Trailer begins: we hear a voice:
"The doctor will see you now"
We see a couple in a room being spoken to by a doctor
"Mr and Mrs Kent, it's another miscarriage. I'm sorry, but you'll never be able to have children"
camera pans down to the couples' hands as they hold together
cut to couple driving in truck, at night, as snowstorm begins...
...as they come upon a baby in a dissolving capsule in the snow (the machine "melts" into the earth, revealing a baby)
Music begins (listen in new tab as you read the rest of trailer description if you like): https://youtu.be/14ZkxaV7fQQ (or this track, even though it is shorter:
https://youtu.be/14ZkxaV7fQQ )
Trailer logos:
Pa Kent voice:
"We don't know where you came from..."
show shot of green planet Krypton
"...how you can do what you do"
show shot of kryptonians leaping great heights (kryptonians have all of Superman's first appearance abilities in this version, and gain enhanced abilities like flying and heat vision under a yellow sun, and they dress similar to how they look in the Byrne version)
"...or why someone would put a baby in what we found you in"
show baby being put into capsule and sent from planet Krypton as it explodes
cut to Pa Kent in Smallville, an older man, talking to Clark:
"...and we may never know. Ever since you developed your abilities..."
cut to shot of young Clark lifting a car as a kid to pick up a ball, then another shot of him running at super speed
Pa Kent: "...you've done your best to help everyone every way that you can, like we raised you, son..." Show scene of Clark, now an adult, in civilian clothes (overall jeans, white shirt) saving train from crashing in Topeka, Kansas, with bandana wrapped around face, as he pulls train doors off to let people out, who look at him startled due to his great strength and bandanna covering his face
Pa Kent's voiceover: "...but there's a big world out there, full of a lot more people who will need your help than just Smallville" Camera reveals Clark Kent, sitting across from him, on Smallville Kent farm porch in evening:
Clark: "You're right. I'll need a disguise and a job that will allow me to move among people quietly to learn who needs help the most, and a costumed public identity where people can see my face, and some sort of badge like a fireman to let folks know I'm there to help"
cut to Clark putting on glasses and suit, body changing to appear slimmer, hair turning slightly lighter color than it was. As he does this, Clark says he can "...contract his muscles to morph his build to appear slimmer", and can alter his voice to sound however he wants with "precise muscle control".
Then a quick shot of red boots is shown.
Martha voiceover: "taking a page from athletes and wrestlers as a stage name for showmanship so people will see you're not trying to hide from them was a good idea..."
quick shot of suit from leg area to red trunks and yellow belt is shown as Martha says: "...with the suit being as snug as it is, I included an extra layer of trunks for modesty, and made them red for color balance"
end shot with Clark's voice, saying: "You really think of everything, ma"
Show shot of red and blue suit being sewn
Jonathan Kent's voice: "...gotta admit, the cape was a nice touch...it'll be like a cavalry flag for the folks who need ya"
shot of back of cape is shown briefly, shot travels upward to reveal S on back of cape as Jonathan Kent completes his sentence
Shot of Martha Kent sewing, then we hear Martha's voice, as the camera films the needle and threading of the sewing machine: "And the name social media gave you after the train rescue seems to have already stuck, so we put an 'S' in the badge on your chest..."
shot of suit continues up, shows part of S shield briefly
Clark, voice off camera: "The suit looks great, ma, and the chemical concoction I created will prevent it from ever damaging"
shot of Clark pouring chemical mixture onto suit in bin, as steam/smoke comes off of it
Clark: "From now on, when the world needs help..."
finally show shot of Clark in Superman suit, fully costumed, as we hear him say:
"...it will be a job for Superman!"
cut to a series of action scenes: Crooks in Metropolis with guns robbing store,
bullets bouncing off of the S shield,
a woman kidnapped in a car with tape over mouth, criminals driving wildly out to the middle of nowehere to dispose of the kidnapped woman,
exterior shot of Superman slamming car into ground at night, shaking crooks out and catching woman a la Action Comics number 1, then carrying the woman, Lois Lane, away in the night sky to safety
Lois Lane's voice: "Chief, you would not believe what happened last night!"
shot of Lois running to see Perry White in the Daily Planet
Lois: "I've got the story on Superman!"
Perry says "That's great, Lois, but we already have a story on Superman"
camera pans over to Clark Kent typing away
"He handed it in this morning. Lois Lane, meet Clark Kent"
Cut to newspaper headline:
"Truth, Justice, and the american way, Superman stops arms deal, Lexcorp connected?"
