Russell Crowe snapped in Superman costume

Russell Crowe has been working hard to get in shape for his new role as Superman’s biological dad, Jor-El from Krypton. The 47-year-old actor was spotted on set in his full Jor-El costume – which almost reminds us of something he would have worn on his hit movie Gladiator.Crowe’s costume consists of armor shoulder pads and chest plates and a long maroon cape. His hair is longer and he has a gray beard. He was spotted smoking a cigarette on the Vancouver set of his action-packed movie, which stars Henry Cavill as Superman. Check out more photos of Crowe as Jor-El at the Daily Mail.Marlon Brando played Jor-El in the original Superman in 1978. This current reboot, directed by 300 director Zack Snyder, also stars Kevin Costner and Amy Adams as Superman’s adoptive parents.Crowe has been tweeting his workout routine to get ready for his role. “2000 m row, 30 mins body movement with weighted objects, 4 hours in the tank,” he tweeted yesterday.So, now that we have seen Jor-El’s costume – what else can we expect from Man of Steel?“Literally, the one thing that everyone can start to think about is that we're making a movie that finally goes with the approach that there's been no other Superman movies," director Snyder told the Los Angeles Times. "If you look at 'Batman Begins,' there's that structure: there's the canon that we know about and respect, but on other hand there's this approach that pre-supposes that there haven't been any other movies. In every aspect of design and of story, the whole thing is very much from that perspective of 'Respect the canon but don't be a slave to the movies."