For most people on here who disliked Superman Unchained, the complaints seem to be focused on the massive delays between each issue, Wraith's opposite cliche of not being a "moustache twirling villain" but being a "bad guy who does the right thing in the end" cliche, the terrorist group Ascension not receiving much development and not really mattering to the plot, Superman somehow being "dull and stiff" etc. As someone who mostly enjoyed Superman Unchained, my beef comes with how it ended. Snyder claims in interviews that this is apparently one of the few comics where he ended things exactly how he wanted to. If true, that's quite a sad statement on how he concluded a pretty enjoyable Superman story up until the end. I've thought about how Unchained could have been ended better and I do have some ideas that might have made the ending to Unchained a little more appealing.

Honestly I wouldn't change anything in the pages leading up to Superman flying towards the sun to face the alien armada, it's mostly good stuff that doesn't need improving. My improvements would come in after Superman gets zapped by the red lasers from the ship. I would halt Lex's rant on how well he actually understands Superman and put in the thought boxes that Snyder used so well throughout Unchained about Superman actually giving some thought to injecting himself with a solar syringe that turns him into a living bomb which would kill all the aliens too. Seriously it's like Snyder never wrote that captivating and tense scene where Superman rushes to save the people trapped in the falling Burj Khalifa thinking about how to stop the building without killing the people inside.

Wracking his brain over the consequences of his actions if he goes through with killing hundreds or thousands of sentient beings or sacrificing himself and his ethics to save his home planet (the very psychological dilemma Snyder says is at the heart of Unchained, whether Superman's morals are his greatest strength or his most crippling weakness) Superman remembers what Wraith said in their battle in The Gobi Desert:

Thinking "Guess I'll have to try this now" Superman soups himself up with Lex's syringe and uses his greatly increased power to turn off the alien's weaponry as well as disrupt the dyson net of their solar energy absorption. Next, I'd actually show one of the alien's cockpits since they've remained faceless up to this point and have them notice that Superman's solar energy levels are through the roof and about to burst. Without the technology to take over Earth and the potential risk, Wraith's people decide to retreat to live to fight another day. We see Superman glowing bright yellow and about to explode but glad that he's saved the day without compromising who he is. This involves Superman using his brain and experiences and drawing from the people he knows to save the day, another theme consistent in Snyder's run.

Insert the final Dustin Nguyen scene of Clark resuscitating Jed Colder and him deciding to keep Clark's secret unchanged. This would be followed up by Wraith arriving just before Superman blows up and uses his more experienced electromagnetic energy control to help siphon off the excess of solar radiation in Superman's cells. Lee's artwork would show Wraith in great pain doing this but eventually he succeeds. I'd then have Lex's end rant appearing alongside Wraith's attempt to save Superman. But I'd slightly change Lex's dialogue to begrudgingly admit that in some cases, Superman might inspire people to do what they think is right despite the trial and error point he brought up earlier. This would correlate with Wraith deciding to help Superman, since Wraith doesn't see Superman as a complete enemy and has helped him several times in the course of the series. Many reviews have brought up how Wraith's sacrifice represents Superman's greatest power to inspire others into doing what's right but I feel this twist is a much more satisfying way of representing that point.

Wraith brings Superman back to the destroyed Fortress to heal and Lex is outraged that another flawless plan has been thwarted. Wraith states that his senses can pick up Lex's trail and Lex swiftly turns off his comm link. Lois is shown pleased to see Superman back alive and angry with her father for his black ops machinations. She swears to expose The Machine in her article and General Lane smugly says that they'll simply go under deeper cover. Wraith draws the line in working for General Lane, saying that Lane and the other Machine leaders have made just as much a pawn out of him as his own people have. When Lane asks if Superman's made him soft, Wraith does say that he doesn't wholly agree with Superman on his methods or his approach, but Kal-El's determination and resolve inspired him to try what's right for everyone rather what's best for one single nation.

The Justice League then boom tube in ready to fight Wraith but surprisingly he surrenders to them, deciding that it's time he's judged for what he's done. Batman weakens Wraith with the Wraith-tonite ring and Hal traps him in a construct bubble, stating that he's called in the rest of the Green Lantern Corps to capture Wraith's people now they're weakened and vulnerable (kudos to SOG7DC for his thread on why the GLC should have been aware of Wraith's species) The League also take the unconscious Superman to be healed and Cyborg assure a concerned Lois that Superman should be back to normal soon.

As for the ending, that's mostly alright too. Lois, Perry and Jimmy discuss Lois' article, Lois finds the bagels on her desk and then has a nice chat with Clark. She mentions how far behind Clark's been on recent news, that Wraith is locked up in a red sun radiation cell designed for a rogue Superman. Also, I'd have Lois say that Superman can't solve all the world's problems nor can he always know what's right straight away. What he can do is follow his own judgement to do what's right and that's why he can still inspire people by his actions and example to take leaps of their own. Possibly with a snarky, inflated remark of "It's what I do too" with Clark chuckling at that joke and telling Lois that he needed to be reminded about taking a leap too. Thus ending the issue on that same splash page.

Thoughts are most welcome indeed and any other suggestions on what you'd have done differently with Superman Unchained too.

I thought it was good.

I liked that Superman was actually being challenged psychically, instead of his enemy having to exploit one of his weaknesses to give him a challenge.

