Christopher Nolan Didn't Approve of the MAN OF STEEL Ending

As you know, Christopher Nolan served as a producer on Zack Snyder's Man of Steel and helped develop the story that was told. What's interesting though is that he didn't approve of the ending that we saw in the film until they were able to convince him that it would work.

SPOILERS AHEAD! If you haven't seen the movie, then don't read on!

Both Snyder and writer David Goyer revealed on The Empire Film Podcast that Nolan initially disapproved of the controversial ending where Superman kills General Zod by breaking his neck. Goyer explained,

"Killing Zod was a big thing, and that was something that Chris Nolan originally said, ‘There’s no way you can do this’.... Originally, Zod got sucked into the Phantom Zone along with the others."

Goyer had to convince other people to go with the twist ending saying,

"We talked to some of the people at DC Comics and said, ‘Do you think there’s ever a way that Superman would kill someone?’ At first they said, ‘No way. No way.’ We said, ‘But what if he didn’t have a choice?’ Originally, Chris didn’t even want to let us try to write it. Zack and I said, ‘We think we can figure out a way that you’ll buy it.’ I came up with this idea of the heat vision and these people about to die. I wrote the scene and I gave it to Chris and he said, ‘OK, you convinced me. I buy it.’"

So basically they wrote the scene so that they could show Superman kill someone. Goyer goes on to discuss reinventing the characters for a new generation,

"If you don’t reinvent these characters…then they become stagnant, and they cease being relevant…hopefully, we’ve redefined Superman."

Snyder chimed in going into a little more depth saying,

"If it’s truly an origin story, his aversion to killing is unexplained. I felt like, if we could find a way of making it impossible for him - Kobayashi Maru, totally no way out - I felt like that could also make you go, ‘This is the why of him never killing again.’ He’s basically obliterated his entire people and his culture, and he is responsible for it, and he’s just, like, ‘How could I ever kill again?’”

So is that the last time we will see Superman Kill in these films? Who knows, but the director goes on to discuss how the idea of a morally ambiguous and unpredictable Superman inspired him.

"If there were more adventures for our Superman to go on, you’re given this thing where, you don’t know 100 percent what he’s going to do. When you put in stone the concept that he won’t kill, and it’s totally in stone, it really erases an option in the viewer’s mind…you’ll always have in the back of your mind, ‘How far can you push him?’ If he sees Lois get hurt, or his mother get killed, you just made a really mad Superman that we know is capable of some really horrible stuff, if he wants to be. That’s the thing that’s cool about him, in some ways. The idea that he has the frailties of a human emotionally. But you don’t want to get that guy mad."

It didn't bother me that Superman killed Zod; in fact, I wanted to see him do it in that scene. I was just waiting for it to happen. Superman had to do it. I thought it was a selfless choice, and as you saw in the movie, it wasn't an easy choice for him to make. 

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