Heads up this is my first time ever blogging in any form so yeah.

What is the extent heroes should go to end evil, the answer to many outside of the comic book community and few inside is execution, the death of the villain. "Man of Steel" the long awaited Superman film came out a few months back and the unthinkable happened Superman took a life the life of Zod. Now to many people this was one of the defining moments of the film, this sort of created a divide from people that like the movie and those that do not. It truly is sad that the public has become so desensitized the killing the villain seems like the most feasible solution and thing that I've always admired and aspired to about heroes such as Superman and Batman and that no matter how faded the line of right and wrong got they didn't go off the deep end and kill. But today in cinema that is usually how it all goes down the villain dies. I'll admit the first time I watched Man of Steel I wasn't a fan it took me until the third time I saw to actually have it grow on me. There is something different about Kal-El ending Zod, which I think a lot of people are overlooking. Now I'm a writer or trying to become one specifically in film, and I was taught that at the end of the film the moment you type the words "Fade Out: Credits" start thinking asking "What next?" That is how I'm going to approach this situation what's next for Superman, as a result I’m not trying to say this is what happened or this is what will happen it is extremely opinionated.

First off, giving David S. Goyer and Zack Snyder benefit of the doubt before asking what’s going to happen next let’s look at what’s already happened. Now at the final fight with Zod we see Superman having Zod in a headlock, Zod challenging Kal’s lengths to protect innocents is using his heat vision and slowly inching closer and closer to a family grasping each other desperately eyes closed in tears, frightened in their last moments together and to stop it, a snap and Zod’s lifeless cloned corpse falls to the ground his eyes go cold. What happens next defines the psychological effect this had on Kal, which I feel some people missed, instead of standing triumphant over the corpse of a fallen enemy, which the internet has convinced is expected, he sees the body and falls to his knees letting out a cry, a scream he mourns (possibly not for Zod but I’ll elaborate soon.) This Ladies and Gentlemen is rare in today’s superhero films. We often see the villain killed off in movies today including superhero films sometimes more than expected, especially when it is a villain that can return in a sequel, I find it sad that my younger cousins may have to grow with heroes that have little remorse for death. But onto the mourning period moment we see in Man of Steel, may not be for Zod but more towards how he upholds Pa Kent’s morality and ideals this may have been a throwback to the flashback in the movie when a child Clark is being pounded on by bullies in front of an Auto Shop where he is restraining himself from using the full extent of his power on these bullies. This is why Clark cries and screams at Zod’s death at the end not because Zod has died because he killed like he could of with the bullies. With Zod dead and the possible psychological effect this would have on Clark, what’s next?

What is next, who could possibly benefit from a psychologically disturbed Superman, what arrogant villain would question his morality to show that he is more super than the Man of steel? Anyone should know after watching the film that Lex Luthor is the most likely choice for the next villain he is all over the movie, the Lexcorp truck is seen as Superman returns home to Ma, his tower is scene in Metropolis standing tall and then is seen taking a fall, Kal smashes Zod with Lexcorp Oil trucks for God’s sake. Now how could Lex use Superman’s killing of Zod to his own benefit, and this is assuming a lot that we start to see a Man of Steel that holds back in the film, and have Lex Luthor be a villain that pushes Superman to the edge to the point where Kal has Lex in his hands gripping to his collar lifting him in the air Lex with a victorious smirk uttering my favorite line from television “This is the part where you kill me, right?” Now it has already been announced that the next DC motion picture is to be Superman Batman, in which Batman will be portrayed as an older wiser vigilante, add Batman’s no killing rule, he can easily become a role model for the role model. Kal’ El could be troubled with the idea that he did exactly what Pa Kent wouldn’t have done, take a life and to see someone have that ideal, can create this feeling of grief add a villain that would go to great lengths to demonize a prodigal son a compelling conflict can be created. Think of it like a cartoon conscience Batman the Angel making the hard choices that lead to ascension into light the sun (how often can you say that?) Then Lex Luthor the demon pushing and forcing him down into the easy fall into the darkness. All this internal conflict created from the choice to take a life a choice that crushed the strong morality of the Superman. Ultimately in the end whatever the outcome from this encounter with Luthor and the impact of Superman’s choice and how it became the Kryptonite for Lex to use against him can make the Man of Steel Kal’ El realize, what his choices mean to the world around and him, and have him chose to be a better hero, better role model, a Superman. That Ladies and Gentlemen is what I see is next, what the death Zod can mean to the Man of Steel.

Do you think Zod’s Death had a deeper meaning, what effect will it have Superman in future films, what is next?