u/M0TM

So I recently rewatched Man of Steel for the umpteenth time after seeing Supergirl (had to do an annual DCU palette cleanse), and it hit me that the destruction in Man of Steel served a very important purpose: Showing there is only one Superman. Superman’s greatest weakness is not Kryptonite, or magic, or even red suns, it’s the fact he can’t be everywhere, all the time, all at once. He’s not omnipresent. In Man of Steel, it’s a two pronged attack. Zod puts two world engines on opposite sides of the world, Superman has to fly around the world and destroy one in the Indian Ocean, fly all the way back in like 30 seconds and stop Zod from shooting the bomb down. An impressive feat to be sure, but by the time he’s done that there’s already been thousands of casualties caused by the first world engine.

How does Superman circumvent this lack of omnipresence? He inspires HOPE in other people. He establishes the ideal, not to be some god, but to inspire others to help other people and be the best person they can be. The whole film Clark gets help from regular human allies. And in the end it’s these human allies that help him defend Earth from superpowered Kryptonians. It would be really easy for Clark to look at Zods ship and all those Kryptonians and be like “I think I’ll join that team.” But it’s the lessons from Pa Kent that taught him to stand with humans. It’s the Clark Kent side that actually proves more effective, because he couldn’t have done it without those allies.

It’s actually hilarious when you realize people who complain about the casualties Superman caused in the movie (even though he didn’t cause any casualties it was all Zod and the world engines) are literally just Lex Luthor and Batman in BvS. Buying into those same fears, looking like the goofies standing in front of the courtroom with “Superman sucks” shirts on. Goofies that don’t understand the character.

Zacks magnum opus. The fact this movie even happened at all is still unprecedented in film history. Gave Zack an extra 70 mil to fix a mistake, and he absolutely cooked. Four hours of Lord of The Rings level epicness.

This movie is peak DC. The only way we are reaching that peak again is with JL 2. No DC fan wants to pay money to watch Kara stumble around with Lobo. Or Superman gets emasculated for a whole movie while Justice Gang cracks MCU style jokes. The parody verse is making me truly appreciate what a masterpiece we got with the DCEUs great movies.

Man of Steel is the most meta hero’s journey ever. Superman is the archetypal hero, essentially Hercules for the modern day. And Man of Steel plays out exactly like a hero’s journey.

The Ordinary World: Clark at the beginning of the film is a wanderer, unsure of his place in the world.

The Call to Adventure: Finding the Kryptonian scout ship and Jor-Els hologram showing his true nature. Jor-El preaching moral good and being the bridge between two peoples.

Meeting the Mentor: Jor-El, Pa and Ma Kent can all be viewed as mentors. Jor-El shows him his alien heritage, the Kent’s show him the significance of his powers on earth, how to control himself and importance of choice.

Crossing the Threshold: He dons the cape for the first time and accepts his mantle as Superman. First Flight.

Tests, Allies and Enemies: General Zod and the Kryptonians test Clark on a physical and mental level. It takes the help of all his allies made thus far to defeat them.

The Ordeal: Clark is forced to kill Zod, sacrificing his innocence to stop the threat and protect earth.

Return with the Elixir: Clark has passed every test and is now the definitive protector of earth. He comes to accept his alien heritage and human upbringing, and becomes the bridge between two peoples. The last shots of the movie see a fully integrated Clark Kent, taking on his real costume at the Daily Planet.

Combine all that with an amazing soundtrack and action. I absolutely love this movie and genuinely can’t fathom people who don’t.