Why the ending of Man of Steel is consistent with past iterations of Superman!

Why the ending of Man of Steel is consistent with past iterations of Superman!

This is support for the ending of Man of Steel. This article will contain major spoilers, so if you haven't seen the movie, TURN BACK NOW!!!

Editorial Opinion
By Batfan51 - Jun 16, 2013 11:06 AM EST
Filed Under: Superman

You have all been warned, but again this article will discuss spoilers about the end of Man of Steel, so if you haven't seen the movie and don't want the ending spoiled then stop reading now.

Okay if you are still here then you have already seen the movie or you know that at the end of Man of Steel, Superman kills Zod by breaking his neck in order to prevent Zod from killing a family using his heat vision. There has been much controversy over this, because "Superman isn't supposed to kill." I am here to tell you that that is entirely false and it is very Superman-like to kill his enemies.

In Superman 2, when the Kryptonians are depowered and basically unable to defend themselves, Superman (Christopher Reeve-many people's definitive Superman) kills them by throwing them into basically a black hole. Superman killed the Kryptonians when they were unable to fight back, which is arguably much worse than what he did in Man of Steel-killing Zod to protect a family. Superman kills Zod in the comics and both of the movies that feature Zod as a villain. He killed Doomsday in Death and Life of Superman by Roger Stern, and he has killed other villains in the past as a last resort.

In Man of Steel, you can see on Superman's face that he doesn't want to kill Zod, but he doesn't have a choice, because he knows that Zod will not stop until everyone on Earth is dead. Zod wants to kill every human being on the planet, because he was born to protect Krypton and Superman took that from him, and Superman was born to protect Earth. So if Zod is not going to be able to protect Krypton, then he believes that Superman should not be able to protect Earth. Superman kills Zod as a last resort, because he is willing to do anything to protect the fulfill his purpose for which he was born-to protect the people of Earth.

There are many references to Christianity and Jesus Christ in Man of Steel. Superman is seen in the crucifix pose twice in the film, in the church Jesus is seen over his shoulder, Clark is 33 years old (the age of Jesus when he was crucified), Jor-El sends his son away to protect the people of Earth because he knows he will be a God to them and he performed "acts of God" as a child. Superman killing Zod is taking the Christ comparisons one step further by showing that he is willing to take the final step in taking another life to protect his people, something that Jesus would never have done; he is an extremely stretched representation of God.

Superman was obviously upset with himself after he killed Zod, because he didn't want to do it, but he did because he had to in order to maintain his purpose. I for one like the fact that Superman is able to go to such extremes to achieve his ultimate goal, and I think it adds a dimension to his character that Batman doesn't have and will make their interaction that much more interesting when they do come in contact somewhere down the line (because we all know that is coming).

So to close, the criticism of the film that Superman would never kill is simply unwarranted, unsupported and ignorant, because Superman has killed before and will most likely do it again someday, but only when it is absolutely necessary. I thoroughly enjoyed the film, and it is in my top 3 comic book films of all time along with The Dark Knight and The Avengers. I like Henry Cavill as Superman, and I think that all of the characters were portrayed well in the movie. Just like Batman Begins was a complete reversal from Batman and Robin, Man of Steel is the exact opposite of Superman Returns. I think that Zack Snyder and Co. wanted to show that Superman is awesome, and although the film may have been somewhat lacking in character development, I think that will come in the sequel. I am pleased with the start to the DC Cinematic Universe and I can't wait to see where they go next.

Thank you for reading and leave your comments at the bottom!