Headline slams down to reveal the face of Lex Luthor, reading it, clearly angry
Perry's voice cuts over: "Lane, Kent, I'm assigning you to cover billionaire Lex Luthor's new satellite demo"
cut to Lex Luthor in large fancy building, on stage like Bill Gates, in front of a massive crowd of people
Lex Luthor: "For years, we have wondered if we are alone in the universe. The Lexstar 9 finally answers that question. It scans deeper into space than anything before"
show shot of space
Lex: "we detected a signal"
show 3 pronged Brainiac symbol pulsating in space
"...and we sent it back"
show Lex on stage again, close up:
"Lexcorp will be the first on earth to make alien contact"
show Lois and Clark in audience
Closeup on Lex: "Welcome to the future and greater knowledge"
Cut to terrorists breaking in, trying to take hostages as they look for Lex, Superman stops them
Superman's voiceover: "a check for a million?"
Shot of Superman standing there next to Lex, criminals all tied up, Lex says: "you're on my payroll now, Superman, enjoy"
Superman: "There must be some misunderstanding, my services are not for hire"
Camera circles around Superman and Lex Luthor as they exchange dialogue:
Lex: "Everyone who's anyone in Metropolis works for me. Not that you were really needed here, of course. As you can see..."
Lex's security team cuffs and removes criminals
Lex: "my security team was more than capable of handling the situation, but I knew an event this scale would surely have your eye, Superman, and I had to see you up close in action for myself to see if the stories were true, so my men held back while you put on your show"
Mayor voice off camera: "That's reckless endangerment! As mayor, I hereby appoint you a special deputy, Superman, arrest this man!"
shot of Lex getting mugshot, in jail, camera closes in on Lex's face, scowling
Lex voiceover: "I'll never be arrested, Superman. Not ever again. You're going to die, Superman. One day, very soon"
screen goes dark, then cut to shot of Lex, out of jail, on top of Lexcorp building, talking to Superman face to face, Lex continues:
"And you'll know who's doing it"
shot of Superman flying through sky, from ground view, people in Metropolis looking up, Lex's voiceover continues:
"...everyone in Metropolis will know. But no one will be able to do anything about it"
cut to Brainiac's ship in the sky, people in shock over it
Cut to Lex speaking to Brainiac: "We had a deal, in exchange for Superman and earth, you would grant me ultimate knowledge and immortality"
Brainiac speaks: "And so you will be, along with everything else. Converted into pure knowledge, the only immortality"
shot of power crackles from Brainiac's ship
Cut to chaos in city and Brainiac's weapons condensing the world around it
Cut to mild mannered reporter Clark Kent ripping open shirt to reveal S shield
Superman's voice: "But why kill?"
shot of him fighting Brainiac
Brainiac: "The fewer that have the knolwedge, the more precious it becomes"
a series of action shots:
Superman flying to catch missiles
Superman flying in space and into earth
Weapons going off
Brainiac shooting a big beam toward people, then Superman jumping in the way, and the beam blasting off his chest
Brainiac voiceover:
"You are not human or machine..."
Superman: "no"
Brainiac: "You don't know what you are... Let me show you..."
shot of Superman entering large chamber of floating orbs
Brainiac continues: "...You cannot even speak your native tongue, can you...."
"...kryptonian?"
Superman's hand touches an orb, and he sees kryptonian life all around him, his mind becomes flooded with kryptonian data
Brainiac: "The earth's yellow sun has warped your body to make it even more powerful than the already once mighty kryptonians... Powers such yours should not be confined to such an infantile speck, become my herald, and I will give you secrets of Krypton"
Superman's voiceover against a series of action scenes, punching Brainiac "I may have been born out there among the stars"
shot of Superman punching Brainiac
Superman: "..but it is earth that makes me who I am."
shot of Superman flying up in sky in sun, absorbing sunlight
Superman: "All that matters"
shot of Brainiac's ship exploding,
Superman carrying Lois,
Brainiac: "...and all that matters will be preserved in the only way it can..."
shot of other foreign planets in space exploding and being condensed into orbs
Brainiac: "...through me, eternally, as I have done countless times before"
shot of Superman pushing Brainiac ship into space, as Brainiac destroys war planes around him, closeup shot on the S shield on Superman's red cape
title card:
"SUPERMAN"
Movie details and tidbits:
- Superman will have control over his molecular structure somewhat, and be able to contract his muscles in order to alter his appearance slightly, this, combined with precise muscle control, glasses, an occasional hat, and mild behavior, will convincingly make everyone, even audiences, believe that mild mannered reporter Clark Kent and Superman are two different people. Gone will be the days of non fans ridiculing the character for just wearing a pair of glasses for a disguise
- Superman will have three suits in the film: the first appearance suit, as seen on the cover of Action Comics #1, this is the first suit he and the Kents make, and he uses it up until the first meeting with Lex, which takes place 6 months after he gets his job as reporter Clark Kent at the Daily Planet and publishes the first big story on Superman. After that moment, the movie jumps ahead 6-8 months to Lois and Clark being dispatched to cover Lex Luthor's satellite demo/trap to get Superman, and now Superman wears the Fleischer style suit. Then, in the third act of the film, from Brainiac's introduction and onward, Superman will wear his true, iconic costume, the one he has had for over 70 years.
