SUPERHEROES: Is Breaking Character A Good Or Bad Thing?

SUPERHEROES: Is Breaking Character A Good Or Bad Thing?

Hit the jump to read my thoughts. (Spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen MAN OF STEEl)

Editorial Opinion
By Niklander - Jun 19, 2013 07:06 AM EST
Filed Under: Superman

Hello boys and girls niklander here with an editorial. This editorial will cover if some of the choices our favorite superheroes make in comics animation and in live action will affect our love towards them.

OK so this editorial is made because I saw MAN OF STEEL (Great movie IMO had some issues but not really a big deal much better than Returns). So the big controversary surrounding the movie is the ending where Superman has to face Zod in a mano a mano fight leaving Superman no other choice but to kill Zod(For a PG-13 movie that was pretty hardcore)

But even though Superman did kill Zod he was still the same character or technically the Superman we will know to love. I mean the controversary might have been truth or at least legit if Superman reacted like it was not a big deal. Fortunately Superman cried at the moment he did the action(I mean he just lost any ties with his Kryptonian heritage).

Let's look back at other superhero movies in the 1989 movie Batman directed by Tim Burton Batman killed Joker to avenge his parents death(In this version Joker before he became Joker killed his parents). In 2005's WB reboot of Batman titled Batman Begins our hero who doesn't kill thugs so as to prove that there is still hope in a rotten city as Gotham BUT he kills Ras Al Ghul he leaves him to die before the train crashlands to the streets. Now that the Batman trilogy is over did anyone feel betrayed that Batman killed Ras Al Ghul!?My answer from my view is no because Batman left him to die and he knew that Al Ghul would never change his beliefs towards people. Did that break the character of Batman we have come to love!?! HELL TO THE NO.

Same goes to Superman in MAN OF STEEL. Even though he killed Zod, he still might have issues with taking a life (Which I believe will be explored in the sequel).

There are so many writers in comics,movies who have taken our beloved characters and changed their style their ways of thinking towards real life. One example is Marvel's Civil War written by Mark Millar. That comic book series was heavily inspired in the wake on 9/11 and The Patriot Act. To me that was something unique as a reader because to me comics in general are participating through their stories to us and made us reflect to our decisions. What do we want as people in general freedom or security?! That was beautifilly executed in the comic book and that was the ultimate test of characters where we see Captain America who is against superheroes revealing their identities while Iron Man wants the world safe.

My point is that sure superheroes have been faced with many changes in their lives but yet they are still the same characters we know and love they havent changed a bit no matter how hard the obstacles are.

So what if Superman killed in MAN OF STEEL?! Did that changed your love towards the character?!Did you feel betrayed?!

Same thing in comics same thing in comic movie adaptations the characters will always be the same no matter what happens. Keep that in mind and enjoy the awesomeness for may years to come.

As usual you can share your thoughts below in the comment section(But please no trolling be adults over this ladies and gentlemen).

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pesmerga44
pesmerga44 - 6/19/2013, 8:37 AM
Whats kinda funny about the movie is that Superman blew up the genesis ship killing all the unborn fetuses dooming his people completely and he felt nothing. He kills Zod and he feels huge remorse over his action. I don't know maybe Superman is just a huge pro-choice advocate and just saw the fetuses as nothing.
Reasonnnn
Reasonnnn - 6/19/2013, 9:01 AM
"You had your chance."

SUPERBADASSMAN
EdgyOutsider
EdgyOutsider - 6/19/2013, 9:35 AM
My favorite shot of the whole movie was Superman on his knees with his head down after he killed Zod. It just looked perfect for some reason and the cape (even though its obviously going to be part of the suit) just helped it make it look even more perfect.
Tainted87
Tainted87 - 6/19/2013, 10:33 AM


It's not a controversy. People are just too dumb to live.

Did we all go to the bathroom at the same time and miss Zod's speech about his purpose in life? And how he's failed, and now there's nothing more for him. He was seeking DEATH.

He spelled it out literally when he calls out to Superman that the only way it's going to end is if one of them dies.

There was no way to NOT kill Zod. There was no Kryptonite. The Phantom drive had been destroyed, as well as the World Engine. He had to kill him.

