Does Superman break the same ‘killing rule’ as Man of Steel?
Beware: this article contains big spoilers for the end of Superman, and how it may (or may not) break the same rule that made Man of Steel one of the most divisive comic book movies ever.
In the final stretch of Superman, the entire world is literally at risk after Lex Luthor’s pocket dimension rips open a rift in Metropolis. The city’s residents are evacuated (keep an eye out for that Gotham sign), and Superman shoots over to do whatever he can to help.
This involves a near-fatal scrap with the Engineer, who floods his lungs with nanites. He flies into space and drops down like a bunker buster, shattering the nanites from his body and knocking out the Engineer (who may still return in an Authority movie).
At this point, Superman and Ultraman duke it out. It’s revealed that he’s a clone of Superman, created by Lex to be the “most powerful being on Earth” and controlled with an expansive, brutal moveset. Of course, Superman wins… but at what cost?
Superman kills Ultraman… or does he?
Superman ends the fight by lobbing Ultraman into the path of a bus being sucked into a black hole. We see Ultraman screaming as he’s pulled in, and he’s never seen again.
Cast your mind back to Man of Steel, where Superman was forced to snap Zod’s neck to stop him killing a family (and millions of others, if he got his way).
Much like Batman, Superman does not kill people, and this was a big problem for some fans (even though, like Batman, he’s killed plenty of people in the comics and in films either by accident or by hitting them off buildings or giving them almighty beatdowns).
Even now, it’s cited as a reason why Zack Snyder seemingly didn’t understand Superman. Now, Gunn’s film has ended with the apparent death of a villain at the hands of Supes – or does it?
All we see is Ultraman being sucked into the black hole. I know what you’re thinking: if he’s heading into a black hole, he’s as good as dead, and Superman could have tried to save him.
Here’s the thing: Superman could survive a black hole, so if Ultraman is a clone, that means he could too (in theory). In the comics, Superman is shown to be able to fly faster than the speed of light, which would be a big help when trying to flee a black hole (they’re so dense that they trap light, so if Superman is even faster than light, he stands a chance).
DCDon’t just take my word for it: in Action Comics Vol 2 #35, Superman drags Braniac into a black hole and manages to make it out alive.
Let’s say Ultraman doesn’t try to fly out of the black hole. Given his enormous strength and ability to break the laws of physics (again, because that’s what Superman can do), he could potentially survive the unimaginable pressure of crossing the event horizon and make it to the other side in a white hole’s belch, possibly in another universe altogether.
At worst, Ultraman’s fate is closer to Batman letting Ra’s al Ghul die in Batman Begins. But, have we considered that Ultraman is also a mindless clone whose emotions (aka, anger and aggression) are manufactured by Lex? That’s not quite the same as killing a normal person or a villain with more autonomy.
Superman is in cinemas now. In the meantime, find out more about its box office projections, where Superman will be streaming, how long it is, details about its post-credits scenes, and our ranking of the Superman movies.
You can also read why Robert Pattinson should be the DCU’s Batman.
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