You're talking about John Byrne's Superman also known as post-crisis Superman. Or as I call him "Spidermanized Superman".
no. I'm talking about the sh*tty writing of BOTH John Byrne in that story and the creators of MoS.
The thing is there's not a single version of Superman so you can't say someone's take is not correct. That Spidermanized Superman killed Zod and his kryptonian allies with kryptonite after they had already been turned powerless. They were no longer a threat but John Byrne's Superman aka post crisis Superman aka pre-flashpoint Superman executed them.
right. because john Byrne is not a particularly good writer. He fell into a lazy writer trap with that story, manipulating events to create a "no win" for Superman that would allow him to kill. Even the structure of that story shows a writer who consciously tried to make the core of the character go away.
And in MOS Superman did not murder Zod. If you say Superman murdered Zod then every cop that has ever killed a criminal to defend himself and others is a murderer.
Superman murdered Zod. He was not a cop. He was not in the army. Poor writing, as with the Byrne story, required he murder his opponent but, if there is a basic rule about modern Superman (and I mean since the 1950s- excluding the sh*tty Byrne story) it is that he doesn't kill. The end. If you're a writer who can't tell a story without requiring him to kill his opponent, you are a writer who should not be writing superman.
Then you must allow yourself to be killed instead of fighting back otherwise you'd be a murderer. And yes I know Superman is not a cop but self defense applies to him as well as anyone else. MOS is Superman actually facing a not so easy situation without the benefit of the writer tailoring a perfect outcome from him. Yeah he could have chosen not killing Zod but then Zod would have massacred 7 billions humans just to get back at him.
Writers tailor ALL outcomes. These are not documentaries.
The writers of this film knew they wanted Superman to murder his opponent so they tried to craft a series of events where that was all he could do. That's why they failed why MoS is not about Superman. it's an alien invasion movies where one of the aliens is on our side. that isn't Superman. Superman is the story of a boy from Kansas who discovered he has super powers and, luckily for humanity, was raised by the best adoptive parents on Earth. he doesn't need a "fee kill" to learn it's not a good idea to muser people any more than the rest of us do.
Superman is PROTECTOR, not a gladiator. Again, the super powers have nothing to do with who he is. Zero.
PS: According to you Tim Burton's Batman is not a hero and neither is Nolan's? Is that what you mean?
Nope. They are both crazy vigilantes. That spin works for a grim, broken hero like Batman but it doesn't fit for Superman. Not knowing the difference between them is the sign of a poor writer.