Why does he react? Because he doesn't have the killer instinct in him. Because he just lost everything to do with his homeworld. Because he "lost" by prevailing over Zod. Because by winning, he had to become a killer.
jp688
jp688 - 6/19/2013, 10:50 AM
I agree; Kal El chose his humanity over heritage when he stopped Zod from murdering that family, the only way he could. Batman Begins showed the moment when Bruce Wayne eschewed the gun. Now, we'll have that moment with Kal El, when he vows never to kill again.
RLYHYPERGUY
RLYHYPERGUY - 6/19/2013, 11:25 AM
I don't think it was out of character to kill Zod, as there were some pretty good reasons, but I can definitely see how it may seem out of character. If we had gotten more time to know the new Superman (instead of action scene after action scene), it would have been easier to understand that he's not a killer, making his forced choice even more dramatic.

Fortunately, Cavill's performance was good enough to communicate this point. But still, it could have been enhanced by better screenwriting, editing, or both.
bs77
bs77 - 6/19/2013, 12:05 PM
I think everyone is missing the point of the movie. It was an origin story. It wasn't about Superman. It was about Clark's journery towards becoming Superman. It was actually the moment he chose to save humanity, and destroy ZOD, thereby truly leaving him alone in the universe, that he transformed into Superman. Now he really is the "last son". That choice to save and sacrifice in a single moment is what defines Superman. Superman has always made the great sacrifices, whether they involve killing or not.

It's pointless to complain that this wasn't the Superman we know and love. He wasn't Superman until the last few minutes, he was a "man of steel" in this movie, and Superman was the final product of a great journey and great sacrifice for humanity.

If the movie was about Superman, they would've called it Superman. It's just like Batman Begins; the movie wasn't about Batman. It was about Bruce's journey, and becoming something more than a man.

The sequel will be about Superman, and I'm very excited about where the story will and can go from here. We're in for a real treat these next few years.
JorEllinator
JorEllinator - 6/19/2013, 12:06 PM
I have absolutely NO PROBLEM with this. I wasn't out of character at all. Why?

1. Superman tries to stop him, hinting at Superman always trying to find another way without crossing the line Which leads me to the next point...

2. It creates the line.
Clearly after killing Zod, he feels so much remorse and is shows how human he actually is, Superman, the god goes to a human (Lois Lane) who he could kill just like that to help him, he basically cries on her shoulder. This makes Superman never want to cross the line again as he doesn't want to feel more of this guilt.

3. SUPERMAN DID IT IN SUPERMAN 2!
The difference between these two are that in 2, Zod is defenseless and his powers were gone. He didn't have to push him of a cliff. Hell, Lois Lane kills Ursa! In MoS, Superman had no choice.
comicb00kguy
comicb00kguy - 6/19/2013, 1:18 PM
I refer everyone back to Superman vs. the Elite, where the central point of the story involved the question 'should Superman kill?'. The answer is an unequivocal NO. NEVER. Not under ANY circumstances.

Does anyone remember when Pa Kent had his heart attack, and despite Superman's best efforts to get him to a hospital ASAFP, Pa Kent still died? Superman learned that day that for all his powers, some things were beyond his control. A lot more meaningful of a death than what we see in MOS. No other version of Superman I've ever read or seen would have allowed that to happen.

I hear enough "Oh, but he regretted killing Zod afterwards". Well, what about the countless thousands of civilians he killed, injured, and/or endangered during the fight with Zod? He didn't seem too damn remorseful about that. And that's another thing that is wrong. Most versions of Superman, he does whatever he can to minimize risk of endangering the people. He CARES about the people. This 'Superman' hardly cares at all. He's trashing the city during his fight with Zod with little regard for the people in the buildings he's destroying. Some "hero".

Bottom line is that Superman always represented the BEST in humanity. He was a true hero in every sense of the word. He wasn't just another super-strong thug with a costume. MOS makes him exactly that. There is nothing "super" about this "superman". So please, let the juvenile insults commence. You know I'm right.
pesmerga44
pesmerga44 - 6/19/2013, 3:19 PM
Wait how were those buildings evacuated Metropolis was full when they first started the gravity engine. It would take hours upon hours to evacuate even the small area around the ship but the entire city it would take days that's millions of people in that city. All of them panicking over this alien ship and don't forget how on the streets everything is being lifted high into the air to then come crashing down every 15-20 secs. I believe most people would have hidden in the buildings in fear of what was going on.
pesmerga44
pesmerga44 - 6/19/2013, 7:37 PM
Those buildings are not abandoned you can't abandon a 20 story building with thousands of people in it within a few minutes. My biggest issue with the Superman and Zod fight even going back to the Smallville fight is that they never showed Superman even try to take the fight out of populated areas. He just punches Zod and others through buildings and rams them through buildings. What they should have done is try to show him trying to take these fights out of these areas but failing due to inexperience because we are never shown that concern for innocent bystanders.
pesmerga44
pesmerga44 - 6/20/2013, 1:10 AM
I will give you an answer to why the Avengers weren't given the hassle Man of Steel has been given over people dying due to them fighting. The Avengers gave a concerted effort in trying to avoid casualties with them showing them taking fights away from people and trying to at least keep them within a certain area to keep lost of life as little as possible. They show us Captain America working with Police to get people into the subway tunnels and away from the fighting. The Hulk is shown stopping one of the alien ships from crashing into a building full of people. Thor goes to the tallest point in the city to use his lighting to not inadvertently hurt anyone besides the aliens with his lightning.

