Henry Cavill’s Superman in the widely acclaimed Man of Steel belonged to a dark narrative that builds slowly and engulfs you whole. It wasn’t revolutionary or desperately creative. Zack Snyder entered the fray with an imperial vision of how he wanted to mold the new DC universe and when he left, the DCEU bore the mark of a haunting psychological phenomenon that has seduced the masses for almost a decade now. One of those marks includes Superman getting his hands bloody.
Recap: Superman vs General Zod Showdown in Man of Steel
The dread-filled silence of the screams and death that Zack Snyder magnificently applied to Man of Steel perhaps even overtakes his cinematography and color gradients. The director used the silence and benefitted from it because it left the impression of the ringing void that is left in the wake of an immense loss. That silence was depicted in the moments of Kevin Costner aka Jonathan Kent’s death and once more in the aftermath of Superman snapping General Zod’s neck.
The skyscraper crashing fight that demolished half of the Metropolis was a constant ringing of shattering glass and unbridled demolitions. But in the end, none of those moments mattered when the sounds tuned out and Superman screamed with the loss of his humanity which he craved so hard to preserve. The moment was not just definitive in the becoming of the comic book character but was a topic of controversy among the fans of the newly minted DCEU who did not want to accept a morally grey character as their hero and savior.
Kevin Smith Defends the Controversial Superman Scene
According to screenwriter, actor, and director, Kevin Smith, there was no overt and unjust exploitation of creative liberty where Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel is concerned, especially while referring to the infamous death of General Zod. Snyder’s Superman was not the first to commit the act with such finality on the screen and Smith assuredly reminds his readers of the fact by referencing the Supe from the ’70s and ’80s era.
“[Christopher Reeve’s] Superman very controversially snapped General Zod’s neck, which I didn’t quite understand… because in Superman II, General Zod is also killed in the Fortress of Solitude. They just presumably leave his body. So, when people are like, ‘Hey man, this ain’t Superman,’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know. Superman was killing people in the 70s and the 80s, as well.'”
Smith’s mention of the particular film that depicts a morally ambiguous Superman was Christopher Reeve‘s Superman II (1980) when the titular hero kills General Zod after taking away his powers, essentially turning the Kryptonian villain into a mortal. But the fundamental difference between Superman II and Man of Steel is the depiction of pain, grief, and remorse shown in the aftermath of the action — in the case of the former, there was none while for the latter, Henry Cavill‘s silent scream still echoes in the vaulted corners of our minds.
Source: GQ
