TMOS Review & Speculation Thread

[Herolee10]

Maybe its the first kill which makes him realise never again? This is an origin story after all

If that was the intent, it's not an very good means of executing out that plan. It should be enough that he was raised on good values from the Kents for him to know that killing isn't right, no matter the circumstance.

 

[InJustice]

Because it somewhat betrays on what Superman stands for. He’s not about killing, but about hope. The fact that he chooses not to actively kill his enemies is one of the things that separates him from most heroes. It’s one thing to modernize him but another thing to betray one of the very cores and foundations of his character. It’s like having Batman actively using a handgun when crime fighting.

At least it pushes the boundaries and asks the question of "what would X do if he was presented with the opportunity to kill?" For the Bruce Wayne in that TAS picture I just showed, he retired because of that. It'd be interesting to explore Superman's psyche after he killed, since it would humanize him in a way.

 

[craigdbfan]

I could conceive of a Goku VS Frieza type climax, where Supes initially spares Zod, but then Zod proceeds to attack again moments later. Then Supes offs him.

Hmm I could see something like that.

 

[moviefan!]

If that was the intent, it's not an very good means of executing out that plan. It should be enough that he was raised on good values from the Kents for him to know that killing isn't right, no matter the circumstance.

Wouldnt everything turn upside down when you realise you are superman having never fought an enemy before?

 

[DanSupKP37]

If that was the intent, it's not an very good means of executing out that plan. It should be enough that he was raised on good values from the Kents for him to know that killing isn't right, no matter the circumstance.

Nope...

Zod is a super villain from Krypton, you can't just lock him up.. If Superman has to deal with a hard reality of killing Zod or losing the lives of thousands

you do what needs to be done...

 

[Princess Denise]

Everyone walked out of Superman 2 thinking Superman killed Zod..

It's not a big deal..

Yep. When I saw SM II in 1981 (I was 8 years old) I just assumed Superman killed Zod, Lois killed Ursa, and Non died from the fall. It NEVER occurred to me that they had all survived and it never bothered me. They were three EVIL super villains after all! It was not until 2006 when I saw Richard Donner's version of SM II that I realized that the original intent was to have them all survive. I must say that I prefer Richard Lester's version because I feel the deaths were needed for dramatic finality.

 

[Herolee10]

At least it pushes the boundaries and asks the question of "what would X do if he was presented with the opportunity to kill?" For the Bruce Wayne in that TAS picture I just showed, he retired because of that. It'd be interesting to explore Superman's psyche after he killed, since it would humanize him in a way.

True, but at least they never had Bruce actively pull the trigger in the DCU. It's not the same as having Superman kill Zod by snapping his neck.

Wouldnt everything turn upside down when you realise you are superman having never fought an enemy before?

I can understand that, but there are just some things that writers should avoid doing with Superman period. It's like almost saying, well the reason why Superman is such an polite person with women is because he used to hit and abuse his previous ex girlfriend and cheated on her with her sister, hence him realizing that he shouldn't do that anymore.

 

[Herolee10]

Nope...

Zod is a super villain from Krypton, you can't just lock him up.. If Superman has to deal with a hard reality of killing Zod or losing the lives of thousands

you do what needs to be done...

Two Words:

Phantom Zone; we know that it exists in this canon and it could certainly be used against Zod, keeping Superman's hands free from his blood.

 

[Tra-El]

Nope...

Zod is a super villain from Krypton, you can't just lock him up.. If Superman has to deal with a hard reality of killing Zod or losing the lives of thousands

you do what needs to be done...

YES. Exactly what I was debating on other forums.

I asked somebody who was SEVERELEY against Superman killing. I asked:

Superman is going up against MULTIPLE beings (on top of other things) with the same power-set he has that has EVER intention to cold-bloodily KILL. Now, with equal strength, say Superman is getting beat to a pulp so bad that he can't out-muscle 3 of his kind.

Zod has your little child, in his hands ready to murder her. The only thing Superman can do at this point to save the little girl from murder, is to go past his limits of his moral code and kill Zod by saving this child.

Ask yourself: Would you be okay with the fact that Zod killed an innocent little girl, something Superman could have prevented, just because Superman didn't kill Zod in this situation?

I don't think so.

 

[The Sage]

You can't say it ruins the movie for you though.. Say the movie is 2 hrs and 15 min in and you love it but in the last 3 min he kills Zod..

It's crazy to say "I hate the movie because he killed Zod"..

Didn't say that would happen at all.

Nope...

Zod is a super villain from Krypton, you can't just lock him up.. If Superman has to deal with a hard reality of killing Zod or losing the lives of thousands

you do what needs to be done...

Yeah, he does what needs to be done...he pops open the Phantom Zone and throws Zod in there.

 

[InJustice]

Two Words:

Phantom Zone; we know that it exists in this canon and it could certainly be used against Zod, keeping Superman's hands free from his blood.

And if he escaped from the Phantom Zone in order to attack Earth, what's to stop him from doing the same thing again?

The Phantom Zone isn't perfect.

 

[Herolee10]

And if he escaped from the Phantom Zone in order to attack Earth, what's to stop him from doing the same thing again?

