Superman: Doomsday

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See DC Comics * List of DC Comics characters * Superman *Doomsday *Death of Superman Buy Doomsday on DVD

Superman: Doomsday is an original direct-to-video animated film adaptation of popular DC Comics storyline Death of Superman focusing on the superhero Superman. The film is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for action violence and is the first in the DC Universe Animated Original Movie line released by Warner Premiere and Warner Bros. Animation. It will be followed by Justice League: The New Frontier. The film was released on September 18, 2007. Before the DVD release, the movie was first screened at the San Diego Comic Con on July 26, 2007

Despite similar animation styles, the film used new animation models, and is only loosely based on the DC Animated Universe that lasted from 1992-2006, with a few allusions to the older series, as well as the Fleischer Superman series, found in the Fortress of Solitude.

Contents

Plot

The film opens with images of Superman doing heroic deeds and Lex Luthor narrating, explaining how people look up to him like he was a god on Earth. Before the credits begin, he says "Enjoy your reign while you may, Superman. For as surely as night follows day, there comes a time when even gods must die."

Lois Lane is told by Perry White to drop a story that might be risky to publish about a charity organization, even though Lex Luthor is involved. As she destroys her papers on that story, Clark Kent leaves for Afghanistan. Meanwhile, workers from LexCorp are digging two miles below the Earth's surface for one of Lex's projects. They hit a spaceship while digging, inadvertently releasing the genetically-engineered war machine Doomsday. Doomsday kills the entire digging crew and begins a bloody rampage towards Metropolis. Lex tells Mercy Graves to make sure no one knows that his company was there.

Meanwhile, a scene at the Fortress of Solitude reveals that Superman and Lois have become romantically involved. However, Lois is unsatisfied with the arrangements of their relationship: Superman insists that they keep it a secret from the public by limiting their encounters to the Fortress, and he has not yet confided in her that he is actually Clark Kent, although she's already knows. The two get into a fight over this, after which Superman decides to tell her the truth. Before he can, he is informed of Doomsday's rampage by the Fortress' robot. Doomsday is now battling the military in Metropolis.


In Metropolis, Superman and Doomsday engage in a devastating cross-city battle. Ultimately, Superman kills Doomsday, but he too dies from injuries sustained during the battle. The world collectively mourns their fallen hero, whom they honor with a memorial in Metropolis.

All of the characters deal with Superman's death in different ways. Jimmy Olsen takes a job at a seedy tabloid newspaper called National Voyeur. Perry falls off the wagon. Lois visits Clark's adoptive mother, Martha, in Smallville for counsel. Even Lex grieves over Superman's death, though only because he was not responsible for it. After Mercy tells him that no one will know LexCorp was involved with Doomsday, Lex kills her to guarantee that secrecy.

In Superman's absence, the police are ill-equipped to deal the villains he so regularly defeated. When Toyman holds a school bus filled with kids hostage using a giant spider, Lois, still grieving, decides to fight the villain on her own. As she does, Superman digs his way out of his own grave and apprehends Toyman. However, he does not seem quite the same, missing Lois' apartment as he flies her home and acting surprised when she kisses him. Similarly, Clark fails to return to work. She dismisses it as shock from his supposed "death". Furthermore, Superman makes no attempt to contact his foster mother, raising more suspicions.

The truth of this resurrected Superman is soon revealed: He is merely a clone created by Lex from a sample of blood stolen from the site of the battle. As such, he lacks all of the real Superman's memories. Lex is keeping the body of the real Superman preserved in a tube for his personal amusement.

Unbeknownst to anyone, even Lex, the real Superman is actually alive, but just barely. The robot at his Fortress of Solitude is able to recover his body and works to bring him back to health. Meanwhile, the Superman clone begins to take a darker perspective on his job when he hears about Toyman killing a four-year-old girl. He meets with Toyman as he is about to enter the police station. There, he picks him up, flies him above the city, then drops him back to the ground, killing him. The city is stunned, and Lois suspects he is not Superman. The police cannot do much to punish Superman for the murder, as he simply destroys their guns.

Upon returning to Lex, the clone is berated for his behavior. Lex sends him on a mission to find the real Superman's corpse and threatens to kill the Cloned Superman should he step out of line again. When on a mission to find who has taken the body of Superman the clone begins to think for himself and scans his brain for Lex's trap. The clone uses his X-ray vision to locate a lead-shielded kryptonite ball in his skull, which would allow Lex to carry out his threat, and removes it in gruesome fashion. At the same time, Lois meets with Lex under the guise of wanting to move on, but first wants to know how he corrupted Superman. As she leans in to kiss him, she stabs him with a tranquilizer and begins looking through his files with Jimmy's help. She and Jimmy discover that Lex is cloning an army of Supermen. After Lex comes to and threatens them, the original clone arrives and destroys the facility. When Lex realizes that the clone has removed the kryptonite in his skull, Lex tries to hide in a lead-lined, red-sunlight room, only to have the clone lock Lex inside and toss the entire room to the street. This latest presumed murder triggers military action. Again, they can do little against Superman.

