Breaking: Zack Snyder is the Man of Steel!

Deadline is reporting that fan-favorite Zack Snyder has beaten the competition to land the director's chair on The Man of Steel, producer Christopher Nolan and writer David Goyer's new take on Superman.

Snyder, who has made a name for himself doing faithful adaptations of comics like Frank Miller's 300 and Alan Moore's Watchmen, beat out intense competition from the likes of other A-listers like Tony Scott, Darren Aronofsky, and Robert Zemeckis.

Snyder is an ideal choice to helm the picture, as he is an acknowledged fan of comics lore and is known for the extreme care he takes in every detail. While his previous comic book movies were firmly in "R" rated territory, this will be a chance for him to make a presumably PG-13 superhero film that appeals to a wider spectrum of audience than he has known. The Superman brand is known worldwide, the "S" symbol probably second only to the cross and Mickey Mouse in terms of recognition.

With over 70 years of stories and mythology to cannibalize, this will also give Snyder more freedom visually and storywise than he's had in the past adapting finite works. He also may be limited due to a court case in which Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel's family received rights to a number of character elements covered in Action Comics #1, including the Man of Steel's Kryptonian origins. Since that has been covered in countless films and TV shows it should be easy to bypass, and many of the superpowers expanded upon in later issues will be retained by DC and Warner Bros until 2013. 

The studio previously attempted to jumpstart the franchise in 2006 with Bryan Singer's Superman Returns, which adhered tonally to Richard Donner's 1978 film to mixed reactions and relatively anemic box-office. While it was announced at one point that Singer would return to helm a direct sequel, he later left the project and Warner passed the torch to Nolan.

Snyder is firmly entrenched into Warner Bros., having helmed the recent Legend of the Gaurdians and the forthcoming Sucker Punch for the studio.