Lois and Clark have been on a few dates and everything seems to be going well. He visits with Jor-El at the Fortress in his spare time and to look for places around the world where he is needed. Jor-El states that since the release of Bizarro, he has been looking around the world for traces of Phantom Zone energy to see if anything else came out. Jor-El is deeply concerned when he finds a trail in the nation of Kasnia and is worried what it could be. He warns him that all the beings in the Phantom Zone are the most dangerous criminals in the galaxy and that they were intended to be locked up forever. Superman goes to investigate with the Phantom Zone Projector. He arrives in a small village that seems to worship a "god-like" being with the strength of ten men who can shoot fire from his eyes and has the ability to fly. When the villagers take Superman to their "god"; a large, older yet muscular man with a beard and a scar on his face steps out the largest building in the village. He introduces himself as General Zod. Due to his likeness, Zod quickly deduces that Superman is Jor-El's son. When Superman tries to put him back in the Phantom Zone, Zod destroys the Projector and fights with Superman. Zod has had years of military training and combat and has an extensive knowledge of warfare which give's him the advantage in hand-to-hand combat with Superman. Superman is losing the fight and just when it looks like Zod but then Superman puts all his strength into one big punch and sends Zod soaring into the nearby mountains. Superman retreats to the Fortress to recover from his wounds. Zod is still alive and well and begins to seek out Superman by going on the warpath. He ravages through Europe and makes his way to the US.
Meanwhile, Jor-El is horrified to hear that it's Zod who has escaped. He tells Superman that Zod nearly conquered Krypton but thanks to himself as well as the Resistance, they managed to stop him. Zod was the first person Jor-El ever sent to the Phantom Zone. Zod was an expert fighter and brilliant strategist and he would be extremely difficult to defeat (he originally created Brainiac as a weapon of war to gather enemy intel and destroy the base he got it from). Jor-El tells Superman that since the Phantom Zone Projector is gone, he will have to kill Zod. Superman is against this and insists that there must be a different way. As Zod continues his path of destruction Superman steps in again and tries to reason with him. Zod and attacks. Superman is avoiding his blows but is not fighting back and continues to talk. The media is covering the entire confrontation.Zod goes on a rant about how powerful they are and says that they should be ruling Earth. He goes on about the mighty Kryptonian race and says that he wants Superman to join him. Superman refuses and they begin to fight. Superman takes a bad beating. He's going in for the finisher when all of the sudden, he is shot with a green energy beam. It's Lex wearing his Kryponite powered armor. Zod is disabled by Lex and begins to back down. Zod flees to avoid being killed by Lex and Superman is left lying on the ground in pain. Everyone crowds around Superman and becomes suspicious of him because he is Kryptonian.
Lex helps the police to take Superman into custody. Lex thinks that there will be a Kryptonian invasion and that Superman was just the scout sent to infiltrate the planet. They hold him in a Kryptonite lined cell as Lex helps the military to fight off Zod. Zod realizes that he needs to destroy Lex's supply of Kryptonite so he tracks down the storage facility and destroys it from a safe distance using his heat vision as well as some of the military's own weapons. Lex, now with a very limited supply of Kryptonite (as using the beams burn through kryptonite quickly) goes to interrogate Superman. Superman swears that there is no invasion force and that it's only Zod. He also says that he is the only one who can stop him. Due to an outcry for Superman, Lex agrees to let Superman go to fight Zod. Superman and Lex, with his Kryptonite armor, team up and find Zod in Metropolis. Superman suggests they fight away from people to avoid innocents getting hurt so they go to the Arctic where the Fortress of Solitude is for the final battle. Superman and Lex attack together but Zod can take them both at once. They have an epic battle which leads Zod to knock Lex unconscious flying into the Fortress.
As Superman and Zod stand face to face Jor-El speaks. Jor-El tells Superman that there is only one way for him to beat Zod. After a brief dialogue between Zod and Jor-El, Zod attacks Superman who punches Zod and covers himself with his cape. Just then Jor-El blasts Zod with rays from Krypton's red sun and then shakes the Fortress which knocks a statue of himself over that crushes Zod. As Superman looks at Zod's crushed body under the shattered sculpture, Lex gets up and shines Kryptonite on Superman which brings him to his knees and says "I'll let you live for now but remember...I know your weakness, I know where you live...If you ever betray this planet, I will not hesitate to kill you." Lex then flies off in his armor. Then Zod begins to speak, "You got lucky this time. You have a weakness greater than Kryptonite...your compassion. You couldn't kill me yourself. Beware. I will not be the only person to have tried and take this planet. Doomsday will come for you." Zod dies. The movie ends with Clark and Lois becoming closer in their relationship and Lex becomes more active in politics to increase Earth's defense systems.