Hearing the news, the real Superman resolves to help, even though his powers are not yet fully restored. To improve his odds he dons a black sunlight-absorbing "Solar Suit" and brings a kryptonite gun developed by Lex. When Superman arrives in Metropolis, the clone tells him that he is no longer needed, and should leave if he does not want to get hurt. The two engage in a massive battle, with Superman's kryptonite gun failing to hit the much faster clone. Jimmy and Lois grab the kryptonite gun to help Superman, though still unsure if he's the real one or not. The fight reaches a head at Superman's memorial, where Lois manages to hit the clone with a shot from the kryptonite gun. A truck full of tar is wrecked in the battle and both Superman and the clone are coated in the tar. The clone destroys the gun, leaving only the kryptonite canister. As the two Supermen continue their battle, the canister sticks to the clone's chest, and Superman vaporizes it with his heat vision. The clone is overcome by the kryptonite gas and dies, after telling Superman to protect the people. Lois is convinced that he's the real Superman once he kisses her, and the crowd is similarly happy to be rid of the evil Superman.

At Lois' apartment, Superman sees that she misspelled "resurrection" in her article, where he mentions he was a spelling bee champ at Smallville Elementary, revealing himself to be Clark Kent. At LexCorp, mirroring the movie's beginning, an injured Lex narrates the ending, saying how gods can die but can also return from the dead. He smiles to himself, saying, "It would seem you can't be destroyed after all, Superman. It would seem…"

Cast

Comparisons with the comics

As explained by Bruce Timm, the film focuses on the events of The Death of Superman, World Without a Superman, and the Return of Superman comic book story lines, but does not use several of the subplots and secondary characters for story and time reasons. Notable differences from the comic into the movie include:

  • In the comic, prior to the Death of Superman arc, Lex Luthor supposedly died of kryptonite poisoning and his son, Lex Luthor II, who had long hair and a beard, appeared, though in reality Luthor cloned himself, had his brain placed into the clone's body, and posed as his own son. In the movie, Luthor appears in his classic bald appearance.
  • By the time The Death of Superman occurred, Lois fell in love with Clark and he proposed to her, which led to the build up to the wedding which didn't happen until 1996. In Superman: Doomsday, Lois and Superman are in a romantic relationship for six months. While she has figured out that he's Clark Kent, he doesn't reveal his secret to her until the end of the movie.
  • Doomsday was clothed and buried underground and punched his way out into the open by himself. In the movie, it is Lex Luthor's team that unearths him and then he breaks free but he is not in the Calaton burial suit like he was in the comics.
  • The fight with Doomsday occurs in the daytime in the comics, rather than night as in the movie.
  • The Justice League, known as Justice League International at the time, fought Doomsday with Superman. They are omitted in the movie, as are are others like Supergirl, Batman, and Wonder Woman.
  • Superman and Doomsday died by hitting/punching each other at the same time with their last strengths (with Superman using both hands). In the movie, Superman takes Doomsday into outer space and re-enters the atmosphere in a kamikaze dive, having the extreme heat of the atmosphere and the force from hitting the ground to kill Doomsday and in turn, himself.
  • In the comics, Cadmus stole Superman's body from his grave for study. In the movie, it was LexCorp.
  • At the end of World Without a Superman, Jonathan Kent suffers a heart attack and fights in the afterlife to get Superman's soul back. In the movie, Jonathan Kent was already long dead.
  • Before the real Superman's return, the Reign of the Supermen had four people claiming to be Superman: Steel, Eradicator, the Cyborg Superman, and Superboy. In the movie, all four have been omitted. Though, Dark Superman, seems to be a combination of elements of Superboy (he is a clone of Superman), Eradicator (no moral center and using lethal means on criminals), and Cyborg Superman (Superman-like villian for final battle).
  • Mongul becomes the main villain for the remainder of the Return of Superman storyline. However he doesn't appear in the movie at all.
  • Superman's "Solar Suit" is different between the comic and movie versions. While both versions absorbed solar energy, the comic version could only mimic Superman's physical powers but not restore them. That is why Superman wore rocket boots for his flight and used laser guns in place of his heat vision. In the movie, before the Superman/Dark Superman battle, Superman has been trying to get his strength back, but only gets to 67% when the battle happens and has to wear the solar suit to help himself during the fight. Not to mention that Superman would still have to fight hard against a powerful foe.
  • In the comics, the absence of Clark Kent is explained by the fact that he could be trapped in the rubble following the Superman/Doomsday fight; he (with help) later faked "discovering" a bedraggled Kent in an old bomb shelter. In the movie, he goes to Afghanistan to cover a story and is assumed missing until later.
  • The film represents the only time Superman has ever been successfully cloned perfectly. Other clones, such as Bizarro and Superboy were imperfect or flawed due to Superman's Kryptonian DNA.
  • Mercy Graves is killed by Lex Luthor. This is the only time this has ever occurred.

