In January 1993, DC Comics did the unthinkable: they killed Superman. In Superman #75, the creature known as Doomsday succeeded where so many others throughout the years failed by ultimately defeating The Last Son of Krypton. Sure, the climax had been building up for months, but nobody really expected that DC would kill off one of their most important characters. And of course, the Man of Steel eventually made a triumphant return (don’t they all?), but not before we saw four different individuals claiming that they were Superman.
To be honest, this is one of my absolute favorite storylines from all of comics. (Along with Batman’s Knightfall.) Not only do we get to see a lot of action, but DC had the guts to do what others had only joked about. At the time, nobody knew when, or even if Superman would be back; but it was sure a fun ride.
That being said, imagine my pleasure when DC Comics and Warner Bros. announced that they weren’t done killing off the Man of Steel. In 2007, via a direct-to-video animated film titled Superman: Doomsday, DC gave us a loose adaptation of the storyline. It was fairly well-received by fans and critics alike. They gave us another, even looser adaptation again in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Understandably, this attempt wasn’t so well-received. (Doomsday is not a cave troll from Lord of the Rings!)
Well, they’re back at it with another animated version of the Death of Superman storyline. This time, it looks like the film will stay truer to the original tone and storyline of the comic. And just like the comics, it will be followed up by Reign of the Supermen which pleases me greatly.
The film stars Jerry O’Connell, Rebecca Romijn, Rainn Wilson, Rosario Dawson, Nathan Fillion, Christopher Gorham, Matt Lanter, Shemar Moore, and Jason O’Mara.
The Death of Superman will be released on Blu-Ray and DVD on August 7th. Part two of the saga, Reign of the Supermen, will arrive in 2019.
