Should Zod just be Kryptonian Hitler or more sympathetic and deep?

[LordTrump]

Should he just be an evil evil guy of evil kneeling evilness, of actually given a more understandable viewpoint?

[krazijoe]

Should he just be an evil evil guy of evil kneeling evilness, of actually given a more understandable viewpoint?

But he is not an evil, evil guy. He is the ultimate Race Warrior and wants his culture to survive.

[LordTrump]

But he is not an evil, evil guy. He is the ultimate Race Warrior and wants his culture to survive.

Well wouldn't that make more sense than writing him as a mustache twirler?

[Francisco]

It depends of which version we're talking about: Terence Stamp's Zod was basically your South American dictator from another planet. He was egocentric, selfish and uncaring. There was no loyalty to anything but his own needs and wants. He was truly evil and did deserve to be sent to the phantom zone, twice. First for attempting a coup against Krypton's science council and second for invading Earth and subjugating its people.

Michael Shannon in the other hand was a genetically engineered, brainwashed, military indoctrinated sociopath. If TS Zod is Fulgencio Batista then MS Zod is indeed Adolph Hitler. We humans are the Jews who needs to be exterminated for the glory and survival of the Kryptonian people. He also deserved to be sent to the phantom zone, twice. First for turning his army against his own people and murdering Jor El. Second for attempting genocide against the indigenous inhabitants of Earth by terraforming it.

Who's more sympathetic? The genocidal maniac or the despotic tyrant? Zod can be more sympathetic if you take the genocide and hedonism out of the equation. Then he'll be just a very honorable, military leader who wants to protect his people by any means necessary. Genocide is not necessary for Krypton's survival so he doesn't do it. You can even have scenes in which he looks down on those who pray on the weak or commit atrocities.

[Patrick Gerard]

I kind of appreciate the nuance of pre-Crisis Zod and Johns' Zod. More of the "noble warrior who butts heads with the hero".

Kind of like a Star Trek Klingon.

I don't like Zod to be inherently genocidal. That's the Eradicator's gig.

[magha_regulus]

General Zod needs to be a military dictator and he should be used as a cosmic threat. He should be out conquering star systems and making the denizens of dozens of star systems kneel before him. He should Mongul's greatest rival and should be the terror of the Khunds, Thanagarians, and Dominators. He should view other beings as being lesser than Kryptonians and should have some manifest destiny ideology that says that Kryptonians should inherit the stars. Because his people are now almost entirely extinct he should be all the more ferocious and he should see the Phantom Zone criminals as his chosen people. The loss of Krypton should drive him mad and wipe out any remnant of mercy left in his villainous heart!

[SuperCrab]

I think I'd write Zod as a mix of Vladimir Putin (Real life Russian leader) and Bajoran Occupation-era Gul Dukat (fictional, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine TV show). He'd be a very smart strategic thinker who is patriotic towards his home (world), and wants power, a sphere of influence, and so on and so forth, and will murder his enemies and oppress people to get it, without a second thought, but comes off as cultured and can can quote the great thinkers of Krypton past. If they ran a storyline where he took over earth, he'd try not to send *all* the humans to their deaths, he'd see them as children that were in his care and was showing "tough love" by restricting their freedoms and maybe "having" to kill some of them, but in his head sort of justifies it to himself by saying it's what's best for Earth, having him transform them into a galactic civilization instead of a backwater planet, and be doing genetic experiments in the background to see if he could change them into quasi-Kryptonians once they reached a sufficient level of cultural and intellectual advancement to be able to "handle" it. The kicker will be, of course, that he will not be elevating earth's standing in the galaxy at all, he'll turn it into a backwater and a pariah that the Green Lanterns cordon off, etc..

On the way to trying to take over the world, I could see a high stakes figurative game of chess between Zod and Lex Luthor, both evil power hungry intellects sent against each other. Luthor wouldn't like Zod firstly, for the same reasons he usually doesn't like Superman (Recent comic book history exempted), that Zod is an alien and Luthor is a racist against aliens, but secondly because he realizes that if Zod takes over the earth, he, Luthor, can't. I actually could see if they did it write a long series of issues where the two of them hatch plans and counterplans and plots within plots to outmanuever each other. Eventually, Zod has some part of the earth under his control, and Luthor is in charge of the military for the remaining part and has ties to the resistance within Zod's territory, etc.. It'd all go in phases. Luthor would nominally be the good guy, defending earth, but it'd be for his own selfish ends sometimes using highly ethically questionably tactics.

Eventually, during the worst of the occupation, several issues about Zod beats Luthor and takes complete control, Superman would return and take earth back, having been somehow kept out of the fight in the interim. Perhaps Zod throws him in the phantom zone, or Luthor does it and that's why Zod picks then to strike. Either that, or he's far away from earth- trapped in an alternate dimension, a different time, distant space beyond the reach of the lantern corps investigating something strange, whatever. If you give Superman something to do where he's plausibly not going to know what's happening on earth, that would give you a way to keep Superman involved in his own titles, which is probably a plus. You'd just do A-B plot lines in each issue, one with the Zod-Luthor thing near or on earth, and another with the displaced Superman having adventures long ago and far away or whatever.