There were something that left me scratching my head, but I will say I enjoyed it for the most part, and I thought the art was great too.

You just won't let Unchained fade away, huh? =D

Okay, I'll read it when I get the chance.

How about Superman, instead of going along with what Lex says, gets a Phantom Zone projector and sucks the entire armada up like when he tossed War World to the Phantom Zone. Then, Superman flys to another Galaxy or Solar System (preferably another Galaxy) and releases the entire armada. Now the entire armada, intimidated and surprised, choose not to invade again.

Simple, effective, and Superman doesn't have to perfectly play into Lex's plan like a pawn. He actually get to choose the third option.

Sorry for not being descriptive.

That would require Snyder to believe that Superman actually being able to accomplish things on his own doesn't make him unrelateable or somesuch. I mean, if Batman can starve for days during a drugged-up haze in an underground labyrinth and still turn the tables on an undead ninja who stabbed him in the back and battered him six ways to Sunday, it shouldn't be too far-fetched that Superman can defeat an opponent without having to think what Bruce or Diana would do, right? Or that he'd be able to fend off the military on his own, even if they were armed with weaponry that all but made having superheroes useless? Or maybe that he could be more than a bit part player in the climax of his "if I had one Superman story to tell, this'd be it", surely?

(For what it's worth, your idea does sound better.)

Also, the one thing I would DEFINITELY change, would be when Superman shoved Wraith's own version of Kryptonite down his throat.

Superman somehow being "dull and stiff" etc.

Hmmm, I like the way this guy thinks. Sounds like someone I'd wanna party with

Overrated comic.

Yeah it might have been better if Snyder just had Superman place the ring on Wraith's finger or take him to the League first. Without context, it might have looked like the other thing.

@lvenger:

Dude.

Shoving a harmful substance down somebody's throat and just leaving them there is an obvious attempt at murder.

@jogga: True but this is the world of comics where people survive/come back from worse injuries than that all the time.

@lvenger:

Just because other heroes and villains have survived worse injuries does't erase the fact that Clark just tried to MURDER somebody.

You and I both know that is no excuse. Especially when it comes to Superman.

@jogga: Given that Superman almost commits genocide in the next issue, I kinda tend to overlook that scene in the "What went wrong with Unchained?" category.

@lvenger:

The incident I was talking about was from issue 8. It came like a month or two before the infamous issue 9. How did you overlook that for so long?

The ending of issue 9 wasn't the only thing wrong with the comic.

@jogga: You misunderstand my post, I meant to say that Superman shoving the ring in Wraith's mouth isn't the worst thing about Unchained for me. I meant to say I had more problem with what 9 had Superman doing than issue 8.

@lvenger:

Actually you pretty much covered every point. Sure I'd have made some other alterations, but mine would be much more extent, not limited only to the last issue of Unchained. But has such I won't bother you with such lengthy tale.

Your ending was pretty good. Far better than the end we saw, and covers a lot more ground. And would leave us with a new character, Wraith, that could later on be used for either becoming Superman allie and mentor, or has his enemy. Although the first hypothesis would've been far better.

Wished that Snyder had you on his team at the time.

@heavenlydarkdragon: Thanks for the critique and compliment, keeping Wraith around as an actually alive character increases his future potential compared to having to bring him back from the dead again.

I can dig it. Kudos on the write up sir!

Finally read it.

Good write up. I wouldn't change anything but a small battle between Superman and Wraith's people before the surrender, just for dramatic effect :P

Then in that case I would totally understand why you feel so strongly for issue 9. Since Genocide > Attept at Murder.

Still feels weird how Snyder seems to be completely happy with the ending.

Yeah I agree about the whole Superman getting ready to nuke thousands was pretty ridiculous. He wouldn't want to kill thousands of beings from another race, he'd try to find another way.

I thought that Wraith coming back and saving Superman was really unexpected. And I don't mean that in a good way because it didn't make any sense. His character did a 180.

I'm sure people would be yet again pissed that the justice league showed up after all the complaints about that and Batman. I think it ended wonderfully though, the random aliens don't require that much attention

@jayc1324: To be fair, batman was really unnecessary in the story. He was mostly only their cause Snyder. So people have a reason to complain about that. No one would complain about JL.

Anyway, I really liked your version, my only complain if that actually happened & I read it would be how Wraith knew how to just easily save Superman. ( and yeah we would be under pain, but to me being able to do it seconds after you come is still easy way out ).

@2cool4fun: Without batmans help Wraith could've killed superman when they fought in issue #6

@jayc1324: No because superman is smart enough to scan Wraith on his own. And has even smarter friends to make stuff for him, ( Shay ) Or just better scientists. ( Steel )

@2cool4fun: Superman was smart enough to beat Wraith without any help, as shown when he defeated him by taking him to the core of the earth. But in issue #6 supes was getting his butt kicked, and would've died without the ring bruce gave him to weaken wraith.

@jayc1324: True, but the thing is, Snyder could have played that out in many different ways. He did not have to do it like that.

The Wraith-onyte in itself was annoying :/ ( also I feel like Shay could have done the same thing )

The biggest problem I had with the end was when he got zapped by the red sun cannon and became deathly thin and looked like a skeleton with skin.