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MrReese
MrReese - 6/16/2013, 12:00 PM
^agreed
He made a choice the Humans over Krypton.It had to be done.
AshleyWilliams
AshleyWilliams - 6/16/2013, 2:25 PM
I completely agree. It was refreshing to see him do that.
GoILL
GoILL - 6/16/2013, 4:25 PM
Thank you for this, I get tired of seeing that Superman all the crying about him killing Zod. I would probably feel differently if he did the shit and had a smile on his face afterwards.
ClarkFarley2012
ClarkFarley2012 - 6/16/2013, 4:44 PM
My jaw dropped to the ground when he snapped Zod's neck. You could tell he didn't want to but he had to.
broncodave83
broncodave83 - 6/16/2013, 7:17 PM
Great article and I agree with all of your points! I had no problem with him doing that. Just like everyone else here said, he had to do it and he felt terrible about it. Zod was an alien to us so its not like Superman killed a human. In fact, think about how many humans did he saved!! The avengers were killing aliens all over the place. Shooting them with arrows and guns, smashing them into buildings and taking a hammer to their face. But no one had a problem with them killing those threats, so why this one.
Bearjew
Bearjew - 6/16/2013, 7:21 PM
Dude best ending yet for a comic book movie. No one saw his death coming somehow and it actually surprised you. Even at the end of iron man people saw where it was going. I was giggling like a lunatic the whole movie
lucio7lopez
lucio7lopez - 6/17/2013, 12:14 AM
100% agree, what a great movie for god sake. I like a lot the Jesus references too.
Forthas
Forthas - 6/17/2013, 6:48 AM
I was watching the original Batman (Burton version) yesterday and it occurred to me that Batman killed tons of people. He dropped a bomb in a manufacturing plant a few feet away from people who were shooting at his car and later when he is in his bat wing he guns down the Joker's henchmen who were on a float.

In the Dark Knight Rises you could make the case that Batman kills Talia Al Ghul and in Batman Begins the fake Ras Al Ghul but it was obviously not intentional.

I think that the thing with Superman is that he will do everything to avoid killing unless he has to. It came across well in the Man of Steel movie.
Rohit9876
Rohit9876 - 6/18/2013, 10:07 AM
I totally agree & death of a villain in the end of a comic book movie has been the subject of controversy but you have to do it in most of times(not always) just to end that character & also accidental death are outdated so this was kind of emotional, unintentional death which is NEW thing.
Knight
Knight - 6/18/2013, 10:23 AM
I strongly disagree with your idea that was ok for Superman to kill Zod. It was most certainly NOT ok and never will be. Yes, Superman has killed before, but guess what? He ALWAYS could have found a better way! The only reason he didn't in those other cases was because of bad writing. Killing the phantom zone criminals wasn't necessary because he had PERMENTALLY taken their powers away when he used Gold Kryptonite on them. He didn't NEED to kill them. It was only a cheap cop out by John Bryne. Superman is all about doing the right thing. And he HAS proven he's better than killing. Just read Superman vs. The Elite as proof of that or better yet, watch the Animated Film. When Superman starts killing, he's no better than any of us when Superman should be BETTER than any of us as well as set a higher moral standard. You guys want a hero that kills, then Superman is not for you.

Oh, and by the way, Superman did not kill Zod and the others in Superman II. A deleted scene clearly shows them being arrested and alive.

People who advocate a Superman who kills are the ones who are ignorant of the character.
Jean
Jean - 7/1/2013, 7:10 AM
Man of Steel clearly still conforms to the idea that Superman doesn't kill. All that the movie does is bring in some character development in the sense that he will kill when it is the right thing to do. Personally, I'm glad that in Man of Steel, the character is strong enough to make the right choice when thrown into ultimate conflict. That is what makes a great story, after all. A hero must face conflict which forces him to come to a decision. A great hero - a character that is really worth watching will make the difficult choice if it is the right thing to do.

People should just stop throwing toys out of their strollers about this. As fans, we're not idiots and I think the producers would have been undermining our intelligence if they stifled the character's growth and kept him from killing the villan even when killing in the circumstances is the most sensible thing to do. I would be quite pissed actually. I don't want to be sitting there watching and thinking: "Why doesn't Superman just kill this jerk before he hurts more people?"

The fact that this this single aspect about the movie has opened up this debate proves that this was a great story.
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