Look, Up in the Sky! It's Spoilerman!

Years ago, I was asked if I had to chose between Superheroes and Dinosaurs what would I do? I answered- I don't have to, that's why I like Godzilla.

I did learn the answer for well done Superheroes this week, as instead of seeing the new Jurassic Park like I was supposed to, I saw this again.

Spoilers a plenty for this year's Superman.

Because I cannot keep them to myself anymore.

Click here for a non spoiler review if you haven't seen it.

Let's start with a huge one. Jor-El and Lara didn't send Kal-El to Earth expecting him to promote kindness, but expecting him to rule. First of all, it worked perfectly in the story. Given who Superman is, it created a justification where Lex Luthor's accusations could be accepted by anyone. It was also important in truly highlighting that -in spite of his sense of loss about and his connections to Krypton- Clark's REAL parents are Jonathan and Martha. Yes, they were goofy, but they also had kindness, wisdom, and it was clear how they molded Clark into the one person, no matter how much power he has, who will use all of it to do the right thing: 

Superman. 

Batman is defined by the death of his parents.

Superman is defined by the lives of his.

This version it isn't unprecedented. The Golden/ Silver Age "Fifties Technological Utopia" version of Krypton was based on altruism, but things changed after that. More often than not, the other versions show Kryptonians overall, and sometimes Jor El specifically, as somewhere between emotionally disinterested and generally terrible people. (Comic Examples- Byrne's emotionless Kryptonians in the 1986 reboot that started the modern era expected him to rule. Bringing back the population of Kandor in the "New Krypton" arc was a disaster. Rebirth Jor-El who Doctor Manhattan brought back, was a big old jerk.) Also- since the Kryptonian version of Braniac gets used in more and more adaptations, this version of Krypton will lead into that better.

Whatever his origin, Superman transcends it through his human upbringing, his ability to find the good in people and his choices to always do the right thing. This film gives us a Superman who has been established long enough that the bonds he's created with friends and other heroes could withstand the reveal of this Kryptonian information, yet early enough on that path that it gave him doubts. That is how you write the conflict in a story about a character with as much power as Superman. He has to overcome internal and external issues irrelevant to those powers. Once again, its about what he uses them for, not what their limits are. 

Aside- Pardon a moment to cheer at all the cool ways he did use a bunch of those powers: strength, flight, superspeed, heat vision, x-ray vision, super hearing, super breath... WOOO!

Key to his group of friends was the Daily Planet staff. Cat, Steve and Ron were there to add some depth, and it was great seeing comic accurate versions of those characters from different eras blending together. Those closest to Clark that were more important to the tale. Secret Identities have become a slippery slope in recent years. Yes, the hero's private life and loved ones need to be protected. However, what distance in the circle of friends who know both Superman and Clark is the proper one for being lied to regularly?

Perry White fits in the same category of "brilliant investigator" as James Gordon. He was shown to be somewhere on the sliding scale he and the Commissioner belong on of, "Of course I know who he is," and "I choose not to know who he is, but I could easily figure it out."  Additionally, he served as an excellent and honorable mentor 

Jimmy is a younger and more innocent version of that type of secret keeper. Having both his developing reporter skills and his propensity to end up in weird situations be key to breaking the big story that saved the day was both fun and perfectly in character. Bring on Turtle Boy!

Lois already knowing Clark was Superman side stepped much of the lying problem. Whether he told her immediately, some time later, or she figured it out, the film wisely ignored that bit. (Let's face it, they weren't going to top the "You've got me, who's got you?!?" first meeting moment anyway.) However, once again it is early enough to allow the growth of one of the most romantic fictional love stories in history to occur while we watch. Woo!

Because of that romance and her abilities, Lois is the perfect person, for both personal and professional reasons to point out that Clark conducting and publishing Superman interviews is problematic on many levels. She's also the perfect one to ask him hard hitting, practical questions about if "invading" a foreign country was the responsible choice. (Having the fight outside the window during this showed two things that warmed this old comic book geek's heart: A) That he was correct in trusting the other heroes to take care of an issue. B) That Fifth dimensional imps are not too silly for the new DC movies!) Lois's questions lead to one of the few times we saw Superman lose his cool. (The other one taught us to leave the man's dog alone.) He had no good answer about the legal, or political ramifications of his actions. His shouted retort, "People were going to die!"  highlighted- while there are challenges for Superman choosing the moral, and right thing to do- it is the decision he will always make. It's why his primary focus is always on saving people. 

