Grant Morrison On 'MAN OF STEEL'

Sums it up for me.

Movie was average. Sorry fanboys. Next time don't fall in love with the film before you see it.

I don't get it. He made the BEST decision possible. If he left him in the choke hold then what? You can't knock him out, you can't suppress him or build a cage he can possibly break out of. It was either you get rid of the one person who can kill Superman and the entire world or leave him to one day possibly do it again.

Man of Steel is a love/hate thing for me. I enjoyed it more the 2nd viewing. It may have something to do with lowering my expectations. Before I was in denial about it being written by Goyer and (turns out) Snyder.

Here we go again.

to me the question has never been "why did he kill zod?" but rather "what is everyone's problem with him killing zod?" everyone says "superman doesn't kill." but why? where did the reason for that arbitrary decision stem from? if you want to look for the moment where superman says he won't kill, look no further than the look on his face right after killing zod. to me, that was the most powerful moment in the movie. superman won't kill again.

unless goyer and snyder are idiots. which i've seen very little evidence to the contrary. so we'll see.

I see you commenting on a lot of MoS threads TaylorX. You didn't like it or whatever. That doesn't mean other people still can't think it was Amazing. I did. It is opinion. You want average? In my opinion The Wolverine was VERY AVERAGE.

Didn't dislike it though. And don't care if you or anyone else thinks it is better than MoS.It is opinion. More power to you if you liked it better. My question is why do you feel it is necessary to keep repeating yourself? Are you just trying to start an argument?

@DrDoom

"Can anyone have a conversation about Man of Steel without talking about 'omg he killed Zod' or 'omg too much of Metropolis got destroyed'?

For once?"

These things were at the forefront of the movie for people, just like The Mandarin was for Iron Man 3. It's going to be one of those things that's talked about.

"...unless you're in one of the Armed Forces, killing is illegal and immoral." - Grant Morrison

In MOS, was Superman NOT fighting alongside the American military in order to subdue and KILL Zod? The military was not trying to rehab the Kryptonians, they wanted to KILL them! Even Superman until they realized he was on their side!

Therefore, Superman WAS AT WAR with Zod! Therefore, his act of killing Zod was excusable. Why? Because that is what you do during a war! If the other person doesn't surrender, you must KILL them!

Mr. Morrison, your argument is invalid.

I rest my case.

@drdoom - can we have a conversation about Iron Man 3 without mentioning Trevor or Killian? Yeah, no. They're so integral to the story you MuST discuss them. He leveled Metropolis and killed Zod. The destruction was a big chunk of the movie

I'm surprised Morrison isn't getting much hate yet.

" I don't know about you, but the last moral decision I made didn't have anything to do with killing people."

Then again, YOU ARE NOT SUPERMAN!

At everyone going "best decision he could have made"... way to miss the point.

This isn't about whether or not Supes could have done something else. People are pissed (or not) because he was written into that situation to begin with. Goyer was not commanded by God to put Superman into those particular circumstances. He made a conscious choice to write in a scene where Superman HAD to kill, where it WAS the obvious solution.

Those who are angry about that are angry because they feel Superman, as an aspirational figure, should have been written to be a bit bigger and grander than the necessity of killing a man or destroying a city to save the day. He's not Iron Man or Wolverine, he's f*cking Superman. His power is pretty much unlimited. There were numerous other ways that story could have gone, to give the audience "an ideal to strive toward, blah blah."

I dont get how superman covering Zods eyes would have been easier. It only would have dragged the fight even longer thus causing more destruction and casualties. He had no other choice but to kill Zod. Even after that he was devastated.

Morrison forgot to add that Police Officers have the legal authority to kill as well.

Its not bloodlust,its the fact that superheroes were originally considered strictly for children who would at most,read their adventures for 5 years until they moved on to Western,crime or war themed comics as young teens then Playboy,cars and real girls
as young adults.

Sometime in the 70's or 80's it became socially acceptable for grown men to still be fans of comic books and the industry adapted by presenting stories with adult themes of graphic sex and violence like Watchmen,The DarkKnight Returns,Batman Year one and The Killing Joke at DC,Daredevil ,The Punisher and Wolverine at Marvel.

Those adults,raised on a diet of Dirty Harry,Death Wish,Chuck Norris,Arnold and Stallone films, no longer would accept a hero tying up a serial murderer like the Joker,for the Police knowing he will escape to kill again. Those adults would stick around and see that the Joker killed 10 people a year ago and now he is out of Arkham again.

In an adult mindset,it would be more moral to take him out if you catch him in the act (See the end of Dirty Harry) then to take him back to a broken criminal justice system that seems geared to the rights of criminals (I know its in our Constitution) verses the security of society.

A sizable portion, maybe a majority, of comic book fans are now adults and they want their heroes to fit into the adult world they live in.

In that world, a superhero is in the same class as a soldier or cop.

Someone who has to make tough choices in the service of the majority who can't or won't defend themselves.

I'm really, really fed up with people saying it's all about Superman deciding to kill. He's not Dirty Harry. The decision was not a decision at all, but instinct, the right move from a moral man. A lesser hero would have watched the innocent slaughter of a family not even of his own race in favor of preserving his own race. Superman's love of mankind is so complete that he was willing to sacrifice the survival of his own race. To consider this anything else is to be shallow and incapable of simple deduction. No, Grant, we don't all have to make moral decisions that involve a possibility of killing, but you are VERY wrong about the war/military analogy. Zodd, a military man, was waging war. I'm glad you weren't in command when the Nazis invaded Europe (if you think that is a far fetched analogy, think again; Zodd was conquering another world, committing genocide and ethnically cleansing). Buildings got battered in MOS, people got hurt. You'd think from reading the ravings of the likes of Morrison and Millar that everyone was just fine with Superman Returns or campy romcoms. Here's something from the MOS novelization for these folks: ; "The wanton destruction tore at his (Superman's) soul. At this rate, it would be a miracle if Metropolis had any skyline left when the fighting was over, one way or another.” Then Supes comments: 'This City doesn't deserve this', he thought, angrily. "Earth doesn't deserve this". And, regarding the killing of Zod, the book explains,"The position they were in wouldn't allow him (Supes) the leverage he needed to fly-to carry them away from here. ‘Stop!”, says Superman (as Zod’s laser eyes beam closer to the family). ‘Never!’ says Zod. ‘No’, says Superman. ‘Don't make me do this!’. Anguish tore at his heart (after Zod goes limp). Superman cried out in anguish, knowing he had no other choice. It was Zod's life or the lives of innocents. He had always sought out to save lives, not take them. He was, now, truly the last Kryptonian."

@P862010 Trick them into watching him go into a run sun chamber. But! he is actually safe from the red sun rays. They are turned into normal humans!. Then break Zod's hand throw him into a deep hole. Hell, Lois can throw one in too after a right cross to the jaw. Let the Arctic police arrest them. Make out with Lois. Fly into space. Smile at the camera. HOW HARD IS THAT!!!