Superman never shows any effort at all to get the fighting away from highly populated areas. He is duking it out with Zod in the middle of Metropolis punching, throwing, and ramming Zod through buildings and having the same done to him. Again I understand that he is new at what he is doing and fighting with much more experienced fighters but never once do I see him show any concern for where he is fighting. At least show us he is trying to take the fight outside the city but failing to do so because of Zod. Unfortunately it was done for aesthetic reasons because it would look cooler having them crash through buildings then say fight at a mountain or in a corn field.
pesmerga44
pesmerga44 - 6/20/2013, 8:10 AM
Okay how would taking the aliens out into the sea be able to help them only Tony and Thor can fly they are down to 33% fighting capability against everything. They kept the fighting within an area of New York and kept them from moving out to keep any casualties to a minimum. Also how is taking the nuclear missile out to sea helpful because the explosion that occurred from the missile seemed to go for miles so he would have to take it really far out to sea. Also the nuclear fallout from the explosion would effect more then likely the entire Eastern Seaboard along with South America and probably Europe and Africa. Cap didn't abandon the people to die in the building he got them out the explosion didn't effect the people inside you see them running out of the building.

Superman wasn't fighting Zod in the middle of ground zero where everything was already destroyed he was fighting him throughout the entire city going through multiple buildings.
comicb00kguy
comicb00kguy - 6/20/2013, 10:24 AM
MrEko: Superman 'pretends' to murder the Elite because they have already shown a predispositon to murder and they don't believe Superman will cross that line. When he appears to start 'killing' the Elite, it quickly throws them off of their game. They thought they had finished Superman off, Superman did this as a 'mind game' because he knew that doing so was the only way he was going to defeat them without REALLY killing them. They were thrown off of their game, which allowed Superman to take them down one by one. The people were shocked because they couldn't believe Superman killed a villain. They were quite relieved and happy to see that Superman had not given into that temptation, and remained as the bastion of truth, justice, and the American Way that they admired and respected.

I'm guessing this story was "syrupy" and "saccharine" because it shows that Superman holds himself to a higher standard than just taking the easy way out and killing the villains and he submits to the rule of law, trusting the justice system to properly deal with the villains. I hope I'm wrong about that, because amoral attitudes like that are what's to blame for the slow death of the comics industry that we are witnessing today.
ThunderKat
ThunderKat - 6/20/2013, 3:30 PM
The most successful superhero movies have not changed the essential essence of the characters portrayed.

That is why Iron Man has been a success while having some of the weakest depictions of super villains on screen.
AC1
AC1 - 6/21/2013, 1:52 PM
It made perfect sense for him to kill Zod in the end. There was no other choice - he couldn't lure Zod away, as Zod's objective was to kill humans at that point, not to follow Superman and fight him.

In the scenario Zod left him in at the end, when Superman had him in a headlock, Superman probably could have tried some other things (like flying Zod away, for example) but that would've been risky, since Zod's heat vision was active, and could've damaged the building and caused it to collapse on the people he was trying to save. In the end, Superman's only surefire way of saving the humans was to kill Zod.

And at that moment, I was angry. I was angry and sad that I'd just seen Superman kill a bad guy. I felt betrayed. And that was a good thing, because it's exactly how Superman felt too. Superman didn't want to kill Zod - he's not some coldhearted anti-hero like The Punisher, who kills bad guys on a whim - he will always try to find another way if possible, so for him to kill Zod in the way he did, it means that while he may have succeeded in defending Earth from Zod, he lost in terms of his own moral code. Essentially, he sacrificed a part of his own soul to save Earth by killing Zod.
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