Man of Steel may be two years old, but its controversial ending continues to spark debate to this day. Superman's decision to kill his kryptonian nemesis General Zod was seen as sacrilege by some, and now the man behind the polarizing moment has finally spoken publicly about the whole saga.
During a recent interview with the Nerdist podcast, screenwriter David S. Goyer detailed the creative process that led to this pivotal storytelling decision.
"The way I work, the way Chris [Nolan] works, is you do what's right for the story, That exists entirely separately from what fans should or shouldn't think of that character. You have to do what's right for the story.'' He says.
Goyer reasons that the Superman we see in Man of Steel was still coming to grips with his powers and role as a hero and protector.
''In that instance, this was a Superman who had only been Superman for like, a week. He wasn't Superman as we think of him in the DC Comics...or even in a world that conceived of Superman existing. He'd only flown for the first time a few days before that. He'd never fought anyone that had super powers before. And so he's going up against a guy who's not only super-powered, but has been training since birth to use those super powers, who exists as a superhuman killing machine, who has stated, 'I will never stop until I destroy all of humanity.'''
Does Goyer's explanation reconcile some of the feelings you had towards the decision, or is the idea of Superman killing something that should never be explored?
We do know that Michael Shannon's Zod is returning for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, so perhaps he may not be as dead as Man of Steel led us to believe. We'll have to wait until next year to find out.
