9 Terrible Movie Deaths That Ruined Great Villains
5. General Zod - Man Of Steel (2013)
A lot has been written about the many ways in which Man Of Steel could be considered a comparative failure: at the box office; as an exciting action adventure, and as a Superman movie. Thats not the remit of this article: were not going to go into whether Superman should have committed murder to protect others, or whether it should have been physically possible to snap the neck and end the life of a fully enhanced Kryptonian at all. No, were far more concerned here with the cavalier manner in which one of the premier members of Supermans rogues gallery is killed off for no good reason, and with no dramatic pay-off. General Zod is one of the last surviving Kryptonians, a man who knew Kal-Els parents. Man Of Steel specifically sets up the Phantom Zone as a potential glory hole for the Kryptonians once theyre defeated, so there were other options made clear within the narrative of the film. There was no storytelling reason in Man Of Steel to kill Zod, and no indication of a long term plan in doing so by the time the credits rolled. By killing him so abruptly, the rebooted franchise is robbed of the ability to return to his character at any point in the future. Thats fine if theres a plan that offsets that but so far, there hasnt been. Apologists for the film urge us all to wait for the upcoming Batman vs. Superman to see whether Zods death is treated as important, or as just a footnote. Well see
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
