Genre: Action/Superhero/Sci-Fi
Director: Jeff Nichols
Writer: John Malone
Based on DC Comics characters
Cast: Aidan Turner, Dakota Johnson, Daniel Craig, Frances McDormand, Bradley Whitford, Hugh Laurie, Noel Fisher, Max Martini, Robert Kazinsky, Tom Wright, Halle Berry, Mahershala Ali
Plot: Clark Kent (Aidan Turner) is waiting outside of the Daily Planet building in Metropolis. Everyone is talking about the robots that have going around the world hunting down superheroes. A cab pulls up in front of the building, and his colleague Lois Lane (Dakota Johnson) exits. Clark tries to hide how smitten he is by Lois. She's on the phone, but Clark needs to talk to her about an article, so he follows her into the building and into the elevator. While they ride up to the newspaper offices, the lights in the elevator flicker and they hear a rumble outside. Lois' phone call cuts out, and she finally acknowledges Clark's presence with a curt hello. When the elevator doors open, the entire floor is in a panic. The newspaper's editor Perry White (Bradley Whitford), tells everyone to evacuate the building as the government has issued a state of emergency. Clark asks what's going on, and photographer Jimmy Olsen (Noel Fisher) tells Clark that the robots have started attacking the city and innocent people, not just the superheroes. Everybody rushes down the stairwell of the building and towards the exits. Clark keeps a close eye on Lois, who charges through the crowd fearlessly.
When Clark gets back outside he sees the robots firing lasers at the crowds of people. Suddenly, the Martian Manhunter (Mahershala Ali) zooms in and begins fighting off a swarm of OMAC robots. He telepathically urges everyone to get as far away from the city center as possible. Most people do as he says, but Lois moves closer to the action to get a better view. Rubble begins raining down around her, but she is undeterred, and begins filming the action on her phone. Clark yells for her to get away from there as an OMAC closes in on her. Clark rushes over to her in the blink of an eye and covers her body with his own as debris crashes down on top of them. Clark looks up and sees the OMAC flying towards them, Clark tells Lois to stay down, and for once she listens. Clark then punches the robot, knocking its head clear off. Martian Manhunter sees Clark and senses something vaguely inhuman about him, but has bigger fish to fry with fighting off the OMACs. Clark then grabs Lois by the hand and begins leading her out of harm's way. They make their way to the Metropolis Harbor where they rendezvous with the rest of the Daily Planet team. Everyone watches as Martian Manhunter draws the OMACs from the city and out over the ocean. Lois is confused about what happened when Clark protected her and looks at her phone. The video she was taking is still running. She stops it and scrolls through it until she gets to the OMAC that set its sights on them. Unfortunately, she can't make out much from the footage.
Clark takes the train to visit his mother, Martha Kent (Frances McDormand), in the small, aptly named town of Smallville, Kansas. He tells her he figured out how he wants to use his special abilities, and describes seeing the Martian Manhunter fighting the OMACs and using his powers to save a life for the first time. He feels that he should be using his powers the same way the superheroes are. Martha reminds Clark that he's not like most of those superheroes, that he came from a different planet. Martha then takes him out to the barn where the spacecraft that brought Clark to Earth is hidden. Inside the spacecraft there is a placard featuring a familiar "S" symbol, which Clark runs his hand over, wondering aloud what it stands for. She asks him what he thinks his father would think about deciding to use his powers. Clark tells her he isn't sure what his dad would think, but that for the first time in his life he is finally sure what he wants to do. Martha is torn since she knows her late husband would not have approved. Clark tells her that dad didn't want him to be shunned, but he's not worried about that any more. He's hidden and repressed his powers long enough, now he wants to use them to the betterment of humanity.
Back at the Daily Planet, every one is working in overdrive covering the defeat of the OMAC drone army, in addition to an impending nuclear incident between the United States and North Korea. Perry tells Lois that he scored her a sit down interview with the head of the Department of Extranormal Operations, Amanda Waller (Halle Berry). Lois is surprised that Waller would be willing to do an interview following such catastrophic events, but Perry tells her that Waller is probably just making the rounds to throw her predecessor, Maxwell Lord, under the bus and do some damage control. Perry sternly tells Lois not to turn her article into a crusade. People are going to want to read what Waller has to say about the OMAC incident, and they need to sell some newspapers. Lois tells him that she can't make any promises.