- Kryptonians will only speak kryptonian in the film, and Superman/Clark will not be able to understand them when he hears them, until Brainiac's data dump translates their language into english in Superman's mind when he touches the orb and learns for the first time of his origin, that he is an alien from Krypton, and of Jor El and Lara
GENERAL STORY OUTLINE/PLOT/STORY BEATS:
The movie opens with the Kents in a doctor's office for pregnancy checkup. They are given the bad news that they have had another miscarriage, and are advised to never hope for children. The doctor is a specialist outside of Smallville, and the Kents have a long drive on the way home in early winter, when a terrible blizard is brewing. The radio warns them about the storm. On their way home, with snow pouring down, they encounter a baby in what is left of a machine in the middle of the road, as what is left of the bits of machine melts into the ground, fading away forever.
With no one around, and not wanting to leave a baby in the snow, and being certain that whoever would put a child in such a thing is certainly no one fit to parent, the Kents take the baby home. The camera follows the truck past a sign that reads "Welcome to Smallville, population 803", until the camera can no longer see the truck or its lights due to snow, then the camera pans upward, as the snow turns to stars, and the title card "SUPERMAN" is shown.
Then the screen goes black, and a caption appears on the screen: "28 years later".
The screen opens to the sun beating down in the blue summer sky, as the radio plays a classic country music song quietly in the background, and we hear a tapping sound, and the camera slides over to reveal Jonathan Kent, an older man now, working with a hammer on a door. He calls out: "Son, can you give me a hand with the roof?", we hear a voice off camera call back "Sure thing, Pa, I'll be right over", then suddenly a huge shadow is cast over Jonathan Kent, as the camera pans up to reveal Clark Kent, flying, carrying the barn rooftop, and setting it down on top of the barn to finish being assembled there. Clark lands next to Jonathan, and they make small talk about the work and weather. Jonathan, after observing Clark's fantastic feat, says there is something he has been meaning to mention to Clark, when suddenly, the music on the radio is interrupted by a newsflash radio warning of a train out of control without brakes in Topeka Kansas, headed over an incomplete bridge. Clark remarks to Jonathan that that is about 200 miles from Smallville, and looks over at his Pa, to which Jonathan nods and says "Go get it, son", and no sooner are the words out of Jonathan's mouth has Clark taken off across the corn fields, first running, then leaping, then flying all the way there.
Clark's clothes and shoes begin to tear along the way (everything except that which is closest against his body, due to his body's protective yellow sun aura), but he finally gets next to the train and is able to grab it, and eventually stops it. He goes to attend to the people, but before he does that, he puts a bandanna from his pockwt on to conceal his face, then flies over, and pulls the doors off, and asks if everyone is alright. The people in the train are astonished, and some, recovering from the shock, quickly go to grab their phones to snap a picture of Clark, but he flies away before anyone can get a good picture of him, and only a blur in the shape of a man is on camera.
We then jump to later that evening, with Pa Kent on the front porch, watching the sun go down, and Clark Kent walking out of the Kent family farm house to see Jonathan on the front porch. Jonathan mentions that Clark is trending on social media, then he and Clark talk about Clark's origin, even though Clark has heard it a million times. Jonathan tells Clark about the night he and Martha found him in the spaceship, and as he says this, a series of visual flashbacks are shown to coincide with Jonathan's narration (for the audience).
We see baby Clark being found by Martha and Jonathan, then young Clark held as a baby, being introduced to family (Jonathan explains how the terrible snowstorm blizzard prevented the Kents from getting back into town for months, and by the time they made it into town, everyone just assumed Clark was his and Martha's baby), then young Clark at 6 being trampled by a bull and being just fine, young Clark lifting a car, seeing through walls to help Martha find her purse, use superspeed, and finally fly. We see Clark take up sports in his teens, then realize that it isn't fair to other players that he play, and devoting himself to intellectual realms like writing instead, and winning many awards with that while in school.
