10 Sci-Fi Movie Villains That Had Totally Lame Deaths

4. Zod - Man Of Steel

Dead Zod Man Of Steel
Warner Bros.

Much has been said about the DC Comics-based movies of recent times, with Henry Cavill's Superman one of those to come under particular scrutiny.

As the Big Blue Boy Scout, Cavill is a great fit. The issue is, so much of Cavill's time as Supes has seen the English actor handed a depiction of Superman who feels far removed from the Last Son of Krypton who has long been a pop culture icon.

Superman's appearance in 2017's Justice League seemed to finally capture the hope and optimism so synonymous with the character, yet it's been a tough rebuilding process for Superman since as far back as Cavill's first time in the cape in 2013's Man of Steel - and one of the biggest problems some had with Man of Steel, was in how it dispatched of its man villain.

That movie's climax famously saw Kal-El snap the neck of Michael Shannon's Zod.

While the all-powerful Zod having his neck snapped was a lame way for this iconic comic book villain to go out, even more lame was how this framed Superman.

Sure, the Man of Tomorrow was left with a horrible decision to make - a neck snap being one of the only options on the table to stop Zod's rampage - but it was a scene that simply didn't need to be written. So while the death was a disappointing way for Zod to be killed off, the biggest disappointment was in how this framed Superman to audiences.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.