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!