The Man of Steel Controversy Continues

The Man of Steel Controversy Continues

What are people's REAL issues with the Man of Steel? Oxbow breaks down the Superman origin’s ending (along with a special appearance by The Dark Knight himself!)

Editorial Opinion
By Oxbow - Jun 23, 2013 03:06 PM EST
Filed Under: Superman

The ending of Man of Steel continues to spark thought, discussion and disagreement among fans. I gave my review here but after watching another great CBM, The Dark Knight, I was inspired to do this article. Problems with the ending was largely why I gave MOS 4/5 stars, and TDK 4.5/5 stars. From the first time I watched it, I remember hating the let's-frame-Batman plot; Batman takes the blame for Two-face and runs away, to hobble around Wayne Manor in sadness for 8 years? GTFO!!! The 12 year-old me says Batman doesn’t quit… just like Superman doesn't kill! It’s one of those unspoken rules usually not breached in the Annals of Iterations. As a storyteller, you have to be really careful when treading upon those rules. I can believe Batman would sacrifice himself for the greater good, but not in such a way as to leave Gotham without a defender.



Back to Man of Steel: after his plans for gravity-boning the earth were frustrated, Zod was driven insane by his genetic programming. The last hope for Krypton is gone, and Zod will now destroy the world in vengeance (translation: death by Superman). I get it; it’s an airtight case for The Big Blue Boy-scout to make the decision to use lethal force. It’s also understood that he is not even Superman yet; this is us watching Kal-El being forged in the great fire of Metropolis. He has yet to earn the title and is unaccustomed to some of his powers, no less to cutting loose on someone who can really take it! Still, there was a failure in keeping the audience with you. That is to say, these decisions resulted in the film-makers getting it from both sides!

Comic book fans will say it’s unrealistic to their established core of the Superman character. The early days of Superman disposing of his enemies without serious psychic consequences to himself are far gone, and largely lost to cultural memory. So even approaching that line in a Superman movie is automatically a big deal!

On the other hand, if your plan is to tell a realistic story of Superman from dying Krypton, then you expect the general audience to take it seriously as well. When you put on a spectacle strangely reminiscent of the 9-11 attacks pumped up to an exponential level, it’s already going to be intense for film audiences to watch! The Donner fans want a Superman who can save everyone, as do those who go to other disasters in those moments. The general audience identifies with the Metropolitans and wants Superman to save them, by extension.

Add to that the, ahem, "twist" at the end of Zod’s death by Superman, and it does take the disaster movie into the territory of Greek mythology: tragic, violent and very powerful. The scene itself is effective. However, the path to our arriving at this point (not to mention the payoff) is seriously lacking.



The effects of these world-changing event are not explored, atleast in this movie. It is my hope that they continue to deal with the consequences of MOS in the sequel. How all of this affects geopolitics, Superman, Luthor and other heroes would be a dream come true to watch! And since reality is all about cause and effect, it would help fill in a lot missing in action from the end of this movie. There is this moment when Kal-El cries out at the injustice of being used as a destroyer in this way, and Lois comes, Madonna-like, to comfort him. That scene was able to say a lot without saying anything. The strongest Man on Earth has killed the evil from his home-world and embraced humanity. It was well-handled. It was not enough. I don’t want a Return of the King ending that carries on for 45 minutes after the climax, but throw me a bone here! I only wish they did not try to pretend like nothing happened afterwards.

When does the Daily Planet get rebuilt? What are the consequences of the battle, and how it ended, on everyone? A scene of Superman and more Lexcorp and Wayne Enterprises people rescuing people, rebuilding, etc. would have gone a long way. Don't get me wrong: the next scene is great. Superman shoots a US drone out of the sky right in front of the general, pushing back against military incursion into the Superzone. Message received: Kal-El is his own man…which he shall now prove by promptly spilling his state of residence to the general. “Sure, just ask around, General! If you hear-tell of the boy who could single-handedly lift a school bus, then you know you’re getting warm!” Add to that the joke about him being hot, and the whole scene plays a little “off” after all the destruction we just witnessed.

Anyway, SOMEBODY has rebuilt the DP, so it’s back to business as usual in the dying industry of print media. And here comes a cute and ironic introduction of Lois and Clark! It’s a good, reassuring note to go out on, and sets the Superman mythos into neutral, tooled up and ready to go for the sequel. A nice way to go out, but fundamentally leaving many of the groups who would potentially go see this movie in the cold. Like Krypton, the ending had no core. The fights and mayhem have their place, but if you don't use them in the right place, they will not have the right effect.



In films especially, how you end determines to a large part how people will talk about you; it’s the last thing audiences see and the first thing they discuss when the movie’s over. In this instance, the end-tone was just right but unfortunately, the lead-up did skip a few beats, resulting in a disjointed ending overall.