[LordTrump]

It depends of which version we're talking about: Terence Stamp's Zod was basically your South American dictator from another planet. He was egocentric, selfish and uncaring. There was no loyalty to anything but his own needs and wants. He was truly evil and did deserve to be sent to the phantom zone, twice. First for attempting a coup against Krypton's science council and second for invading Earth and subjugating its people.

Michael Shannon in the other hand was a genetically engineered, brainwashed, military indoctrinated sociopath. If TS Zod is Fulgencio Batista then MS Zod is indeed Adolph Hitler. We humans are the Jews who needs to be exterminated for the glory and survival of the Kryptonian people. He also deserved to be sent to the phantom zone, twice. First for turning his army against his own people and murdering Jor El. Second for attempting genocide against the indigenous inhabitants of Earth by terraforming it.

Who's more sympathetic? The genocidal maniac or the despotic tyrant? Zod can be more sympathetic if you take the genocide and hedonism out of the equation. Then he'll be just a very honorable, military leader who wants to protect his people by any means necessary. Genocide is not necessary for Krypton's survival so he doesn't do it. You can even have scenes in which he looks down on those who pray on the weak or commit atrocities.

I'd see MOS Zod as still more sympathetic than Hitler

[theoneandonly]

You could argue that every villain of Superman has a sympathetic side. the parasite, Metallo Hank Henshaw are all afflicted by the tragic loss of their humanity. Braniac just wants to preserve knowledge and culture and catalog the universe. Luthor is fearful that Superman is holding humanity back from greatness and is being made dependent on him. Doomsday is a tragic creature undergoing untold pain who was created as a abomination due to kryptonian scientific curiosity as is bizzaro. The eradicator is just following its programming and is not truly evil. There is a fine line separating hero and villain which could easily be crossed any time.

[Shriveling_memo]

General Zod needs to be a military dictator and he should be used as a cosmic threat. He should be out conquering star systems and making the denizens of dozens of star systems kneel before him. He should Mongul's greatest rival and should be the terror of the Khunds, Thanagarians, and Dominators. He should view other beings as being lesser than Kryptonians and should have some manifest destiny ideology that says that Kryptonians should inherit the stars. Because his people are now almost entirely extinct he should be all the more ferocious and he should see the Phantom Zone criminals as his chosen people. The loss of Krypton should drive him mad and wipe out any remnant of mercy left in his villainous heart!

It's sad really that the version of Zod you speak hasn't been made. I like MOS but one thing that is weird now, is why terraform the planet if you can be super human.

Zod should be a comia threat

[Doctor Know]

It's sad really that the version of Zod you speak hasn't been made. I like MOS but one thing that is weird now, is why terraform the planet if you can be super human.

Zod should be a comia threat

Man of Steel Zod was a colonialist. Like the European conquerors and conquistadors, he wanted to change this new land to a way he saw fit. As for the indigenous population... to quote Zod, "the foundation has to be built on something".

[LordTrump]

You could argue that every villain of Superman has a sympathetic side. the parasite, Metallo Hank Henshaw are all afflicted by the tragic loss of their humanity. Braniac just wants to preserve knowledge and culture and catalog the universe. Luthor is fearful that Superman is holding humanity back from greatness and is being made dependent on him. Doomsday is a tragic creature undergoing untold pain who was created as a abomination due to kryptonian scientific curiosity as is bizzaro. The eradicator is just following its programming and is not truly evil. There is a fine line separating hero and villain which could easily be crossed any time.

Isn't Eradicator a good guy, basically the Superman equivalent of Azrael?

[theoneandonly]

Isn't Eradicator a good guy, basically the Superman equivalent of Azrael?

yes he is a good guy now but in the start and even now I think there is a part of his original programming still inside him that calls for destroying earth to create krypton.

[daBronzeBomma]

I know I am in the tiny minority on this, but here goes: I actually do not believe that General Dru-Zod is a worthy villian for Kal-El.

Dru-Zod is clearly the Megatron to JOR-EL's Optimus Prime. They're the ones with the shared history, usually the friendship, then the bitter betrayal and the earned animosity.

Also the General doesn't work without an army. Which means more living Kryptonians. Which I oppose. So I'd like to leave the General on Krypton, killed by Jor and Lara in final combat.

I say, make Ursa (the lone sociopath, not Dru's sub-commander) into Superman's own Joker.

[Jon Clark]

Always pictured a story where Zod when compared to Hitler espouses a combination of admiration and contempt. Both men believe in a master race- Zod just doesn't get hung up on skin color, sexual orientation, or other trivia when judging whether you are inferior. But Zod's belief in Kryptonian values is as dogmatic as Hitler's Aryan ones.