Aside- And animals. Rescuing a squirrel  from being crushed by a city stomping monster was silly, but it was also one hundred percent who Clark is, as was his disappointment with the other heroes for not following his lead on stopping the beast in a non-lethal way with less property damage. It was clear the "Justice Gang" already respected Superman, even after the "Jor-El tape" was revealed. His influence on them started having an effect in the film, and I expect will grow as his role as "the best of us" does. Superman always had a "Not a member but a mentor looking over their shoulder" role with Max Lord's Justice League International. It will be interesting to see if they go that route with this crew.

Movies are events. While they could have told multiple stories first, slowly revealing how Lex was behind things, they didn't- because this wasn't a comic book needing a new story every month for decades. With a property as well known as Superman, the "event" of this film was the culmination of Lex Luthor's plan. As it should be for this villain, Lex was behind EVERYTHING making Superman's life difficult- strategically, tactically, physically, mentally and publicity wise. Using "the hero has his worst day" is a common and easy way to tell a story. However, resolving it in a satisfying and uplifting way is what made this an excellent Superman story. 

Lex Luthor has the resources and intellect to be a greater force for good than Bruce Wayne. He's not, due to his overwhelming character flaws of jealousy, greed and the inability to see good in anyone shifting him toward self righteous evil. We haven't seen a Lex willing to get his hands this dirty- shooting an innocent man in the head- in a very long time. Sometimes really driving home that the bad guy's viewpoint is the wrong one is important to the tale. If he didn't go that far down the dark path, it wouldn't have pushed Metamorpho (in one of many wild and cool uses of his transmutation powers) to trust Superman to rescue his son, and facilitate their escape through chemistry.

Lex manipulating a foreign power to net him his own country was one of many fun tributes to the original Superman films. However, having that acquisition not be the real reason for his schemes, but rather one component in his overarching desire to make Superman look bad before killing him showed a brilliant understanding of Lex Luthor.

Aside- For those offended because they imagined the actions of Lex Luthor were based on actions of people they admire (when Lex was behaving exactly the way he has always behaved in over eight decades of being a super villain) perhaps it’s time to find new people to admire.

Using the Eve Teschmacher name was another nice tribute to the Donner classic, but the far smarter than she appeared woman played a key role in Lex's downfall in a more instrumental way. All of these pieces of stopping Luthor lined up to show Superman's ability of seeing the good in people and treating them well is the way to go.

Having the Engineer (first Wildstorm character on the big screen!) be one of the main physical villains of the peice seemed an odd choice at first, but James Gunn has always been great at expertly using the "deep bench" of super hero universes. It was a fantastic performance of a terrifyingly ruthless, but slightly more practical than her "co workers," nemesis. The nanites Lex infused her with lead to varied and unusual powers that the Man of Steel had to contend with. Her level of malleability and shape shifting meant she attacked Big Blue in ways simple punching couldn't handle, allowing him to demonstrate he's more intelligent than his Kansas farm boy expressions let on.  

Lex's "Raptors" expanded his forces as the armored, flying soldiers of Planet Watch he made to "protect" the world from Aliens. (And generate huge sales to the military no doubt.) While the armors were standard "Hollywood dark," there were highlights of purple and green to them as a tribute to Lex's classic comic book armor. They seemed formidable, but the fact that not only Superman, but Mr. Terrific as well, tore through them like paper was a well used bit of "show don't tell" concerning the high power levels of DC heroes.

Granted, Terrific tore through a mid sized gang of them, where Superman was unphased by an entire army. While it's important to have conflict in a Superman tale, it's also important (and fun! WOO!) to see just how powerful he is in most situations.

Guy Gardner and Metamorpho wiping out an entire army in the climax also worked spectacularly for that power level demonstration. (Guy "flipping" over tanks with giant green middle fingers was perfect for him. As was deciding to do the right thing over a bowl of fruity cereal, because, as annoying as he can be, at his core Guy is a hero, which is why the ring chose him.)