This is basically a series of flashbacks, combined with Jonathan's narration, explaining to the audience what happened after the Kents took him in as a baby, what his powers are, at what age he developed them, how he has kept them secret, and how he has no idea how or why he has them. Clark asks Jonathan why he is telling him all that when he (Clark) already knows most of it, Jonathan tells him he is doing it to make a point, and that Clark has fantastic gifts that could be used to benefit people who need it in places way more than Smallville, and basically encourages Clark to do the thing he has already been doing (helping people outside of Smallville), but to do it full time, and not feel bad about leaving his folks to take care of themselves in Smallville. Clark's selfless nature, instilled in him from the Kents, makes him want to look after his parents, but the Kents' selfless nature makes them want for Clark to help everyone, which is something they both Clark and Ma and Pa want.
Clark agrees, but is unsure of how to help that without being on call 24/7. He and Jonathan go inside. Martha has fresh pie coming out of the oven, and tells Clark "Superman" is still trending on social media, and how he's famous. Clark wants to be able to mantain his privacy, because he knows it will allow him to obtain information about where he is needed most easier, but he also wants people to be able to see his face and trust him. Jonathan calls out to Clark from the living room that he has an idea. Clark and Martha walk in to see Jonathan Kent watching TV, turning the volume up, as an ad for wrestlers in a wrestling tournament plays. Jonathan tells Clark that he needs a stage name. The camera zooms in toward Clark's face and he says he thinks he sees where Pa is going.
Cut to Clark and Jonathan drawing up the Superman costume. It looks exactly how Siegel & Shuster drew it in the first appearance. They give it to Martha, who suggests the cape. Martha makes the suit (a few days and changes of clothes go by in between cuts to indicate passage of time), Clark calls himself Superman after what social media called him. They then deal with the other matter, and Clark shows the Kents how he will create "mild mannered reporter Clark Kent", and try to take a job as a roaming reporter at the Daily Planet, one of the few remaining honest sources of news that are not in bed with Lexcorp in the country, and planet for that matter (Lex Luthor is the second or third richest man in the world in this version, like the Byrne comics), so he can go to places that need him as Superman, and no one will pay it any mind since investigating is part of his job. Clark puts his writing background to use with this as well.
And so, Superman is born. We then jump to 4 weeks later, as Superman has began to show himself more throughout Metropolis, though still not fully in the spotlight just yet. The screen opens with a black woman reporter on TV, interviewing a little girl about how Superman rescued her from falling out of a skyscraper, the camera backs out to reveal it is a TV playing, in a store full of electronics, and pulls back even further to reveal the sidewalk, and a young woman walking along it on her phone, when suddenly she is bumped into by a guy walking past quickly, she is nearly knocked over, then realizes her purse is missing, and starts screaming at the guy to come back.
The thief runs off into an alley far away, and starts to rip things out of her purse, looking for money and jewelry. As he stares down into the purse, he unwittingly walks right into the chest of SUPERMAN, and bangs right into it. Then he tries to run the other way, and Superman suddenly appears on his other side, everywhere he turns. Then Superman tells the thief he doesn't look like he has much more money than the woman he robbed does, and that he should return the purse. He picks the thief up and carries him with a super leap to the robbed woman, and has the thief return the purse, then hears gunshots across town, and places the thief in a garbage can so the woman can call the cops and press charges, then Superman flies across town to find a liquor store being taken over in a hostage terrorist situation. The police are all parked out front, preparing for the worst, then Superman casually walks on the scene, and the cops ask him what circus he escaped from, as Superman tells the cop leader to stay back, and that he doesn't want to risk anyone getting hit by stray bullets. Superman then defeats the terrorists and saves the hostages, including defusing a bomb attached to one.
In another part of Metropolis, on the outskirts, we see a woman sneaking around covering a heavy arms deal going down in a huge warehouse, until she is noticed, and tries to escape in her car. As she tries to drive away, her car is destroyed by a bulldozer, after the criminals catch her, duct tape her mouth, and shove her into one of their cars to drive her out of the city to kill her and throw her in a lake, as John Corben, the arms dealer, instructed his cronies to do. The woman is none other than Lois Lane. The cars speed off, and the criminals all go their separate ways. A short time later Superman arrives on the scene and notices the crushed car, and sees a badge on the ground that belonged to the woman, it says Lois Lane and that she works with the Daily Planet, and lists her address. Superman picks it up and take off into the night sky.
We then cut to inside of the criminals' car, with Lois Lane duck taped and tied up in the backseat. The criminals are almost to their destination outside of town, and are bragging about all the things they are going to do to her, when suddenly they see a figure standing in the middle of the road, in a cape, about 1000 feet ahead, illuminated by the car lights beaming on it. The driver steps on the gas, thinking he will scare the figure out of the road, when the figure doesn't budge, until the car gets within a hair's distance, then the figure, Superman, hurdles over the car, and is behind the car, and starts chasing the crooks. The criminal kidnappers freak out, when suddenly Superman appears running right alongside their car and tells them to pull over, then the car continues to move, but doesn't seem to be gripping the road, as Superman is carrying it, and then begins shaking the occupants out, and catches Lois with one hand, then places her down, and with the remaining criminals shaken out, smashes the car into the ground.
