For over a day now, a theory has been circulating the web about Man of Steel that is incredibly interesting and would make a lot of sense out of the final scenes of the movie…if it were true.
SPOILERS Ahead (Obviously)
T.J. Kiss proposed yesterday that in the final confrontation between Superman and Zod, when Superman snapped his neck to prevent Zod from obliterating an entire family with his eyes, the family is still killed.
His argument is that when he snaps the neck, it moves Zod’s head toward the family unintentionally, and that is why you don’t see the family again (you just see rubble).
He also posits that Clark doesn’t let out his scream until he looks up, presumably at the remains of the family, which would lend credence to his “no-kill” policy that is implied by the ending.
Here’s the video for you to discern for yourselves:
Convinced?
Don’t be. The theory, while interesting, is shattered by one frame that you missed. If you slow the scene down, you can see the family intact in the corner after Zod has been killed.
And that’s about it. I wish this could have been a 1,000 word essay that makes me look incredibly intelligent, but at least now when someone tries to bring this theory up the next time you’re not watching Man of Steel, you’ll be properly equipped to disarm the situation.
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Yeah I agree with you. The family’s death would’ve made the situation a lot more interesting. And if that was Snyder’s intent, the poor film maker he is, he would’ve hilighted their death. He has no idea how to be expressive.
Or subtle.
Well, I do agree with the theory to an extent. I mean, you just proved the family survived, but I hear a ton of people complaining about Superman killing Zod. Not only did he kill him in one of the comics in the same fashion, but I believe that since this is an origin story about how he finds himself and all that, and the fact that he never says he’d never kill anyone before that scene, that the fact that he killed one of his own people traumatizes him so much that NOW he decides to not kill. That’s just my thoughts though.
I agree completely, as that is how I always interpreted the scene itself. Watching him kill Zod like that was unnerving, but fell in line with the actual character, which is something a lot of fans seemed to miss.
I have to admit. I was never a fan of Superman, and Man of Steel was the first time I actually found myself caring about the character. Also, I’m more of a Marvel fan. The only DC superhero I have always liked was Batman. But who doesn’t like Batman?
Perhaps a higher resolution would help, but to my eyes that frame only establishes that a significant portion of their bodies is still present. It isn’t enough to conclusively say ‘surviving family’ rather than ‘pile of corpses’.
If you look closely, you’ll see that the bodies are still standing and upright. If the beam had hit them, they would have been vaporized, not seemingly intact.
I’ve never seen a pile of corpses look like this
https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=FCFC0AA2F3A7D4DA!16068&authkey=!ACPnWNoYblWPc9g&v=3&ithint=photo%2c.jpg
I believe they are dead. If Snyder wanted us to believe they were alive and that Supes saved them, he would have shown them possibly escaping with their lives or thanking Supes. Besides, it makes logical sense that they are dead, considering the amount of destruction in the movie.
Yeah, it like at that point there’s probably a million people dead, what’s a few more?
They are absolutely NOT dead. In the movie, you can clearly see the mother still holding the daughter, all body parts still intact. If Zod had indeed “laser eyed them” you would be able to tell. There would be missing body parts, as well as probably bursting into some sort of flames from the heat. If they had died, even after Kal had killed Zod, the film would have absolutely pointed it out. The reason he reacts/screams the way he does is because he was raised to be a force for good, saving/helping people, not to kill. This os the 1st person he has ever purposefully killed, im sure he “accidentally” killed a ton during the battle with the “Zod Squad”. This is a very normal, and expected, response by a person who has been taught his entire life that his purpose is to save and lead people, not kill them, and despite his absolute best efforts, he is forced to kill Zod. This has to seem like an absolute failure to him.