How Superman Resolved the Issue of Zod *MEGA SPOILER* - Part 1

[FlawlessVictory]

So he was a child throughout the film? That's news to me.

Jon was instructing him throughout his childhood, yes, up until his death. And up until his death he was Jon's kid and will always be his kid. So not literally kid as in child but as he was growing up.

So who else was telling Clark what to do, especially after he decided to become Superman?

 

[CGHulk]

edit.

 

[Smashlilman]

 

[LostSon88]

If it was Doomsday that Clark killed, would there be as much of an uproar?

Somehow, I doubt it.

 

[Man of Steel]

If it was Doomsday that Clark killed, would there be as much of an uproar?

Somehow, I doubt it.

But Doomsday isn't really alive in the first place, though.

 

[Fenrir]

From my post in the "second viewing thread":

When Superman has Zod in a chokehold and is begging him "don't do this!", you can truly feel the weight of his dilemma - save the people he loves or murder the last remaining member of his race. Bruce Wayne's denouncement of killing makes sense due to his personal loss, and kudos to Goyer for having the balls to put Superman in such a position where his decision will form his code of cherishing life in a manner that means just as much to him, if not more, as it does to Bruce Wayne.

The more I think about the best parts of this film, the more I love them. Superman may not have many great villains, but the character himself can be portrayed in so many beautiful and profound ways, I find it baffling that people deem him to be boring and uninteresting when he is actually the exact opposite. The ineptitude of the writers who fail to realize Superman's narrative potential is irrelevant to the merits of the character itself.

 

[Smashlilman]

From my post in the "second viewing thread":

When Superman has Zod in a chokehold and is begging him "don't do this!", you can truly feel the weight of his dilemma - save the people he loves or murder the last remaining member of his race. Bruce Wayne's denouncement of killing makes sense due to his personal loss, and kudos to Goyer for having the balls to put Superman in such a position where his decision will form his code of cherishing life in a manner that means just as much to him, if not more, as it does to Bruce Wayne.

The more I think about the best parts of this film, the more I love them. Superman may not have many great villains, but the character himself can be portrayed in so many beautiful and profound ways, I find it baffling that people deem him to be boring and uninteresting when he is actually the exact opposite. The ineptitude of the writers who fail to realize Superman's narrative potential is irrelevant to the merits of the character itself.

It's not murder!! garsh darnit. It's justifiable Homicide. There's a difference.

 

[BH/HHH]

My missus (loved the film btw) was all tense during the Zod moment and when he broke her neck she was shocked, she gasped. Afterwards I asked her why and she said she knew he had too but it stunned her cause you don't expect that kind of thing in CBM.

So I asked her if she thought it was wrong Superman killed and she said no he had too and that it emotionally dragged her in (which is the best way to get my missus into a film grab her emotionally). She thought it was a great way to end the fight.

 

[Fenrir]

It's not murder!! garsh darnit. It's justifiable Homicide. There's a difference.

We're not in law school, there's no need for fine semantic distinctions and technicalities. So let's just pretend in the context of my post, they're both the same things, okay?

 

[smallville fan]

One thing especially the critics should know is that this is the First Act of a much greater story. What if what Superman did is something that's going to affect a later plot.

Let's say MOS 3's villain was Doomsday, where the Battle of Metropolis with Zod happens all over again basically. What if in the fight, Clark starts flashing back to the Zod and holds back allowing himself to be hit, and just goes for getting people out rather than trading punches? From all this he loses focus and ends up being hit to the point where he's "dying" and in the last final moment, this happens(3:26-4:15):

[YT]02CbAFfppIY[/YT]

 

[Nathan]

Man, I wonder how many people he killed creating that crater.

 

[-Arya-]

But Doomsday isn't really alive in the first place, though.

It all depends on what we mean by ”alive”. If we refer to an organism that fits the biological definition,of life, then doomsday is alive. Whether or not he is a conscious entity is debatable, but in which i believe there is no definitive answer.

 

[LostSon88]

But in both respects you had two (Doomsday and Zod) beings that would've stopped at nothing to kill every last remaining human on the planet.