The crooks go for their guns, but the bullets bounce off of Superman, as he grabs them and leaves them hanging off of telephone poles, toying with them, then ties them up and prepares them to be taken to the police station.
Superman then comes over to Lois, who has nearly worked herself free and out of the duck tape, who is startled at the things Superman just did. Superman fully unbounds her, and tells her she doesn't need to be afraid of him, and that he won't harm her. Lois is still stunned. Superman hands her her press badge, and offers to give her a ride home, then scoops her up and carries her in the night sky back to her apartment. Lois can't believe what is happening. Superman sets her down and tells her to have a good night, but before taking off, Lois Lane calls out to him, as she regathers her senses "Hey wait! Let me ask you a couple questions", and Superman comes back and stays for a minute or two, but tells Lois that he doesn't believe the information he's sharing with her will help her all that much, which puzzles Lois, then Superman tells her to have a good night, and takes off.
We cut to Lois typing away a huge story in a montage sequence throughout the night, then running in to the Daily Planet, past Jimmy Olsen as he tries to tell her something, as she begins calling out to Perry about the story she has. Lois Lane finally makes it to where Perry is and tells him, excitedly, that she is fine, and she has the story on Superman. Perry tells her that that is great, but that the Daily Planet already has a story on Superman, and that the new guy just turned it in earlier in the day, and introduces her to CLARK KENT, typing away. Perry tells her he just hired him that morning, and to relax, she was just beaten to the story. Lois is pissed. We jump to see the headline Clark turned in about Superman, and stopping the weapons deal, along with a possible Lexcorp connection. Then we see the headline being looked at by someone else, an assistant has brought it to Lex Luthor, interrupting him playing 12 chess games at once, while watching TV to learn how to read lips, and solving multiple equations. Lex is pissed when he sees the headline.
Then the screen goes black, and a caption appears:
"8 months later"
The screen opens to a doorbell being rung, and Clark Kent, in an apartment opening it to reveal Lois Lane in a fancy, mega expensive dress, she has come over early to meet with Clark for their assignment to cover Lex Luthor's new Lexstar-9 satellite demonstration. Both have been given invitations to attend, as the event will feature many celebrities and important figures, Lex is like The Great Gatsby, hoping to attract the attention of everyone with this event (including and especially Superman). Clark remarks how Lois is early and that he hasn't even shaved (in a following scene we will finally be shown how Superman shaves, by using his heat vision against a special device he created that deflects it onto his face), as Lois Lane inspects his apartment, and makes a dig about Clark being a swine for getting the first Superman story, and he remarks that it has been 8 months, and that he didn't even know her then, hoping she will let it go, but she doesn't. They then get in a helicopter that Lex has brought over to the apartment to pick Lois and Clark up to carry them to the event, and are greeted by a robot waiter, who directs them to a large room filled with people, waiting for Lex to appear on stage.
Lex Luthor comes and greets Lois Lane, suggesting a possible previous non platonic relationship, and informs her that he bought the gown she is wearing for her, then heads up to the stage, after barely noticing Clark, to give his introduction/demo of his satellite.
Lex states that the Lexstar-9 satellite has found life in outer space, and is the first organization to do so, intercepted a signal, and will be hailing it to earth within a matter of weeks.
Then, after the demo has ended, and Lex exits the stage, suddenly, terrorists burst in, taking the rich guests hostage. Lois Lane and Clark Kent are on top of the building, Lois wants to leave, and has changed her outfit, Clark is following behind, when they get a gun jammed right at them. Clark jumps in front of Lois and tells her to stay down, but the criminal hits Clark with his weapon, and throws him off of the building. As Clark plummets to the ground, he rips open his shirt to reveal his Superman costume (now with the Fleischer S shield), then returns to the other side of the building, this time as Superman, and defeats all of the terrorists. He gets them all into a room and ties them up, after taking their weapons.