Next time: The Man of Steel sequel! I have 3 villains in mind that would make for a great story and allow you to introduce other heroes into the DCCU as well. Any guesses??? Comment below!
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McNyagano
McNyagano - 6/23/2013, 3:49 PM
"When does the Daily Planet get rebuilt? What are the consequences of the battle, and how it ended, on everyone? A scene of Superman and more Lexcorp and Wayne Enterprises people rescuing people, rebuilding"

Those are the REAL issues people have with Man of Steel
LeaderVladimir
LeaderVladimir - 6/23/2013, 3:58 PM
About the whole "Superman kills Zod" thing, I can understand the fans' complaints, but the fact is that this Superman is still a rookie and he's not going to be the same Boy Scout we see in comic books just out of nowhere. This is definitely a good movie and I want a sequel.
halvor311
halvor311 - 6/23/2013, 4:44 PM
Pretty good article. I would argue though that the Daily Planet hasn't been completely rebuilt, the globe looked like it was on the first floor where it's supposed to be on the roof. Also, the amount of destruction is expected, I don't really get why everyone is so up in arms about it. The same people who like the animated shows which don't address the destruction at all see something that looks and feels real. It's what would happen if two Gods fought to the death in a city. People want Superman to be the perfect man from the comics in his first week as the symbol of hope. He has to get there. Good article. I hope the movie continues to be successful.
RLYHYPERGUY
RLYHYPERGUY - 6/23/2013, 5:19 PM
Dude, you totally just put into words most of my problems with this movie! Your article deserves a thumbs-up!
TheGeekTheses
TheGeekTheses - 6/23/2013, 6:55 PM
It'll be interesting to see how the general public reacts to Superman in the next movie after the massive destruction caused by the battle in this one. Will they accept him, or reject him? Good article.

By the way, check out my Man of Steel review and the Superhero Movie Power Rankings at thegeektheses.wordpress.com.

-The Geek Theses
DruDox19
DruDox19 - 6/23/2013, 7:07 PM
IMO superman will always get hate this is a character that attracts haters imo. One of my biggest problems about this is the damage control argument of the film. I will say it and i will say it again why is this not brought up in every action film about damage. Why is it when Superman happens to fight someone just has powerful has him people bitch and say too much destruction. Now my fears for MOS 2 is going even higher if people are going PC over DC heros causing damage whats next WW I she gonna have it worst i can already see critics saying the WW film was Misogynistic and saying Diana didnt give a shit about damage control

Perhaps my problem with this article is that if you read the DC story WW3 the same [frick]ing shit happened but worst then the MOS. Black Adam went on a killing spree and killed 200 million people more than the metroplis death toll IGN [frick]ing made up. The complaints about not caring lol Black Adam was throwing billy and Superman thru buildings on purpose causing people to die. Superman tried to get Black Adam away from populations a Adam didn't give a shit matter a fact HE DIDNT CARE HE WENT RIGHT BACK TO CAUSE MORE DAMAGE!!!!!!!! I really think the Zod battle was inspired by WW3 with BLack Adam

Superman and Captain Marvel where trying there hardest to move the fight and Adam kept coming and coming hell bent on killing every single Mortal on earth he said with his words. The JLA came and Adam still killed some JLA memebrs and still went to populated areas has much has possible to kill more people. What Zod did in MOS is the same shit Black Adam would have done just times Zods fight with SUperman by 20,000 times thas what Black Adam did to earth humans.

So i am suprised how fanboys never brought that up and Superman said ok billy to kill Black Adam ( they teleported him to his prison) he was not going to stop Black Adam made it clear every man woman and child everyone who is Mortal would be killed by him. Adams rampage was 100,000 times worst then Zods and no one in the comic community never said SHIT!!!!!!!!
AC1
AC1 - 6/24/2013, 6:56 AM
I think Superman killing Zod was handled very well in the film. I do agree though, that the transition from that scene to the 'happy' Superman stuff was a bit abrupt, and it could've done with another small scene inbetween as a buffer between the two: For example, they could've reworked the part where Superman shot down the UAV and had him 'put on a brave face' when talking to the general, and from there he could've flown to the farm. Clark could arrive to speak to his mother and it could show he was still upset over the battle and what he had to do, and maybe ask her if he did the right thing, and THEN go into the whole thing where Martha asks "What will you do now?" and Clark explains his plans and the montage which slightly flashes-forwards to show him working at the planet. It would've only added maybe a minute or two to the length of the movie, and probably would've made the transition much easier to swallow.
Lhornbk
Lhornbk - 6/24/2013, 4:20 PM
When was the Daily Planet rebuilt? Ummm...when was it destroyed? Yes, White evacuates everyone, but I don't remember a scene that specifically shows the building the Daily Planet was housed in being destroyed. As for the giant globe being in the lobby, I also don't remember there ever being a scene showing it on the roof, so maybe in this universe it's not on the roof. That's kinda garish anyway. If most of you will remember, the ending of the Avengers is interspersed with all these news reports about some people blaming the Avengers for the destruction while others defend them. MoS could've done something similar, but I think we all know if they had that everyone would've just called them copycats. And the movie was really too long to add much about the reconstruction. So that can be left for the sequel.
Oxbow
Oxbow - 6/24/2013, 4:44 PM
I expect Luthor is going to be a big part of the sequel. Like Worldbreaker and others have pointed out, he already has such a great setup in MOS that a Luthor storyline flows naturally! Hope he doesnt get a battlesuit for a while though...

With the right script, LL can be a much more compelling human nemesis than either Donner's version or the fighting Lex of the comics! In the 21st century, corporations have as much power as most nations in some respects...and as CEO, LL can bring all that weight down against "the alien." This would leave the screentime open for other villains that are a physical match for Kal-El to be included as well....

You know, I would love a shot at the screenplay. Sequels always have the most potential for badassery. Look at X2, TDK and Spiderman 2...some of the best we've gotten yet imo
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