The Phantom Zone isn't perfect.

Spoiler

He doesn't escape the PZ in the film. He escapes from being sentenced into it. In the official guidebook, it states that before Zod and his group can be sent to the PZ, they escape using Black Zero (which is ironically used to transport criminals there).

It's theorized that Superman will use the mother ship that landed on Earth eons ago to open up another portal in order to banish Zod there this time around.

 

[The Sage]

And if he escaped from the Phantom Zone in order to attack Earth, what's to stop him from doing the same thing again?

The Phantom Zone isn't perfect.

Well we don't know whether Zod escapes the Phantom Zone or not. I really haven't read all of the story details as I wanted to keep myself in the dark.

Even if he did, the circumstances involving his escape could change later on and he may not be able to leave again if locked up.

 

[DanSupKP37]

Two Words:

Phantom Zone; we know that it exists in this canon and it could certainly be used against Zod, keeping Superman's hands free from his blood.

You don't know that to be an option...

It depends on the circumstances of why he kills Zod..

Is there is a way to stop him without killing and see to it everyone is safe or not??

 

[Herolee10]

You don't know that to be an option...

It depends on the circumstances of why he kills Zod..

Is there is a way to stop him without killing and see to it everyone is safe or not??

It's most likely an option since

Spoiler

I can't see it having been introduced into the film without it being used again at some point at the end of it.

And the PZ is pretty much the only way to stop Zod without killing him; either that, or stripping him of his powers.

 

[Snark88]

I just did a lot of thinking on this issue and here are my two cents on it:

Having Superman kill Zod is brilliant.

No really, if it plays out as described, I think that's a great climax to this movie. Because think about it, this is a story of Kal-El trying to find his place in the world, where loneliness and isolation are key themes in the film, as he struggles to fit in with the rest of humanity. But then it turns out that there were actually survivors from Krypton and now Kal's entire world is turned upside down. He has to make a decision to either side with his people, or defend Earth. At the end he kills the only other (assuming the rest of Zod's henchmen are dead at the time) surviving Kryptonian, in order to save humanity who've sheltered him his whole life. The weight of that decision has got to be so overwhelming to him, it's indescribable.

I'm sorry but an ending like this fits so well with the theme of this movie. Some of you may not like it, and that's understandable, but I really think people need to give it a chance here. God forbid we see the guardian of humanity make extremely difficult decisions and express heavy emotions afterwards.

 

[DanSupKP37]

Yeah, he does what needs to be done...he pops open the Phantom Zone and throws Zod in there.

Zod appears to be coming to earth on a ship..

We don't know if there is a Phantom Zone in MOS..

People need to stop reading spoilers that could be fake..

 

[sup101]

What happen to the other kryptonians?Do he kill them too.

 

[Andreth]

The confrontation betwen Superman & Manchester Black and his great speech about refusing to kill him even when MB makes him think Lois is laying dead in front of him is one of my most loved superman moments in comics ever. His speech is really something.

I've been open to changes, heck, I've celebrated the changes so far, but this is on a whole different level.

If there's is really a confirmation that he really kills Zod snapping his neck like that then I'm gonna be heartbroken and while I don't expect this to ruin the entire movie, my enjoyment of it is gonna be clouded by this.

 

[TheFlamingCoco]

"If that was the intent, it's not an very good means of executing out that plan. It should be enough that he was raised on good values from the Kents for him to know that killing isn't right, no matter the circumstance."

I'm sure most people aren't happy that Osama Bin Laden was wrongfully murdered. HOWEVER, in a fictitious world, in which not killing can BE a viable option, superheroes can hold themselves to that extreme morality standard.

If this Superman has the resources to avoid killing, then the killing was unnecessary. If not, then it is, but placing him in this extreme scenario on his FIRST reboot, IMHO is a bad call.

 

[AnneFan]

I think Kryptonians will be sent into the Phantom Zone. Though the question is if all of them are. If there is a straggler that avoids banishment, something has to happen to them.

 

[X Knight]

If Superman kills Zod, what about the other Kryptonians??

clearly, they are a dangerous bunch, too.

why not just off them and be done with the threat??

in the future, Lex will ( most likely ) prove to be a dangerous foe. perhaps he too will be responsible for countless crimes and/or deaths.

why not snap his neck??

where do you draw the line?

 

[Herolee10]

Zod appears to be coming to earth on a ship..

We don't know if there is a Phantom Zone in MOS..

People need to stop reading spoilers that could be fake..

It's not fake...

Spoiler

It was confirmed from the scanned images of the OFFICIAL guidebook that Black Zero was a vessel used on Krypton to transport criminals to the PZ.

 

[The Sage]

Zod appears to be coming to earth on a ship..

We don't know if there is a Phantom Zone in MOS..

People need to stop reading spoilers that could be fake..

If people did that then this discussion about killing wouldn't be happening.

 

[X Knight]

Zod appears to be coming to earth on a ship..

We don't know if there is a Phantom Zone in MOS..

People need to stop reading spoilers that could be fake..

there IS a Phantom Zone in the MOS universe. the art book confirmed that.