Lex Luthor casually strolls out, applauding. "Marvelous" he chants. And hands Superman a check for a million dollars, in an attempt to buy Superman's services, to which Superman replies that his services are not for sale. Lex brags about how much of Metropolis and the world he owns/works for him, and tells Superman he was not really needed, and that his security could have handled the situation, but waited in the wings to see what Superman could do. Lois Lane and the others around are pissed. Lois says that Lex is an accessory to murder for what the terrorists did to Clark Kent, Superman chimes in to tell Lois that he actually took care of Kent and that he is perfectly safe. Lois scolds Lex for holding his guards back, Lex says no one would have been hurt, he got word from his security detail that early that evening there could have been a possible terrorist attack from some of his overseas dealings and took special precautions for himself with security, but both Lois and the mayor are pissed Lex never warned anyone, and carried the demo on anyway, and the mayor deputizes Superman to make a special arrest of Lex Luthor for reckless endangerment. Lex says he can't be arrested, and that he is the most powerful man in Metropolis, to which the mayor says "No, you're not Lex. Not anymore".
Next shot is of Lex Luthor getting a mugshot and put in jail, and the headlines it makes. A couple days later, Superman flies through the city, looking for those he can help, when suddenly he gets pinged with a message that only he can hear. Superman follows the trail and sees Lex Luthor on top of Lexcorp, Lex summons Superman down to have a word with him. A word of warning. Even though Lex was only in jail for around 3 hours before his lawyers got him out, Lex promises Superman that he (Superman) is a dead man and that he (Lex) will never be arrested again. Lex says he will destroy Superman, and that there isn't anything anyone can do about it, even though he will make sure everyone knows Lex is behind it, they just won't be able to orove it is Lex. This is an ultimate show of power for Lex.
Camera goes dark, caption appears on screen: "5 months later"
We see a small diner in the poor part of the city, with Lex's huge limo parked outside of it, and people all clamoring to see Lex Luthor. We see Lex at the table, guards all around him, Lex is reading about Metropolis' new mayor, after the previous one's untimely "suicide", as he propositions a waitress to come leave her husband for him for a billion dollars a month, and that he will give her 10 minutes to decide, and to come meet him in his limo with what her decision is. Lex has an assistant inform him of some pressing information in his ear, and Lex leaves. The waitress goes to call her husband about Lex's offer, and looks out the window to see that Lex has already left. Cut to Lex in limo, Mercy, the driver comments about how Lex waited a little longer for that waitress than usual, almost the full 8 minutes, and Lex remarked that she seemed to be of a slightly stronger moral fiber than some of the others, and therefore needed more time to break. A lexcorp scientist appears on a screen in Lex's limo informing him of the Lexstar-9 satellite's update, and that a ship will be in the designated area within the hour. Lex prepares to greet it.
Meanwhile, cut over to another side of Metropolis. A man is standing on top of a building, about to throw himself off for suicide, when Superman catches him. After placing him on the ground, Superman asks him why in the world he would play hopskotch on skyscrapers. The man tells him the bank is taking his house and he can't afford to provide for his wife and kids. Superman excuses himself and disappears, then returns with a chunk of coal, which he crushes into diamonds before the man's very eyes, then hands to the man. The man, choking up, thanks Superman, then Superman tells him to leave the leaping off tall buildings to him, then takes off.
Superman returns to the Daily Planet as Clark Kent, to find Lois, Jimmy, and Perry keeping track of what Lex is doing in the desert, following reports all over. Perry dispatches Lois and Jimmy to cover Lex's first contact event, when a huge ship looms overhead, above the city and everywhere.
Cut to Lex's huge base of operations, built specifically for the alien event, in which Lex steps out to meet Brainiac. He has floating data in his hands and gives it to Brainiac, telling him this is but a primer of the planet earth, and that he anxiously awaits for what Brainiac will bequeath him. Brainiac takes the transaction, smiles, and his hologram disappears into his ship.
Smaller Brainiac ships appear all over the world, manned by machines, they make a huge blanket of energy all over the cities.
Clark switches to his Superman suit and begins to clear the machines out of the Metropolis sky and all over, which catches the attention of Brainiac.
Brainiac appears before Superman, and begins speaking kryptonian, commanding Superman to stop. Superman doesn't understand him. Brainiac is bewildered that Superman does not know his native tongue, and begins to speak english. He informs Superman that he (Brainiac) is the only chance for the planet's survival, and tells Superman that he has no idea what he (Superman) is, and that he can show him. He beckons Superman into his ship. Superman, a man in a cape and tights, stands before a huge alien door, as it opens. Superman walks inside.
Brainiac shows Superman a large room full of orbs, and takes one down to hand to Superman. Superman touches it, and for the first time learns of Krypton and that he is an alien. He can't understand kryptonian at first, but the orb translates it so Superman can understand it. Superman sees snippets of what life was like on Krypton, with Brainiac's voiceover narration. He tells him that he, Brainiac, was saved by Jor El, just as Superman was, and that the kryptonians did not heed his warning on the planet.
