We open with the scene of Superman looking at his son. Suddenly switch to a closeup of Supes head, asleep and sweating. Now, we Supes flying away from Lois' house and into the atmosphere. Switch to sleeping, sweating, and now tossing Supes head, with wires attached to his temples. Switch to Supes piloting a ship based on the design of his baby rocket. He communicates with NASA that he has cleared Earth's gravity and all systems are go. The rocket then jumps to lightspeed. He tells NASA the technology adapted well before and NASA bids him good journey.
Switch to Daily Planet, with Lois looking for Clark. Perry tells her he left to take care of family matters back home. Jimmy said to tell her not to worry. Lois gets a call of an armored car heist and takes off, saying she has to go before Superman wraps it up and leaves without her getting the story.
In the rocket, Supes completes a scan and records his voice log, stating that the next stop will be Krypton's calculated location. He has searched every quadrant along the path between Earth and Krypton and found no other life. He notes that he hopes to be back on Earth soon as he's already been gone two years and really misses home, and Lois. Suddenly, the ship is blasted by a green energy wave and Supes fights for control before losing consciousness.
At the Daily Planet, Lois is at her desk, typing one handed. Her left arm is in a sling, her right leg is in a walking cast and a crutch is leaning on her desk. Her forehead is bandaged. She has stitches in her chin. Topping it off, her left eye is blackened. Jimmy walks by and tells her she looks awful. She tells him its all Superman's fault. He just disappeared and left her to deal with the crime and corruption of Metroplis alone. Jimmy tells her Perry wants to see her. She makes her way to Perry's office, closes the door behind her and has a seat. Perry looks up from some papers. He tells he she's the best reporte he has but until she is completely healthy and healed, she can either be a desk reporter, stay home, or take the political beat until she's healed. They argue and she says fine, politics it is.
In a high rise office, a man and woman in suits walk in. A high back chair swivels at a desk and Lex Luthor stands. He addresses them as Mr. Corban and Mercy. He asks if everything is proceeding as plan. Mr. Corban says the labs are up to full capacity and the contracts and contacts are all in place. Mercy reports the gangs are ready to begin as soon as they recieved word. Lex laughs and begins a quick recap-"It has taken nearly two years and a fortune large enough to buy Australia to buy the right officials, pay for expunging of records, relocate witnesses, establish LexCorp, acquire the right people, and invest in a whole host of charities country wide to turn the name of Lex Luthor into a name people know and trust. Now, with my network in place and the technologies developed from my designs ready to begin production for sale to the highest bidders, Lex Luthor is ready to become more than a respected name." He tells Mercy to start leaking the photos and recordings they've put together and he tells Corban to give the go on the 'attempte' assassinations. They leave and Lex walks over to his window and looks into the sky. He laughs and says to himself-"Superman, Superman, wherefore art thou, Superman? You have gone and left Metroplis in my hands. More than that, you have left the world in my hands. The hands of an intellect on par with omiscience. Soon, I will have it all and be most beloved of the people. The beauty is, you won't be able to touch me." He pulls a necklace out from under his suit with a green 'LL' medallion attached to it. Suddenly, a flash of light in the sky catches his eye. He strains to see more clearly but there is nothing there.
High above, in space beyond Earth orbit, a large ship passes between Earth and the moon. The camer moves along the ship and into the ship, through corriders of high tech and into a simple room. In the room is a table. On the table is...Superman. Two cables run to his temples. The camera moves around and over him as he tosses, sweats, and groans. Suddenly, his eyes fly open, he sets up, rips the cables from his head, and looks around. His x-ray vision has limited success as the walls seem to have some lead composition. He stands slowly and cautiously and begins to test himself. He easily crushes the two foot thick metal table he was laying on. He takes off flying through walls before coming into a huge chamber. In the chamber is his rocket and various other craft looking vehicles. Floating in the center is a control platform with a figure atop.
A voice speaks to Supes-"Ah, Kal-El, you have awoken. Unexpected. Easily compensated. Before I return you to hibernation for assimilation, proper introductions are required. I am Braniac, embodiment of the living computer that controlled all that was Krypton. Thanks go to your father, Jor-El, for my expulsion into the depths of space to explore and collect."
