E! News spoke to Man of Steel director Zack Snyder on the red carpet at the movie's New York City premiere Monday night and he and his producer wife Deborah Snyder revealed why they chose Henry Cavill to play Superman.
And it wasn't just because of the 30-year-old English actor's super-good looks!
"He's not horribly ugly. He wasn't in bad shape. And then he's a great actor," the helmer told E! News. "But he also has this other thing, this kind of earnest awesomeness that's unexplainable. And that's what you look for. I think with Superman you can't hope for anything more than to have that extra thing that makes him special."
Snyder added that the costume worn by the late Christopher Reeve had a little something to do with it as well.
"The clincher was our suit wasn't ready so we were doing a screen test. And we put him in the old Christopher Reeve suit 'cause it's all we had," she recalled. "And even though that suit was many years old, he put it in and stepped out of that trailer and everyone was in awe of him. And we knew at that moment that he was our Superman."
Man of Steel flies into theaters this Friday.
For more from the Man of Steel premiere, tune into E! News tonight at 7 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.