'Man Of Steel' Writer Revealed The Purpose Of Superman Killing Zod Was To Redefine Superman
David S. Goyer revealed that the purpose of having Superman kill Zod in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel film was to redefine the character for mainstream audiences.
Back in 2013, in an interview with Empire Magazine, Goyer discussed the infamous scene where Henry Cavill’s Superman kills Michael Shannon’s General Zod. First, he shared that DC higher ups were against the idea of having Superman kill Zod and that Christopher Nolan was also opposed to it.
Goyer said, “So yes, originally Zod got sucked into The Phantom Zone with the others but I just felt it was unsatisfying and so did Zack. So we started talking to some of the people at DC Comics and asked, ‘Do you think there is ever a way that Superman would kill someone?’ And at first they said, ‘No way.’ ‘But what if he didn’t have a choice…?’ Originally Chris didn’t even want to let us try to write it but Zack and I said, ‘We think we can figure out a way that you’ll buy it.’”
“So I came up with this idea of the heat vision and these people about to die and I wrote the scene and gave it to Chris… and he said, ‘Okay, you convinced me,’” he added.
Next, he shared how the entire purpose of the scene was to redefine Superman, “I’ve seen the film about four times now and everyone always gasps when it happens – they don’t see it coming – and I think it makes some people feel uncomfortable, whereas other people say ‘Right on!’ but that was the point. Hopefully what we have done with the end of this film is we’ve got the the mainstream audience, not the geek audience, to question it all. Hopefully we’ve redefined Superman.”
Snyder also revealed that it makes the audience guess what Superman will do in future installments, “If there were more adventures for Superman in the future, you now don’t know 100% what he’s gonna do. When you really put the concept that he won’t kill in stone and you really erase it as an option in the viewer’s mind, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a code.”
“But again you’ll always have this thing in the back of your mind. This little thing of… ‘How far can you push him? If he sees Lois get hurt or he sees something like his mother get killed… you just made Superman really mad,” Snyder elaborated. “A Superman that we know is capable of some really horrible stuff if he wants to do it. That’s the thing that’s cool about him I think, in some ways, the idea that he has the frailties of a human emotionally but you don’t wanna get that guy mad…”
Never been into superman, but the reasoning, justification and desire to do what was done to the character shows they don't understand, him, the archetype or even the nature of superheroes who do kill.
Futher, they don't even understand the act of killing itself.
Idiots with mean shriveled little spirits!
Still, nice that sooner or later the man who makes such vile passing of gas will admit to it by claiming it smelt of roses.
"the entire purpose of the scene was to redefine Superman" Why?