Supes looks confused and highly ticked. "You controlled Krypton? What are you? What are you doing? You've got precious little time to explain before I rip this place apart!"
Braniac turns and moves the platform to be face to face with Supes, who is hovering in above his rocket. "You are the last of your race, the last son of Krypton. As such, your uniqueness must be studied and assimilated into the database for preservation. Such is the destiny of all life I encounter. My program will be completed. Now, Kal-El, it is time to return you to stasis."
Supes gets ready to fight. "How do you know who I am? Who my father is? How do you even know I'm from Krypton?"
Braniac punches some buttons. "I extracted the information from you during sedated interrogation. Now, you must be returned to assimilation so that I may begin the process of collecting a new world into my database." He motions towards the open bay portal and Earth is in full view.
Supes recognizes Earth. "I don't care what you are, even if you are Kryptonian in nature. You will not harm Earth! You will collect no more data! Do you know what you did to me? It doesn't matter! You are an abomination that must be stopped! You will pay for what you've put me through! Your program ends now!"
Supes charges Braniac, who raise a hand and blasts Supes, sending him into a wall. Supes recovers and charges faster, plowing through Braniacs sustained blast and knocks Braniac into the far wall. Supes follows, punching away, slowly destroying the android and deflecting every energy blast fired. Finally, Supes tosses the mangled Braniac into the air and unleashes his heat vision, melting Braniac into slag. Supes looks around at the ship. He goes to his rocket and activates the auto pilot, setting its course to leave the hanger and return to Earth. He watches it go and follows it out into space. He soaks up the sun, rips apart the ships engine thrusters, and then shoves Braniacs ship straight to the sun. He then turns and heads home, to Earth. Supes lands right beside his rocket as NASA crews rush out to greet him.
At the Daily Planet, Lois, Jimmy, and Perry are looking at some photos and discussing something about this being a very deep scandal that looks like it involves everyone from the Mayor, to Congress, and possibly even the White House because the photos look undoctored and the sources having never given them anything false before. Suddenly, another reporter bursts in shouting 'He's back! Superman is back! It's on TV!'
Perry jumps and turns on his TV and it's a small press coverage of a rocket landing, followed by Superman. He shakes some hands and flies off. Perry turns to Lois and Jimmy but they are already on their way out the door! Perry shouts to Lois that once she gets a report on Superman its back to the political beat until she's well!
Switch to the Fortress of Solitude. Supes is activating some crystals, reparing damaged areas. He activates the data crystal, bringing his father's image up. He asks Jor-El about Braniac, to which Jor-El explains it ran Krypton until it decided to run Krypton, at which point the council decided to send Braniac in to space to explore and collect data until they could figure out how to reprogram the now sentient machine. He asks how to destroy Braniac. Jor-El tells him that Braniac must have no other device within fifty miles into which to transfer when he is destroyed or he will keep going forever. Supes looks grim as we fade out.
In LexCorp, Lex stares at the TV with Corban and Mercy on either side. He stands slowly and turns the TV off. Mercy asks what now. Lex paces and tells them that they must let the media saturation put every implicated politician in the hot seat before he moves forward with his master plan. For now, he tells them to set the gangs in motion and have them rob Warehouse 19 for some really big guns to get the party started and make sure there are some green bullets there marked Superman Use Only. Mercy leaves and Lex tells Corban to announce a LexCorp press conference welcoming cermony for Superman tomorrow morning and be sure to invite Lois Lane from the Daily Planet. Corban smiles and leaves as Lex goes to look out the window. He sees another flash in the sky and reaches to his desk for a high powered mini-telescope and looks in the direction of the flash. There are two trails of smoke. He lowers the scope and smiles.
On a farm outside of Smallville, Supes and Ma Kent exchange a hug. She tells him not to be a stranger and he promises not to be. He flies off.
The sun is setting on Metroplis as Supes flies over his city. He stops midflight and turns his head, listening. He then takes off towards a tall building. He smiles as draws near and lands on a rooftop patio. He is greeted by Lois and Jimmy. His smile turns to concern when he sees Lois' injuries and asks her about them. She tells him that she tried to be angry at him for leaving without telling her, that the injuries are his fault for not being there to save her, and that he better have a good explanation for where he has been and Jimmy wants a photo of him. He sets down with them and gives them the quick summary, leaving out the possibility Braniac might still be alive adn the dream he had{Superman Returns}. Suddenly, gunfire erupts somewhere in the city and Supes excuses himself, taking off in the direction of the violence. Lois and Jimmy watch him go, Jimmy happy, Lois confused.