It was also a demonstration of one of Superman's greatest strengths. By inspiring others, and trusting others, he doesn't need to be everywhere at once to save lives.

Granted, Hawkgirl did drop the evil leader of the country working with Lex, which was very much expected behavior from the Thanagarian. (Or whatever version this is. Thank you to the Justice League cartoon for making the Hawks Latin. It is a perfect fit.) 

Will that change as Superman steps up into more of a leadership role? Probably. 

Would Superman have caught that dictator even though he deserved being dropped if Clark wasn't busy with preventing the entire planet from cracking in half? Definitely. 

(Did I let out an evil laugh when she said, "I'm not like Superman," because being like Superman is a goal not a destination... yup.)

I feel like guessing who Ultraman was would have been easier for those not as steeped in Superman lore as I am. Most adaptations use the "evil (or at least under control of evil) clone of Superman" in some form or another. My guesses never went that route based on other "hints" only us comic geeks could pick up. His name- Ultraman: used by the Earth Three counterpart of Superman in a universe where the Justice League is evil. His costume- resembled Power Man- a modified Superman robot from the Golden Age (There were Kryptonian robots in this story, after all. Woo!) Until that costume was damaged, then it looked like Doomsday's early appearances. Then there was the way Lex and his team controlled him, which was a much more comic book accurate version of "Iron Monger" than the first Iron Man film did. That and his disguise as the Hammer of Boravia at the start made me think he could be an enhanced human in a suit, which is how the Animated Series introduced Metallo. 

No, it was none of those "obvious" (due to my overthinking) characters. it was a mindless clone of Superman, controlled by Lex's team. However, that unknown factor for Ultraman was well used in the story. Because Superman didn't know who or what Ultraman was, he was holding back in every fight until the end reveal where his fighting style visibly changed. It explains why Superman was knocked down and beaten up as thoroughly as he was. 

Ultraman was finally put down in a way that could easily lead to a return. There are a lot of variables in that universe for being knocked into a black hole in the pocket universe Lex created for his illegal prison, with the help of Krypto. Speaking of embracing goofy, Silver Age elements and bringing them to life in a modern film: there were an awful lot of cube shaped structures, in that pocket universe. I'm guessing "Ultraman" will be reborn as Bizarro somewhere down the line.

Krypto was awesome, and added a lot of heart, fun moments, and suspense to the film. The final defeat of Luthor was a perfect "best of both worlds moment." Lex lost due to a combination of Superman himself saving the world, the super heroes he inspired saving innocent lives, and Clark's friends at the Daily Planet exposing Luthor's traitorous nature.

As Lex watches his entire scheme collapse around him, and the world learn how awful he truly is, he still venomously calls Superman an alien. Superman takes the high road with the perfect speech, not only describing himself, but showing he still carries the hope that Luthor can see things from his perspective and use his intellect and wealth to benefit others:

"That is where you've always been wrong about me, Lex. I am as human as anyone. I love, I get scared. I wake up every morning, and despite not knowing what to do, I put one foot in front of the other, and I try to make the best choices that I can. I screw up all the time, but that is being human, and that's my greatest strength. 

And someday, I hope, for the sake of the world, you understand that it's yours too."

Even knowing this was coming, it still caused me to tear up, because we all should try to be like Superman.

Lex, being Lex, was not moved by this at all, calling Superman a "patronizing clown."

Which is why having Krypto blast in at that moment to beat the ever loving crap out of Luthor was immensely satisfying. 

Even knowing this was coming, it still caused me to cheer, because we all should try to be like Superman... but I have a ways to go. 

The movie understood that Superman, who struggled to stop "his" dog during that epic thrashing, always makes the right, moral choice and moving toward that ideal is the goal.

But in the mean time, we could still enjoy Krypto's revenge.

As both a James Gunn and Tom King fan, I am VERY MUCH looking forward to next years Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, based on the excellent comic mini series. The cosmic portion of the DC Universe has even more cool stuff than the Marvel Universe. Gunn killed it with his take on that, and I'm confident he has picked the right people for this one.