It’s a great time for Superman fans, with the Man of Steel soaring into movies, TV, animation and comics. To help us stay on top of it, writer Tim Beedle shares what's grabbed his attention and why in this monthly Super-Family column.
Your opinion may vary, but personally, I’ve always felt the best villains are ones who are at odds with our hero because of a fundamental disagreement between the two. I’m talking about the sort of thing that can never be resolved because each side sees the situation differently and neither is really wrong in their view. Think Superman and Lex Luthor and their beliefs on what’s best for Earth and humanity. Or Aquaman and Ocean Master, and their views on how Atlantis should engage with the surface world. Or Xavier and Magneto, and their thoughts on how best to respond to the prejudice and intolerance experienced by mutants worldwide. Villains like these provoke genuine thought and consideration, and I have to imagine more than a few fans have found themselves siding with them at times.
Recently, I’ve begun thinking about General Zod in this regard as well, and the recently concluded “Kingdom of Zod” really illustrates why.
Zod’s motivation has always been pretty straightforward. He wants to bring back Krypton. Ideally, this would mean bringing back the planet, but if not that, then at least bringing back the Kryptonian race and society. We could spend a whole column diving into all the reasons why this is so important to him, but the bottom line is that he refuses to accept the past. It’s been decades since Krypton’s destruction. The planet has been reduced to toxic debris and its people are all dead, save for Kal-El, Kara and the Zods (and a handful of other Kryptonians here and there…but you get the gist).
All of this is very tragic, of course, and no one would expect Zod to shrug it off and go on living like nothing happened. The guy needs to feel, process and mourn all that he needs to feel, process and mourn. But that said, you could be forgiven for thinking that all Superman needs to do to remove the threat of Zod forever is to find him an excellent grief counselor. That’s because typically in life, you can’t change the past. There’s no point in holding on to it or trying to live in it because it keeps you from moving forward and doesn’t impact what happened one bit.
But that’s not really the case in the DC Universe—not when there are time travelers and time machines to be found. As we see in “Kingdom of Zod,” the general actually can and will change the past if he gets his hands on the right tools.
Contrast that with Superman, who doesn’t have the same emotional connection to Krypton that Zod does. Unlike the general, Kal-El has no memories of his home world. But that doesn’t mean he’s indifferent to the fact that it’s gone. Going through life on Earth as one of the extremely few survivors of a long-lost planet can’t be easy. He may be beloved worldwide and he may have grown up as a human—but he still isn’t one. That’s not something you ever truly get over. Couple that with the fact that he also lives in the same universe as Zod, where time travel is possible, and the reality is that Superman could have eased his loneliness as one of the last living Kryptonians at any time. He just chooses not to because the risk of doing so—to both the timeline and the people of Earth—would be too great.
As a Superman fan, everything I’m saying is probably all pretty obvious to you, but it’s at the very core of the conflict between Dru-Zod and Kal-El. Zod isn’t an enemy of Superman because he’s evil or some sort of psychopath. He’s not obsessed or corrupted or desperate. If he’s been a conqueror in the past, it’s only been as a way of saving his people. Zod is Superman’s enemy due to a fundamental disagreement on the best way to handle Krypton: Zod wishes to bring it back, while Superman thinks it’s better to not change the past.
What’s more, I don’t see much of a reason for Zod to change his view. Unlike Kal-El, he didn’t grow up on Earth, getting to know humanity and befriending a bunch of humans. He has almost no connection to the planet whatsoever, so why wouldn’t he try to change the past and save Krypton, even if it would rob Earth of a few of its greatest heroes? Can you say you’d do any different if you were put in his place, had the means to travel through time and the destroyed planet was Earth?
This all became crystal clear to me when reading Superman #42. Superman, while trying to engage peacefully with a younger Dru-Zod who had traveled forward in time from Krypton (read “Kingdom of Zod” if you’re not sure what I’m talking about), suggested to the general that the best thing would be for him to return back to his own time.
The fact that Superman could say this with a straight face knowing full well that he’s asking Zod to return to a planet that will soon no longer exist is pretty impressive. I can’t imagine anyone reading that sequence thought for a second that Zod would do it. That Superman would think he might suggests that the Man of Steel was either desperate or his view of the situation is so far removed from Zod’s that he didn’t realize how ridiculous his recommendation was. And Superman really didn’t strike me as desperate in that moment.
So, what does all this mean? Only that I don’t think Superman and General Zod are going to be turning over a new leaf anytime soon. They’ll likely always see this issue very differently, which means they’ll always be at odds. But if you’ve read it, you know that “Kingdom of Zod” doesn’t actually end with Zod. It ends with Ursa, and that’s where things get a little interesting.
Ursa also wants to bring back Krypton. But as we see at the climax of the Superman: Kingdom of Zod Special, Krypton isn’t the only thing that matters to her. There’s also her son, Lor-Zod, and saving Krypton from its destruction, wiping out the current timeline in the process, would also mean the death of her son. So, does that change how she sees the matter?
The ending of “Kingdom of Zod” suggests that it does…at least for now. What that means for her relationship with Superman—and her husband—remains to be seen. But I think that one thing is undeniable. As long as Krypton’s destruction remains a reality, the Zod family will continue to be a powerful thorn in the Man of Steel’s side.
Tim Beedle covers movies, TV and comics for DC.com, writes our monthly Superman column, "Super Here For...", and is a regular contributor to the Couch Club, our recurring television column. Follow him on Instagram at @notabard and on Bluesky at @TimBeedle.
NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Tim Beedle and do not necessarily reflect those of DC, Warner Bros. or Skydance, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.