Supes is wrapping up some gangsters with a street sign when a police officer come up to him and welcomes him back. Supes notes that he is good to be back and things sure are busy tonight, noting that this is the sixth group of street gangs he's wrapped up tonight. He pauses, tilts his head one way, and excuse himself before flying off to more gunfire. He lands in the midst of a large group shooting up a mall on the outskirts of the city. They start firing at him as he rounds them up. One of the thugs hides behind a car to reload a revolver. He pulls out six bullets from his pocket, one of them is green. He loads and charges Supes, firing away. In a slow mo, we see the bullets fly towards Supes and bounce off except for the last one, the green one, which slams into his shoulder and goes clean through, erupting blood from the entry and exit wounds. Supes drops to his knees in intense pain. The thug looks confused and runs away as police arrive followed by an ambulance. A cop checks on Supes and hollers for the EMTs. Supes is in shock as they load him on a stretcher.
Lois and Jimmy bust into the hospital, looking for Supes. He is setting up on a bed in the ER, as the doc examines the scar where the bullet wound was. He tells Supes that for all intents and purposes it is healed but it is not healing beyond being a scar. Supes thanks the doc an pulls his top back on when he sees Lois and Jimmy. They ask what happened and he says he isn't sure but he's going to find out.
In Lex's office, the thug is counting some money when Lex tells him to vanish with the rising sun. The thug leaves happy and Corban tells him that it sounds like the one green bullet to hit Superman proves they work but they need to make the rest of them count as they only have about ten dozen left. Lex is pleased by this as Mercy walks in to inform him the press conference will be ready in four hours.
At the Daily Planet, Lois and Jimmy are in Perry's office reviewing their front page "Superman Returns" article when Perry gets a phone call. He says right, one hour, and hangs up. He tells Lois and Jimmy to get to LexCorp as Luthor is planning to welcome Superman back to Metropolis and has invited all the press.
At an apartment in Metropolis, Clark Kent enters with some suitcases and looks around, liking the simple layout. He sets down on the couch and turns on the TV. He surfs until he finds the news. He watches as he undoes his tie and sets his glasses aside. Then, they start talking about Lex's press conference for Superman. Supes smiles rather mishievously as he stands and opens his shirt, revealing the 'S'.
In a forest outside the city in a crater, movement occurs. In the crater is a small metal sphere. It opens like a flower and a large metal android rises. It takes off into the sky.
At the press con, Lex is shouting on the bullhorn for Supes to come and return to the city that loves him like a son. Someone points up{u can do the bird/plane/Supes thing here, for nostalgia}. Supes flies in and lands beside Lex. It is a tense moment as Lex welcomes him home with a hug, which Supes doesn't return. Lex tells him he has gathered the city to welcome Superman home and offers the podium to Supes. Supes steps in and begins explaining where he went. Then, he offers to answer questions. He sees Lois and Jimmy in the front row.
After a few minutes, a voice booms above them. Looking up, Braniac is hovering above the press conference. He informs Kal-El that his attempts to disrupt his programming were unsuccessful because his programming will be completed, beginning with the completion of the assimilation of the last son of Krypton. Superman tells Braniac that one way or another, Braniac's program is about to terminated!
A humongous battle ensues through and above Metroplis. Supes play weak and lures Braniac into high orbit and unleashes a fury of punches and heat vision, turning Braniac into slag. This time, Supes takes it as close to the sun as he can get before hurling it into the sun. As Braniac flies to his doom, he shouts back to Supes that the only one responsible for the doom of Earth is Kal-El! Braniac flames out as Supes returns to Metroplis.
In the jungles of South America, tribal natives approach a smoking crater. In the crater is a large metal ball. Something big is banging the ball from the inside. As the camera zooms in on the ball, it suddenly explodes outward as the movie goes to black!
.....To Be Continued!
Coming Soon......
Superman Doomsday!