Is Man of Steel’s Costume Inspired by Superboy Prime?

It might not seem like it to look at the thing onscreen, but a newly-released photo of one of the official Man of Steel action figures gives the distinct impression that the updated look of Superman’s costume might owe something to the Infinite Crisis redesign of Superboy Prime, a minor Silver Age superhero who came to be the villain of a number of big DC events in recent years.While his “traditional” look was just the old Superman costume, trunks and all, Superboy Prime took on a more metallic, modern look in the 2005 summer crossover event, incorporating elements of the Anti-Monitor’s armor into his look. This added gauntlets, ankle guards, piping around his costume and a shoulder/neck element that’s clearly not part of the Man of Steel look.When painted in the high-contrast colors of the action figure, though, it certainly looks as though there was some inspiration drawn fromt he way the Anti-Monitor armor plays at the wrists, and the piping around the waist and down the legs. While it’s easy enough to dismiss these similarities as pretty common to superhero uniforms–or sci-fi wardrobe in general–there’s a general vibe of similarity that the two images that give off, that made us feel like it was worth calling to our readers’ attention.Even moreso when you consider that for at least part of the movie, the background on Superman’s shield is black, like Superboy Prime’s, but not like that of the action figure. It also seems likely, given the nature of the costume in Man of Steel, that the piping may be functional on the Superman costume, as it was on the Superboy costume. In the comics, it was used to focus the Anti-Monitor’s antimatter energy, while in Man of Steel it seems a likely way to connect to the armor that supposedly goes over the ceremonial Kryptonian uniforms, of which Superman’s costume is derivative.What do you think?