Billionaire industrialist Lex Luthor (Daniel Craig) is sitting down with Senator Schuster (Tom Wright) in his office. Lex is telling him that the problem with the OMAC Project, wasn't the idea, but rather Maxwell Lord's poor, ego-maniacal execution. The senator asks Lex what exactly he's after, and Lex tells him he wants government funding for a project of his own. Senator Schuster is confused as to why Lex would need government money since he has almost as much money as the government itself, and without all the debt at that. Lex tells the senator that the rich stay rich by not spending their own money on endeavors like this. Senator Schuster tells Lex he can run it up the ladder, but that he is guessing that Waller is not going to be a fan of such an idea.
Lois Lane is sitting down with Amanda Waller for the interview. Jimmy Olsen is also present to take pictures of the interview for the paper. Lois starts grilling Waller right off the bat for the OMAC incident. Waller deflects the question, explaining that Maxwell Lord was solely responsible for what happened. The project was originally only supposed to be about monitoring metahuman activity in the country, but that Lord got power hungry and changed the project into an metahuman extermination project without notifying his government superiors. Waller thanks the league of superheroes for saving the day from Lord's machinations. Lois is a little annoyed by how well Waller answered the question, and asks how people are supposed to trust that Waller won't do something similar. Waller thanks Lois for such a good question and tells her that she has no interest in simply wiping out metahumans. She believes that they should be studied and monitored to further catastrophic incidents that have metahuman involvement. One of her assistants enters the room and whispers something in Waller's ear. Waller then abruptly gets up, thanks Lois for her time, and hurries out of the room.
In the Daily Planet offices, all of the phones and televisions start broadcasting an emergency message: North Korea has launched its entire nuclear arsenal at the United States. Everyone is advised to find a safe place and take cover. Just when everyone starts to panic, Lois tries to calm them by assuring everyone that North Korea's nukes won't make it all the way to the Metropolis, on the Eastern seaboard. Jimmy says that it's not the explosion they should worry about, but the fallout after it. Lois rolls her eyes at Jimmy. The office continues freaking out. Jimmy hides under a desk, grabbing hold of the desks legs like he's in an earthquake drill. Lois turns to Clark to say she tried, but Clark is gone.
Clark flies through the skies in full "Superman" regalia, with the "S" placard from his spacecraft adorning his chest. He flies across the North American continent like a sonic boom, and out over the Pacific Ocean. He spots three large nuclear missiles on a trajectory towards the United States. Superman grabs one of the missiles and throws it into one of the other missiles, causing them both to explode. Superman then continues after the last of the missiles. He grabs hold of it just as the Pacific coastline comes into view. Superman flies straight up with the missile, taking it up into the stratosphere. He then rips the nuclear missile in half, taking on the entire brunt of the explosion, far above Earth's surface. Lois and Perry see the flash of the explosion in the sky all the way in Metropolis, and are quick to wonder what just happened. Jimmy asks if they're dead. Lois says they're not dead, and that the missiles appear to have been destroyed.
Video footage of a man in the sky taking out the missiles is all over the news. Lex Luthor throws his remote at the television in disgust, destroying it. Lex gets Senator Schuster on the phone and screams that this is what he was talking about. They cannot have some "thing" like that operating unchecked. Senator Schuster says that it appears that the Superman is on their side. Lex asks for how long and hangs up. Lex takes an elevator down into the bowls of the LexCorp building, where he enters a secret, high-tech research lab. He is greeted by Dr. Emil Hamilton (Hugh Laurie), who shows Lex what he and his men have been working on. He shows Lex a series a robot body parts that are just waiting for a human host. Lex believes that the problem with the OMAC project was that they were simply drones controlled by a hive mind. He tells Hamilton what he wants, and what this country needs, isn't a mindless robot, but rather a soldier. If the government won't help him, then he'll handle it himself. All he needs are willing subjects looking to defend their great country. Hamilton looks over some notes and finds that there were some abnormal energy readings where the Superman flew during the nuclear incident. Lex asks how abnormal, and Hamilton tells him the only time he's seen similar readings was in connection to a meteor that hit North Dakota thirty years earlier. Lex asks since a nuclear blast can't seem to harm the Superman, could energy harnessed from the meteror make a dent. Hamilton says that theoretically the metahuman could be impacted by the meteor's energy. Lex asks where that meteor is now.
