Jason, like many, went to see Man of Steel this past weekend, and shares his thoughts on the movie.
Stephen Schleicher
Stephen Schleicher began his career writing for the Digital Media Online community of sites, including Digital Producer and Creative Mac covering all aspects of the digital content creation industry. He then moved on to consumer technology, and began the Coolness Roundup podcast. A writing fool, Stephen has freelanced for Sci-Fi Channel's Technology Blog, and Gizmodo. Still longing for the good ol' days, Stephen launched Major Spoilers in July 2006, because he is a glutton for punishment. You can follow him on Twitter @MajorSpoilers and tell him your darkest secrets...
8 Comments
The only thing that bothered me about the movie was the Zod scene. But, as I said elsewhere, one of the most problematic things about Superman – from the golden age forward – was that he would not kill only because he was just so darned Good. The fact that he was forced to kill, and the guilt he feels about it, could be a more realistic reason for Superman to take an oath never to take a life again. Lets face it, the whole “no kill” thing is just a holdover from the Comics Code era, and if it’s going to be maintained, a better reason for it should be found than fifty year old censorship rules. Good review, Jason!
Thanks! Glad you liked it.
I disagree. Dramatically speaking, an oath never to kill is not the same as an oath never to kill AGAIN.
Also: Superman’s no-killing rule predates the Comics Code by damn near a decade…
Well, maybe. I didn’t like that Vulcan was destroyed either, but that didn’t make the Star Trek reboot a bad movie, though no doubt there are lots of trekkies and vulcanized fanboys who now hate J. J. Abrams with a passion. I will be interested in seeing where the producers go with this darker, grittier, more lethal Superman, just as I am interested in seeing where J. J. Abrams goes with Star Trek and Star Wars.
And that is more or less the point. People are interested in Superman movies once again! Just like how Frank Miller’s Dark Knight revitalized interest in Batman by having him defeat Superman and break the Joker’s neck. However uncomfortable these scenes made fanboys feel, they did serve as a defibrulating shock to revive a dying franchise. I mean, for Pete’s sake, go watch the Supergirl movie and Superman IV The Quest for Peace, if you don’t agree. Just make certain you have lots of eye bleach at hand.
And though you are right in pointing out that SuperJesus’ holier-than-thou oath predated the comics code by a few years, that didn’t stop DC from using it to point out how much better their company was from blighters like EC – and also it’s interesting how quickly they swept the whole thing with The Batman using pistols and machine guns under the rug once the Comic Code came around.
Again, Batman’s use of guns came DECADES before the code, which was enacted in 1954.
Batman stopped using guns in the Spring of 1940 after Batman #1 came out.
Matthew, I’m curious. Do you know the first mention of Superman’s no killing rule?
And also are there any more instances of Superman killing besides the two I mention above that aren’t an Elseworld story?
I’m not able to watch the review from work, so maybe these are the two you’ve already mentioned, but …
Superman first de-powers and then kills Zod, Ursa and Non in Action Comics, vol. 2, issue #22 (October 1988).
He also de-powers them (via a LIE!) and then kills them by shoving them into, ostensibly, bottomless pits at the climax of Superman II and, then, flies away smiling about it.
So, it’s not like Superman killing Zod is unprecedented. In fact, it seems that’s the way their conflicts usually end.