This is a lot for Superman to take in, but he realizes that Brainiac is a machine. Brainiac tells Superman to join him as his herald, and that his powers are too great to be confined to earth, and that he is a rarity, warped by earth's yellow sun, more powerful than even the super race of kryptonians were in their original form. Brainiac tells Superman that if he joins him willingly, he will give him secrets of Krypton, but that all join Brainiac sooner or later.
Superman declines, and tells Brainiac that earth is his home. Brainiac coldly acknowledges, then goes to plug himself into the mainframe of the ship.
Superman looks around Brainiac's ship, and goes to the orb room again. Superman touches some of the other orbs and sees the other worlds Brainiac has visited, and that they all end in destruction. He then looks for the orb that Brainiac originated from, the orb of the planet Colu. It is restricted, but Superman touches it anyway, and learns how Brainiac is a super sophisticated machine organism that is a parasite, created to absorb knolwedge, and then destroys whatever it extracts it from. Superman sees how destroying Brainiac cost the Culuans their lives, and bits of Brainiac floated along in space, until a part of him reached Krypton, where the kryptonian scientists used the superior and highly advanced, even by kryptonian standards, piece of technology to advance their world. Jor El warned against it, but was laughed at as a luddite. Then came time for Krypton's natural demise (the entirety of Krypton literally turns into kryptonite before it explodes, killing the inhabitants there, (making them turn green) and robbing them of their super abilities causing the kryptonians to drop like flies in mid air as they attempt to jump and flee from the city as it and the planet get destroyed (the super abilities the kryptonians all have are identical to what Superman's powers were in Ation Comics #1), no one believed Jor El's warnings, all put their faith in the deceitful Brainiac machine. Jor El tried to build a spaceship large enough to house many kryptonians, but the science council denied him funding, and when the spaceship was discovered, hours before Krypton's destruction, the council high command destroyed Jor El's ship. All but one small experimental escape pod was destroyed, and it is in this that Jor El and Lara placed their baby, Kal El, just moments before the planet exploded. Brainiac put himself into Krypton's central technology system and used it to make himself stronger, and transported himself into space via data transmission moments before Krypton exploded, and assembled together in a ship on the other side of the galaxy inside of a massive ship, whixh he took over after killing its inhabitants, and then went back to his original programming. With each world he conquers, and the more knowledge he attains, the stronger he becomes.
The orb suddenly shuts out as Brainiac enters the room and realizes that Superman knows of his origin. Brainiac tells Superman that it is useless to try and stop him, and puts Superman in a giant static energy bubble, which suspends him. Then Lex Luthor appears on screen, Brainiac informs him that Superman will never be a problem for him or anyone else ever again.
Lex thanks Brainiac, but reminds Brainiac that taking Superman was only part of the deal Lex made with him. Lex reminds Brainiac that in exchange for Lex breaking the space coding that kept earth's galaxy hidden from Brainiac and off of his radar, Brainiac guaranteed Luthor supreme knowledge and immortality. Lex wants to know where it is.
Brainiac tells Lex Luthor that he will get his reward, when Brainiac saves the world by converting it into pure knowledge, which is immortal. He tells Lex "then, so will you be".
Superman says: "But why kill?"
Brainiac says: "The fewer that have the knowledge, the more precious it becomes"
Lex, realizing he has been betrayed, attempts to fire his weapon systems at Brainiac's ships, but it's not working. All electronics are under Brainiac's control. Missiles start to go haywire.
Brainiac takes Superman, opens a strange portal dimension, and traps him in it. Then proceeds to convert the earth into an orb.
Superman is in the Phantom Zone, and has been transformed into scattered energy, save his consciousness.
While in there, he sees flashbacks of his life. The Kents. Then Krypton, and Jor El and Lara, and the massive kryptonian data dump into his brain. Remembering the data dump, he remembers Jor El created the Phantom Zone, and Jor El's hidden way out of it via a mental psychic equation, and the principles under which The Phantom Zone functions. Gradually, the escape equation begins to form in Superman's consciousness, and he slowly begins to materialize back together, into a solid form. Superman materializes into a cube shaped dimensional room, then begins to punch his way out of it. He punches it once. Then again. A tiny ray of light appears through it, charging Superman. Slowly, increasing in power, Superman tears through the rift, and falls out of the dimensional shell into space, facing the earth's yellow sun, charging his superpowers.
Superman, full of yellow sun charge, flies into the earth. Weapons systems are going haywire. Nukes have went off, and are flying in all directions. Superman chases them down at superspeed, and gathers them in one location for Brainiac's ship in outer space.