Clark decides to visit his mother back in Smallville again, but rather than ride a train all the way out there, he decides to fly there. What used to take several hours, now takes about a minute. Clark smiles the whole time, happy that he's chosen to embrace his gifts. When he arrives, he asks his mother Martha if she saw the news. She expresses concern that someone may learn of his identity and use it against him and those he loves. Clark tells her not to worry, that he would never let anything happen to his own mother. After wiping away a tear, Martha does admit that what he did was impressive and saved a lot of lives. She says that it may not have made his father happy to see him out there using his powers, but that she knows he would have been very proud that he managed to save so many lives. Clark gives his mother a hug.
Mercenary John Corben (Max Martini) drives a military-style truck into Baralsville, North Dakota, pulling the truck in behind the Baralsville Museum of Natural History. He gets out of the truck along with a few fellow soldiers under his command, and go up to the loading dock of the museum. Corben goes over the plan one last time before they enter. They're going to neutralize museum security, load the meteor into the truck, and then rendezvous with the helicopter to getaway. Security is light, so they just toss some knockout gas grenades into the museum to incapacitate the guards.
Meanwhile back in Metropolis, LexCorp is ablaze. Several middle floors are completely engulfed in flames. Lex Luthor is on the rooftop trying to signal for help. Superman arrives and uses his super breath to put out the inferno. Superman then lands on the roof and asks Lex if he's alright. Lex nods, and asks to shake hands of the man who saved his life. During the handshake, Lex tries to secretly take a sample of Superman's blood, but the needle shatters upon contact with Superman's skin. Superman asks Lex what he wants, and Lex looks Superman in the eyes and asks what he is. Superman admits that he doesn't even know the answer to that question before flying off.
Corben and his team are strapping the large green meteor to the helicopter and loading up. Once the helicopter gets airborne, the pilot, Hank Henshaw (Robert Kazinsky) tells Corben that the cargo weighs a lot more than estimated. Corben tells the pilot it's too late to change the plan now and to keep flying. Corben then shoots his team and throws them out of the helicopter. He then asks the pilot if that's better, and the pilot says only a little bit. Suddenly the helicopter ride gets really bumpy, and several warning lights flash in front of the pilot. Corben asks what's wrong, and the pilot tells him that the helicopter is having a rotor failure. Corben asks what that means, and Henshaw tells him it means they're going to crash. The helicopter begins plummeting down toward the Earth, crashing into a field with a large explosion. In the morning, Lex and a clean-up crew arrive at the helicopter crash site. They find that both Corben and Henshaw are still alive, barely. Henshaw's vitals start crashing as soon as they check on him. He is put on life support and loaded into a helicopter along with Corben, who has shards of the meteor in his chest. Lex orders the injured men and the meteor to be taken immediately to LexCorp.
Clark is back in the barn in Smallville sitting next to the spacecraft that brought him to Earth in the first place. He is contemplating where he came from. He decides to sit down inside the vessel and suddenly a holographic star map showing the ship trajectory to Earth from a planet called Krypton. Clark calls his mother out to the barn. He tells her he knows where he came from finally. She asks where, and he tells her some planet called Krypton. Martha tells Clark that she's happy for him, but advises him on the impracticality of ever visiting another planet.
Back at LexCorp, Lex excitedly announces to Dr. Hamilton that he has not one, but two test subjects, plus the entire meteor he spoke of. Hamilton looks at Corben and Henshaw, and comments that they're both near death. Lex tells the doctor to get to work at creating a couple of Superman-killing soldiers. Hamilton tells Lex that if he removes the meteor from Corben's chest that he'll die. Lex tells him not to remove the meteor, but rather harness the power of the meteor to use as a weapon. Hamilton promises to do what he can.
