How exactly a Superman arrest will be included is, of course, only speculation at this point - especially since the film is not going to include the hero's usual Kryptonite-loving antagonist, Lex Luthor. Not to mention that this installment's leading bad guy, Zod (Michael Shannon), would be equally adverse to that substance.

Henry Cavill in 'Man of Steel'

Still, it's hard to imagine a human military force successfully conquering Superman - to the point that the Kryptonian is voluntarily walking down a hallway to uncertain doom. Maybe the scene occurs early in the film (when the Man of Steel first reveals himself) or Zod could harness some form of leverage (the destruction of Metropolis, harm to a non-super powered person) in order to force a Superman surrender? We've seen this angle played out recently in Transformers: Dark of the Moon - where the malevolent Decepticons used hollow promises as a means to remove threats to their occupation of Earth. Maybe, much like the Autobots in Transformers 3 (who pretended to leave the planet), Superman turns himself in to temporarily appease his enemies (or critics) - buying everyone time before he regains the upper hand?

Previously, we reported on potential Man of Steel spoilers that point to a large-scale final battle sequence - and it's certainly possible that this new image of Superman in handcuffs is merely the calm before that storm. That said, it could be Snyder's teased Justice League connection - maybe Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the new Batman, helps arrests the Man of Steel? Right, probably not.

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Man of Steel is currently in post-production and will hit theaters on June 14, 2013.

Source: Warner Bros.