Trivia

In the scene where we see the real Superman healing by absorbing yellow solar energy, the room is decorated with various relics from Supermans previous battles (and various media incarnations) including the miniaturised city of Kandor, a Mechanical Monster from Max Fleischer’s Superman cartoons and the holding rings present from Superman.

Kevin Smith has a cameo during the scene where Toyman holds a bus full of children hostage with a giant mechanical spider. His one line is in reference to his own experiences working on the Superman Reborn script, as documented in An Evening with Kevin Smith.

Adam Baldwin and James Marsters previously work together on the fifth season of The WB Television Network's supernatural drama Angel created by Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt, as the movie's composer Robert J. Kral, also previously worked for the television series as well.

Adam Baldwin previously portrayed numerous notable DC Comics characters on Static Shock, The Zeta Project, and Justice League Unlimited.

Aside from playing Lex Luthor in the movie, James Marsters also has a recurring role as Professor Milton Fine on The WB Network/The CW television series Smallville, which the show primarily focuses on the trials and tribulations the young Clark Kent and Lex Luthor before they become enemies.

Superman's clone is constantly being compared to Bizarro, In the scene in the hair salon, he stands in front of a large mirror, making the "S" emblem appear backward. Near the end of the movie, a bolt of lightning washes out the color of the clone's skin, making him resemble Bizarro.

Rating

The film's generous amount of violence and adult language garnered a PG-13 rating from the MPAA. Most of the more visceral deaths take place just off-camera (for example, Doomsday snapping the neck of an Armed Forces fighter), however the fight sequences are very intense--during the Doomsday/Superman fight, Superman vomits a pool of blood onto the ground, perhaps the most visual use of blood in the entire film. The language in the film is mature for a comic animation, with numerous characters uttering "damn" and "ass" repeatedly. Sexual innuendo is mild but present in the film, which may have also contributed to the rating.

Critical reception

Following the screening at Comic Con, and its release on DVD, the movie got mostly positive reviews, with some reviewers commenting it was a marked improvement to other recent DC animated adaptations, with some commenting it raised the bar for the follow-up to the live-action Superman Returns which had been released the previous summer. Many also agreed it was also better in comparison to the recent animated films Marvel Studios had released based on their characters (such as Ultimate Avengers), in part due to the more adult and action-packed story in keeping with its PG-13 rating.

Many reviews spoke highly of James Marsters' and Adam Baldwin's voice acting as Lex Luthor and Superman, while reviews of Anne Heche's portrayal of Lois Lane were mixed.

Not all reviews of the film were positive. DVDTalk.com, while praising the film's look and its technical presentation, called the film 'a massive disappointment' and also negatively commented on the film's short running time and its lack of adherence to the storyline of the The Death Of Superman comics, a view also shared by other reviewers.

The Top 100 DVD sales chart for 9/18/07-9/23/07 revealed that the film was placed at #4, and was two spots ahead of the season six release of Smallville, a Superman related television show. Variety made a report three months after the DVD's release, on DTV movies becoming very popular, and revealed that the DVD sold 600,000 copies. Which was 30% more than what the studio predicted.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack to Superman: Doomsday was released on the October 26 2007 . The soundtrack listing is below:

  • 1. Superman Doomsday Main Title (2:05)
  • 2. Fortress of Solitude (1:33)
  • 3. Alien (2:25)
  • 4. Killing the Hick (0:52)
  • 5. Doomsday Rising (3:59)
  • 6. Superman vs. Doomsday (1:49)
  • 7. Doomsday Battle (2:11)
  • 8. Superman's Sacrifice (2:38)
  • 9. The Death of Superman (2:07)
  • 10. Lois & Martha (0:48)
  • 11. Toy Man Attacks (2:28)
  • 12. Return of the Hero (2:22)
  • 13. Superman Clone (3:16)
  • 14. Heartbeat (0:43)
  • 15. Relocated (1:13)
  • 16. Lois Was Right (0:37)
  • 17. Cat Rescue (1:42)
  • 18. A Safe Superman (1:47)
  • 19. Lois' Plan (2:21)
  • 20. Clone Discovery (3:17)
  • 21. Luthor's Fate (0:32)
  • 22. Superman's Return (2:27)
  • 23. Superman vs. Superclone (4:56)
  • 24. Superman's Victory (4:23)
  • 25. Smallville Elementary (1:03)
  • 26. Superman Doomsday End Titles (2:58)

DVD

Superman: Doomsday was exclusively available on DVD with a collectable packaging over the DVD box that had a cover of Superman bursting through the movie’s logo. The special features included a retrospective look at how the Death of Superman comic came to be, a look at voice actors, as well as a Defeat Doomsday game with a 10 minute preview to the next animated film; Justice League: The New Frontier.

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