A Man of Steel Concept Artist Talks the Movie's Controversial Ending

Man of Steel

was filmed in such secrecy, according to a new interview with one of the film's illustrators and concept designers, that even those associated with the film didn't all see the script by the time the film was headed to theaters. This led, as one might imagine, to a sense of trepidation about the film that Peter Rubin had just worked for months on when he began to hear sharply critical reviews of the film coming out before he had a chance to see it. The review, as many have, focused primarily on the last twenty minutes of the film and the controversial battle between Superman and General Zod. "I made the mistake of reading a very negative review the night before I went, and it just about crushed me," Rubin admitted. "I was fearing that moment. But then when it came, it made so much sense in context. Look, it's happened in the comic books, more than once, it's been a rule of most super hero movies since 1989′s Batman that the hero kills the murderous villain at the end, and people forget that it happened in Superman II back in 1980. Supes and Lois commit double homicide, and then laugh about it. Zod, Non and Ursa are mortals at that point in the story, and there's no way they survive those falls, or the hypothermia that would follow even if they did."

He added, "In Man of Steel, this is a very young Superman, and Zod is not just any villain. It isn't just that one moment, this one terrible murder of innocents that Superman foresees and tries to stop; he's picturing seven billion similar moments. He has to do something. He has no way of trapping Zod – no 'Phantom Zone Projector' in this world, as of a few minutes ago – or stopping him from committing horrific and widespread horrors. Keep in mind that Zod, the longer he's on Earth, under our sun, the stronger and more confident and capable he's going to get. There's just one way, and this is the moment Kal realizes it. If not now, then tomorrow or the next day. And how many people have to die until he finds the courage to do it? And will it be too late? Will Zod be unkillable after a day, or a month, or a year on Earth? I absolutely loved Kal-El's reaction to it, both the realization and the act, the perception of the 'great responsibility' of power, to borrow a phrase from another franchise."