At the Daily Planet offices, Clark pulls Lois aside and asks what she knows about Lex Luthor. She doesn't even ask why, she just starts rattling off about how he paints himself as a selfless philanthropist, but that LexCorp and its subsidiaries have weapons contracts all over the world: Europe, Asia, Africa, Middle East. If there's a civil war or military coup going on somewhere in the world, Lex Luthor is surely getting a piece of the pie. Clark asks how he's able to get away with that, and Lois explains that Lex hides his ties through an endless corporate paper trail, but more than anything, people just don't care that much since it rarely directly affects them. They are startled by a camera flash. Jimmy Olsen just took their picture. Lois gives Jimmy a look before walking off. Clark quietly asks Jimmy if he can get a copy of the picture.
Lex heads down into Hamilton's lab to see the progress on Corben and Henshaw. Hamilton says that Henshaw's body was mostly beyond repair, but he was able to use robotic prosthetics to replace the damaged parts, pretty much a robot with a human head and brain controlling it. Lex is pleased, but much more interested in the progress on Corben. Hamilton reveals that he encased Corben's meteor irradiated heart in a chest compartment using the experimental metal Metal0, and that Corben will be able to emit blasts of the meteor's energy from the chest compartment. Lex suggests they get the two soldiers out into the field for some combat testing.
Clark is proofreading an article in the Daily Planet offices when he hears far off screams coming from Centennial Square in the heart of Metropolis. Clark calmly walks into the building's stairwell, then booms out of the building in a red and blue blur. When Superman arrives at the park he finds Henshaw and Corben rounding up civilian hostages. Superman asks them what they want, and Corben replies that they simply wanted Superman's attention. Lois, seeing the commotion on television, races down to the park to get a front row street. On her way out of the building she grabs Jimmy, who is just coming back from his lunch break. She tells him that big news is happening and they have a duty to be front and center for it. By the time they arrive at the park, they see Corben shoot a bright green blast at Superman, which send Superman flying several hundred yards into a fountain. The blast clearly hurt Superman, much to his surprise. Superman, using his superspeed, speeds at Henshaw, ripping his arms off. Superman then throws the robotic arms at Corben. He notices the writing on the chest compartment saying Metal0, which Superman pronounces as Metallo, and asks why he's doing this. Metallo replies that he's simply a soldier following orders. Metallo then sends another meteor blast Superman's way. Superman narrowly manages to dodge the blast. Metallo then turns his blast toward the crowd of hostages and readies his blast, Superman flies into the path and take the hit to protect the innocent lives. Metallo says that it seems like Superman has a couple of weaknesses. Lois keeps getting closer to the action despite Jimmy trying to convince her to come hide with him. Metallo notices Lois and shoots a blast her way. Superman throws a car into the path to deflect the beam. Superman is furious that Metallo would go after Lois. His eyes go red and shoot out a fiery beam at Metallo, hitting him right in the chest compartment, disintegrating the meteor. Metallo begins gasping for air and clutching his chest. Superman asks Lois if she's alright. She simply nods, clearly awestruck at being so close to a superhero. The crowd celebrates Superman as their hero as Jimmy snaps a picture of the hero.
Lex Luthor is sulking after his soldiers' defeat by Superman on rooftop of LexCorp Tower in Metropolis. He looks up and sees Superman hovering in front of him. Lex asks what he wants. Superman tells Lex that he may be from the planet Krypton, but that he stands for truth, justice and the American way. He may not have enough evidence to prove that Lex was behind the attack that day, but that he'll be waiting for Lex to slip up. Superman then flies away.
Clark walks into the Daily Planet and sees the office a buzz. Clark asks Lois what's going on. She's stunned that he hasn't heard about Superman saving the city from a couple super villains. Clark tells her he had a dentist appointment. Lois rolls her eyes at Clark and tells him that he is going to need to pay more attention if he ever wants to make it as a reporter.
Lex Luthor launches a message into space, broadcast in over 100 different languages, offering relations, open trade routes, and most importantly asking for any information other life forms may have regarding a visitor to Earth from a planet called Krypton.
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