Superman’s controversial decision not to save Jonathan Kent’s life in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel is the most important choice the Last Son of Krypton has ever had to make. Wherever one falls on 2013’s Man of Steel, and indeed on Zack Snyder’s take on the DC Universe, there’s no escaping the massive and ongoing impact they’ve had on DC cinematically and on the overall superhero genre. Here’s why Jonathan Kent’s death scene in Man of Steel is actually so important.
Jonathan Kent’s Controversial Death Scene In Man of Steel
Snyder’s Superman origin story in Man of Steel remains a lightning rod of intense debate over a decade after its release, with such elements as the level of destruction seen in the film and Superman being forced to kill General Zod being among its most polarizing aspects. However, perhaps no Man of Steel moment is as controversial as the scene of Henry Cavill’s Clark Kent tearfully stopping himself from saving the life of his adoptive father, Jonathan (Kevin Costner).
The scene in question comes when Jonathan, Clark, and Martha (Diane Lane) find themselves unexpectedly beset by a tornado, with the three fleeing their car to a nearby overpass alongside dozens of other civilians. After Jonathan is injured freeing the Kent family dog from the car, Clark prepares to rush over to save Jonathan, only for Jonathan to hold up a hand to stop his son moments before he is consumed by the tornado, since Clark cannot save Jonathan without the crowd of bystanders seeing him using his super-speed and invulnerability.
Given Superman’s hopeful image, detractors of Man of Steel have long argued that this scene is a betrayal of the fundamental core of who Superman is as the ultimate embodiment of good and that Clark Kent would never allow his father to die in such a manner. However, the thesis Snyder presents in Man of Steel makes clear that Clark’s decision is not a callous one and, in fact, is a defining moment for him as a hero because of the consistency it shows in how much trust Clark places in Jonathan’s wisdom.
The Most Important Decision Superman Has Ever Made
Early on in Man of Steel, Clark’s decision to save a bus full of children from drowning is met with concern by Jonathan, who admonishes his son about the importance of keeping his Kryptonian origins and powers a secret from the world (Jonathan’s “Maybe” answer to Clark’s question of whether he should’ve allowed the children to die another much-debated element of Man of Steel.) Considering that Clark himself personifies “the answer to ‘Are we alone in the universe?”, as Jonathan puts it, his warning to Clark is based not on indifference to the lives of the children aboard the bus but on the Pandora’s Box of an alien revealing himself to the world will surely be.
That’s without even getting into Clark immediately putting himself under the microscope of every government on Earth, as seen in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but what makes Clark’s decision to not intervene in Jonathan’s impending death more important is that it removes him from being a bystander to the moral code Jonathan is advocating.
It’s one thing for Clark to hide his abilities from the world when he has nothing at stake, but Jonathan’s death scene is what really puts Clark’s trust in his father and his perspective to the test. In this moment in Man of Steel, it’s clear that Clark and Jonathan mutually agree that Clark cannot reveal himself yet, as it will change the world beyond Clark’s ability to control the situation. However, Man of Steel also makes the opposite of an abstract or impulsive decision on Clark’s part since he truly has something to lose, specifically the only father he has ever known up to this point in his life.
For Clark’s discretion about revealing himself as alien to the world to really matter, that idea must hold firm even when it means Clark has to allow Jonathan to make the ultimate sacrifice. While the polarizing argument over Jonathan Kent’s demise is likely to continue with all the fervour of the debate over the SnyderVerse itself, it’s a key area in which Man of Steel shows, as musician Five For Fighting once did, that it’s not easy to be Superman.
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Watch Jonathan Kent’s death scene in Man of Steel again below:
