‘Superman’: Ending Explained – Business Insider

The new “Superman,” which reboots the DC Universe, throws audiences right into the action as the hero goes head to head with the villainous billionaire, Lex Luthor.

But its director James Gunn introduces so many new ideas (like Krypto the Superdog and an entire pocket universe) that the story could feel confusing for some viewers by the end of the film.

The story follows Clark Kent/Superman (David Corenswet) as he grapples with his place in the world, as Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) hatches a plot to discredit, imprison, and kill the Man of Steel.

At the same time, Luthor also schemes with the ruler of a fictional country called Boravia to overthrow a Middle Eastern nation called Jarhanpur. It’s a busy film, but it shows the broad storylines Superman can fit into.

Here’s the ending of “Superman” explained.

Lex Luthor imprisons Superman in his pocket universe.

Much of the story revolves around Luthor’s plot to discredit Superman by using a stolen recording of his Kryptonian parents telling their son to conquer Earth to restart their destroyed planet, Krypton. Because of this, the US government allows Luthor, a villainous genius billionaire, to imprison Superman in his high-tech facility. It exists within a pocket universe that Luthor created.

After Superman is apprehended by a mysterious masked figure who works for Luthor, called Ultraman, he discovers that Luthor is using the prison to detain anyone who disagrees with his violent pursuit of the hero.

Luthor even blackmails a superpowered person called Rex (Anthony Carrigan), who can make any element from the periodic table, to weaken Superman with Kryptonite.

Superman eventually convinces Rex to use his powers to make a miniature Sun so that he can regain his strength and save Rex’s baby son, Josh, from Luthor’s henchmen. Once he’s back to his usual cheery self, Superman frees himself, Rex, and Josh from the prison and escapes through a portal that the Justice Gang member Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi) and the journalist Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) have managed to open.

Once he returns to Metropolis, it isn’t long before Superman has to fight Ultraman. While their brawl rages through the city, Luthor chooses to let the portal to the pocket universe start spreading, eventually splitting Metropolis in half.

Superman fights Ultraman, and Mr. Terrific closes the portal to the pocket universe.

Ultraman is unmasked during the fight, and revealed to be a Superman clone that Luthor created by stealing Kent’s DNA from previous fights he’s had around the world. The clone cannot think or speak for itself, and Superman ends up throwing it into a black hole inside the pocket universe.

Superman confronts Luthor at his headquarters, and Mr. Terrific closes the portal to save the city. Meanwhile, Luthor berates Superman and tells him that he wants to destroy him because he envies the attention he gets, despite being an illegal alien from another planet.

Luthor feels that his intelligence should warrant more praise than Superman’s strength. But the hero points out that he’s just trying to be the best person he can be, and that he considers himself human because of his upbringing.

While all that is happening, Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion) and Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) intervene in the Middle East to stop Boravia from invading Jarhanpur and committing genocide.

Lane uses the information she and the fellow journalist Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) have collected about Luthor arming Boravia to publish an exposé about him. This leads the authorities to arrest him and restore the public’s faith in Superman.

Later, while recovering from the fight, Superman watches footage from his childhood with his adopted parents in Kansas, showing that he considers them his true family.

However, that’s not to say he completely rejects his Kryptonian heritage, because Supergirl (Milly Alcock) arrives at his base in the Arctic to collect Krypto the Superdog. This sets up the next DC Universe movie: “Supergirl.”

“Superman” has two fun, post-credits scenes.

Thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, post-credits scenes have become an expectation in comic book movies, as fans wait to get a glimpse of what’s ahead in the next movie or what kind of crossover the studio is building up to.

“Superman” has two post-credits scenes, but they’re fun instead of building up to another movie. In the first mid-credits scene, Superman sits with Krypto on the moon while they look at Earth.

Then, in the second, Superman meets up with Mr. Terrific in Metropolis as the work begins to rebuild the city.

Superman points out that the building isn’t quite straight after the repair, and Mr. Terrific just walks away. Superman quietly says to himself, “Gosh, I can be such a jerk.”