Yet I can't help but think that a majority would be okay with Superman killing one of them as opposed to the other simply based on semantics.

Which is the case here.

 

[the last son]

I hope we don't reflect on this in sequels. He did what he had to do. If Doomsday or any other villain comes and does this much destruction Superman should do it again, no questions asked.

 

[Steamteck]

Honestly, I never got one shred of the "he was upset because he killed" vibe.

The only thing that popped in my head was he was greatly upset from having to purposely end the life of the last connection he had to his home planet.

Honestly. seriously. I don't see how you couldn't but everyone's perceptions are different.

 

[Steamteck]

Just saw that end battle between Clark and Zod and it was a game changer for Superman. The reaction to it from the crowd was interesting.

My theater clapped then and at the end.

 

[Steamteck]

It was handled better with Bruce in Begins, different circumstances but better result. .

Actually his moment of not executing the murderer in the monastery almost certain resulted in the murderer's death anyway and most of his fellow students present so it was little problem for me. it still didn't ruin and good movie for me though.

 

[Motown Marvel]

It all depends on what we mean by ”alive”. If we refer to an organism that fits the biological definition,of life, then doomsday is alive. Whether or not he is a conscious entity is debatable, but in which i believe there is no definitive answer.

He was a genetically engineered non-sentient being without organs.

 

[coffeesowcedude]

Some people have complained that the writers should never have put superman in that situation and that just drives me up the wall. Its not a question of what situation you choose to put superman in - as a writer you can do whatever you like - it's how you present it that matters. If superman did exist and had to fight someone like Zod it seems reasonable he would have found himself in that situation eventually. It was a shocking situation and that was the point of it. Superman had two choices in that scene - risk the deaths of an innocent family (I emphasise the word risk) or kill Zod. He made a split second decision, and it was pretty gripping stuff. This scene reshaped my ideas on the morality of killing. Maybe in this case it was completely necessary? That's something no superman film has ever done before. Superman's goal above all else is to preserve innocent life. It's tragic that he had to kill Zod, but it had to be done

 

[Loki882]

I loved the ending. I like that for once a superhero was put in a situation where he was forced to make a difficult moral and ethical choice. Having Superman constantly come up with contrived dues ex machine ways to avoid making difficult decisions is annoying and makes the character less interesting. Superman did what had to be done. Very few men deserved to die more than Zod did. Despite this, it still devastated him. It makes him more real while staying true to the character

 

[Brother Jack]

I wish there had been more of Clark expressing an attachment to Zod and his cohorts as fellow Kryptonians. This is a guy who's supposed to be the last remaining individual of an entire species and he finds out rather abruptly that he isn't alone. It's a clever reversal of Zod's proclamation to Earth that "you are not alone" and is clearly a big factor in why it is so tragic for Clark to kill him. But that doesn't get developed enough and so Superman's pained yell after the fact comes off as too over the top (a Snyder staple) when it should have felt appropriate.

I have no issue with the actual kill itself though. It was a situation where he had no choice.

 

[Loki882]

I can agree with that. The movie should have been a half-hour to forty minutes longer. I wonder if the studio forced Snyder to cut the movie done so that they could show more screenings.

 

[Brother Jack]

I can agree with that. The movie should have been a half-hour to forty minutes longer. I wonder if the studio forced Snyder to cut the movie done so that they could show more screenings.

I don't think it's an issue of length necessarily. The movie already felt pretty long to me. It's more about having a more measured approach to what was in film fleshing some things out. I'd have gladly cut down on the action for this.

 

[Loki882]

I liked the action overall. For the first time in thirty-five years, we got to see an actual all-out Superman fight in live action. However, I agree that they could of cut out ten or fifteen minutes of action to address your point. I think the tentacles, while cool, could have been trimmed down. However, I LOVED the brawl with Zod. Cavill and Shannon were both awesome.

 

[afan]

In regards to Doomsday.....did Superman consciously kill Doomsday...if I recall he knew he had to give his all, i.e. no holds barred, to even hope to stop him....but was Superman aware that his actions would kill Doomsday.......if not.... Doomsday's death( if that's what it was)....is not comparable to breaking Zod's neck.