Brainiac's ship now has its energy net all over the planet, Superman charges into it, but is thrown back at first, then starts to spin at super speed, like a screw, and goes right through it, and into Brainiac's ship. Brainiac can't believe Superman escaped the Phantom Zone. Superman and Brainiac battle each other, Brainiac tries to put Suprman in another energy bubble, but Superman dodges them, and picks up one of Brainiac's weapons and blasts it at Brainiac.
The world starts to turn into energy in areas furthest from Brainiac's ship.
Brainiac blasts Superman with a ray from his gauntlet, and tells Superman that he (Brainiac) is everything. That he (Brainiac) is eternal. That he (Brainiac) is Krypton, and Superman is but a warped creature without a home, as insignificant as the planet he defends.
Superman tells Brainiac: "I may have been born out there among the stars, but it is earth that makes me who I am...all that matters"
Brainiac blasts Superman through the floor of his ship.
Superman then flies under the ship, and starts to push it with all of his might into space, right into the piles of nukes he gathered for it. As Superman pushes it upward, the energy net travels with Superman, and earth's weapons systems come back online, and the earth re-materializes back to normal. The piles of nukes in space start going off. Superman gets knocked from the blasts into the ship he is pushing into them, as the nukes fly from all sides. Brainiac, now missing parts of his robotic body, flickers and says: "The orbs".
Superman gathers his strength, and flies through the firey halls of the ship in space, and grabs as many orbs as he can, including the orb of Krypton, and flies out of there, then back into earth, after Brainiac's ship is destroyed.
Inside of Lex's huge base, Lex is extremely pleased that Brainiac has been destroyed, and blames his subordinates for Brainiac attacking the planet. An assistant comes to Lex and tells him there is some strange alien coding on a Lexcorp computer. Lex says he'll deal with it later...he has had his fill of aliens today. Lex leaves the room, and the camera travels over to the computer the assistant spoke of, revealing the Brainiac symbol inside of the machine, hinting that Brainiac is still around in some capacity.
Then we see the Kent house in Smallville, on the farm. Superman lands outside holding the orbs in hand. Martha and Jonathan Kent come out to greet him. Superman, holding the orb, says "Ma, Pa, there's something I want you to see", and they touch the orb of Krypton with Superman. Superman watches them, and then they know what he (Superman) does. Martha asks Superman where he will take it (the orb).
Superman looks to the side, at the sky, and says "north".
Camera pans northword, and snow starts to fall, as we (the POV) travel deep into the icy, snowy arctic. Superman has made the Fortress Of Solitude, and puts the orbs there.
Cut to Metropolis, Lexcorp tower. Superman appears to Lex Luthor to tell him he will be keeping an eye on him, and will bring him in for selling out the planet for his own selfish gain, and other crimes soon. Lex scoffs at Superman, Superman flies away.
We then cut to the Daily Planet. Lois, Jimmy, and Perry are all there, talking about the recent events. Clark comes in. Lois taunts Clark, bragging about how she beat him to the scoop this time, she tells Clark he's late on turning in his assignment to cover the average man on the street's perspective on all this. Clark apologizes, and says he got tied up with some relatives.
Lois, walking away, says "Oh yeah, we all got those. Just gotta deal with them sometimes. You're only human"
Cut over to Clark shaking his head, finishing up his story. Then suddenly, Perry bursts into the room, and says: "Hey, that nut calling himself the Toyman is back, and he's got a giant nutcracker terrorizing downtown Metropolis, or did you guys not feel like working today??!!"
A loud CLANK is heard outside the window, and Lois, Jimmy, and the rest of the Daily Planet staff rush over to look out the window.
Lois remarks out loud to Clark: "Strangest month ever, huh, Smallville?"
She hears no response, then she repeats again: "Smallv-- Clark? CLARK?!" then she notices he's not there.
Lois says to herself: "Oh no, Kent, you're not going to take this one from me", as she grabs her effects and dashes off, with Jimmy trailing behind her...
Camera pans over to Clark inside of a closet on another stairs, pulling apart his shirt to reveal the Superman suit, he then changes into Superman and flies out of the window to go combat the giant nutcracker, through the Metropolis skyline, past buildings. and finally past Lexcorp, with Lex Luthor standing in the middle of his large room, watching Superman fly by. Movie ends, closeup on Lex, wiith reflection of Superman in window.
CREDITS
Post credits scene:
Mercy comes in to see Lex Luthor, she mentions something about Superman screwing with their criminal activities again, and that Lex has to stop him. Lex says everything has a weakness, but as of right now, Superman has none.
Camera travels out of Lex's office room, to several floors below, to the museum level, past the night guardsman, to reveal a meteorite that has been in Luthor's museum for decades: glowing, green KRYPTONITE.
MOVIE ENDS
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