Here is my big question....Did the family live? You will notice that you never see the family after he kills Zod. So I am curious, did Superman kill Zod to save the family? Or did he kill Zod in rage after seeing the family die? Just an interesting lack of information regarding what is an extremely vital part of the story...at least in my eyes.

If it is to rescue the family, Superman retains his moral high ground and most importantly...stays true to his character's morals.

If it is out of revenge...it shows emotional weakness and a complete disregard for the character.

So I am curious as to thoughts?

I think he snapped Zod's neck before he could fry the family. Good question tho.

Yeah, I think he killed Zod right before he killed the family. But maybe he killed him after and we'll find out in the 2nd movie!

I'd have to see the movie again and pay a lot more attention to that part but I'm pretty sure he did save the family.

He saved the family.

A comment on IGN said that there was smoke coming from where the family was, implying that Zod fried them, but I honestly don't know. I'll be looking for it Monday.

As I saw it he did it to rescue mankind not that family he could have simply turned Zods head or flew upwards but he instead decided to kill Zod as far as I am concerned even if he killed Zod in revenge it was still to rescue the humans. Zod said that he would never stop his vendetta against mankind (not using those words) and Supes had no way of restraining him permanently so had to end it. Some people seem to have forgotten that it was Zod or the Earth in that last scene.

I'm pretty sure he saved the family, though My annoying ass friend kept talking to me, so I couldn't pay close enough attention, I will go see it again soon...by myself this time.

@josai21: Superman, in his original publication in 1938 and during the Golden Age for a time DID kill. Yes, Superman in his first few years DID kill but while still in the Golden Age he swore never to kill again. This is his first outing in this movie's timeline. The position he was in where Zod was concerned he had no choice or a family would have been brutally murdered via being burned to death.

@the_stegman: Yh they were still alive

Hmm I'm not sure, you definitely don't see the family afterwards but I don't think they died

Why did Zod want to turn Earth in to Krypton anyway?

@jonny_anonymous: He didn't want Kryptonians to struggle to survive in the Earths conditions like Clark did because there wasn't a guarantee they would survive.

@jonny_anonymous: So that he could use the cells in Superman's body to create a new race of Kryptonians.

@smart_dork_dude: Its not a matter of the killing in my mind. Its the motivation for killing I suppose? I have no problem with Heroes killing the villains as long as the motive is right. There is a difference between a police officer or soldier killing someone to protect innocents as opposed to someone with a vendetta.

So essentially, was Zod murdered or killed?

@josai21: If a US soldier killed Hitler for his crimes what would you call it?

@tikhunt: The answer is in your sentence. "Killed." There is a deeper meaning in this movie though than simply that. I believe essentially that Superman killed Zod. That is the outward repercussion. However depending on whether the family lived or died can have huge ramification for the inward repercussions.

Family lived = I saved them. I did the right thing. I ended my own race for a good cause. Less angst.

Family died = I failed them. I let my emotions that I have kept under control my entire life out of control. I ended my own race out of rage. More angst.

The answer to "Did the family live?" Is very important to Superman's psyche. Also important to our perceptions of the character.

@tikhunt: Sure but why not just use Mars?

@josai21: I beg to differ on the family living meaning something more important. He had no way to restrain him at all and Zod had basically vowed to end humanity. With no known way of non-lethally stopping Zod and the lives of 8 billion people at stake I would say he chose the lesser of two evils.

You really need to look at the bigger picture than just that family in this.

I think we were meant to assume Earth was much closer to Krypton than any other planet they had encountered so far and thus would be the easiest to reshape.

He was crying after he killed him, as if he had just killed his best friend with his own hands. It wasn't at all out of revenge

Look to the left of the screen while Superman is crying, after he snaps Zods neck. You'll see black smoke while Lois is in view. Zod killed the family.

@altucker said:

Nope, pay attention when Superman snaps Zod's neck, you can see that the family is perfectly fine (or as fine as they can be after such a pants-sh!ttingly traumatizing experience).

before. he was pleading to stop and snapped zod's neck just before the family got bbq-ed

@smashbrawler: I love the reply. I'm going to watch it again, you should too. Zod fries that helpless family. That is why superman is crying after snapping Zods head off.

If I see otherise after watching this time or it is found to be so by the writer or director, then I will admit I'm wrong.

the smoke probaly came from the wall where his heat vision last landed.

Screw the family, Zod threw a truck through his mothers house. I'd snap his neck on that alone.

I feel like I need to watch MoS again just for this part. DAM

( + )

@altucker: Bro, I watched the movie again yesterday. I'm pretty sure I know what I'm talking about. I was actually paying attention to this for this very reason, to find out if Zod had killed the family or not.

It was my impression that The Man of Steel saved the family by killing Zod before he had a chance to turn them into charcoal.

The very early Golden Age Superman was a bit of a well-meaning thug, he would throw (bad) people into the air or through walls with little regard to their fate. But he didn't kill people after that, especially when the Comics Code came into being. He was a brave boy scout and the prohibition on killing was further reaffirmed after the Crisis reboot as part of Superman's abilities allowed him to have a special understanding about how life, the universe and everything is connected and killing was a major disruption to the universal balance. Most of the killing happened in stand alone issues or Elseworlds stories. The non-killing is something he and Batman share, as well as wearing their underwear on the outside.

None of the above. It was a result of too much watching Seagal films. Clark was obviously a 90's kid... And 90's kids have a plethora of Seagal films to watch...