Kal-El, also known by his adoptive Earth name Clark Joseph Kent, and best known by his superhero persona Superman, is a superhero in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) series of films, based on the DC Comics character of the same name created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. In the films, he is a survivor from the destroyed planet Krypton who lands on Earth and develops superhuman abilities due to environmental differences between the planets and their respective star systems.
A destructive conflict with a faction of militant surviving Kryptonians led by General Zod results in extensive damage to Metropolis, creates a moral divide amongst humanity, and draws the attention of Bruce Wayne / Batman, who would confront Kent for his actions. The two would eventually reconcile their differences to prevent Doomsday, with the latter giving his life to kill the creature with the assistance of Wayne. Kent eventually gets resurrected and allies himself with the Justice League to prevent the Unity of the three Mother Boxes and prevent the conquest of Earth under Darkseid. Now a well known, and the most powerful, protector of Earth, Kent intervened on the behalf of Amanda Waller to confront the newly awakened Black Adam, negotiating his surrender.
First appearing as the protagonist of the film Man of Steel (2013), the character is portrayed by Henry Cavill, who is the first non-American actor to portray Superman in film. Cavill ultimately remained tied to this role for the next years following his first portrayal, until his final cameo appearance in The Flash (in 2023). This version of Superman was one of the central characters of the DC Extended Universe, appearing in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Justice League (2017) (and its 2021 director's cut), and an uncredited cameo appearance in Black Adam (2022). Body doubles for the actor made appearances in the film Shazam! (2019) and Brad Abramenko was in the first season of the television series Peacemaker (2022–present). Cavill was slated to reprise the character in future projects as of November 2022, including a planned sequel to Man of Steel and a larger role in The Flash, prior to James Gunn and Peter Safran becoming the new heads of DC Studios and beginning development on the DC Universe (DCU) media franchise. Cavill would be succeeded in the role by David Corenswet, who debuted as Clark Kent / Superman in the eponymous film Superman (2025).
Director Zack Snyder's films in the DCEU have aimed to portray Superman in a more flawed and human light as compared to the previous film series by Warner Bros., which has received polarized reviews from critics.
Fictional character biography Arriving on Earth
On February 29, 1980, Kal-El is the first Kryptonian born by natural means in many generations. His parents, Jor-El and Lara fight to save their planet Krypton from impending destruction due to the Kryptonians' reckless usage of the planet's resources. Jor-El becomes the first Kryptonian aware of the planet's impending destruction but his concerns are dismissed by the oblivious and irrational ruling council. Jor-El and Lara must also defend against a plot by General Zod to seize control of the planetary government. With no means to avoid the destruction of the planet, Jor-El and Lara infuse the DNA of their son with a codex containing the genetic information for future Kryptonian births, before sending him to Earth on a pre-programmed starship. They deduce that their son will develop great powers on Earth and will "become a god" to Earth-native humans. Kal is discovered by Jonathan and Martha Kent in Smallville, Kansas upon crash-landing on Earth and subsequently raised as their adoptive son, Clark Kent. As a child, Clark becomes isolated as a result of developing superhuman powers which he tries to hide from others, but one incident sees him single-handedly lift a school bus carrying his classmates from sinking into a river. He learns his true origins from Jonathan, who urges him to keep his powers hidden. In 1997, Jonathan dies in a tornado while refusing to let Clark rescue him, as that might reveal Clark to the world before he's ready. Burdened with guilt and looking for a new purpose in his life, Clark leaves to travel the world for several years under various aliases.
Becoming Superman In 2013, Kent ventures to Canada, first getting a job as a bartender but later finding work with a drilling company that has discovered an object that turns out to be a Kryptonian scout ship. Kent enters the ship and activates its central computer using a key left by Jor-El, which allows him to communicate with an artificial intelligence modeled after his father. While following Kent, reporter Lois Lane from the Daily Planet inadvertently triggers the ship's security system. Kent uses his powers to rescue Lane, who is covering the event, before wearing the uniform and testing his flying abilities. Unable to convince supervisor Perry White to publish an article on the incident, Lane tracks down Kent back to his family home in Kansas, intent on finding the truth. She tries to persuade Kent to let her reveal his story, but decides to drop it after hearing of Jonathan's sacrifice, and keeps Kent's identity safe.
When Zod and his followers arrive on Earth and demand Kal-El be turned over, Kent seeks counsel from a local pastor on whether to trust humanity, having confessed that he is the one Zod is looking for and deduced that Zod will wage war regardless, with the pastor telling him to take a "leap of faith". Without revealing his identity and wearing the Kryptonian uniform, Kent meets with the United States Air Force and agrees to comply, with Lane joining him as a hostage. Using the Jor-El AI to take over the ship, Kent and Lane flee and warn the U.S. military of Zod's plan, resulting in an explosive confrontation between Kent and Zod's troops around Smallville, just as Zod orders an invasion. Zod deploys the World Engine from the Kryptonian ship, which touches down in the Indian Ocean and begins firing a beam through the planet towards the ship, severely damaging the city of Metropolis on the opposite side of the world, and initiating the terraforming strategy.
Kent destroys the World Engine while the military launches a suicide attack on the ship, sending Zod's troops back to the Phantom Zone. With the ship destroyed and Krypton's only hope of revival gone, Zod vows to destroy the Earth and its inhabitants out of revenge. The two Kryptonians engage in a lengthy battle across Metropolis, which concludes when Kent is forced to kill Zod as he attacks a cornered family in a train station. In the aftermath, Kent adopts a separate public identity with the military codename Superman and persuades General Calvin Swanwick to let him act independently, so long as he does not turn against humanity. To allow access to dangerous situations without attracting attention, he covertly maintains his civilian identity and takes a job as a freelance reporter for the Daily Planet.
Controversial figure In 2015, Superman is now a controversial figure, being hailed as a hero by some, but denounced as a "false god" and dangerous by others, including Wayne Enterprises CEO Bruce Wayne. Kent is now in a relationship with Lane and has received a promotion at the Daily Planet, while as Superman, he has engaged in numerous acts such as engaging wildfires, floods, earthquakes, and other natural disasters, rescuing passengers on a train, halting a missile attack on the United States, and apprehending criminals.
Kent is assigned a sports story in Gotham City by White, but instead starts investigating on Batman. Kent is invited to a gala by Lex Luthor who requests that Kent be the reporter to cover the event. There, he meets Wayne, asking him about his opinion on Batman much to Wayne's annoyance, leading to an argument about the deeds of Superman compared with Batman's, before Luthor injects himself into the conversation to introduce himself. Wayne is at the gala to try and steal information from Luthor, and is also seeking kryptonite in an attempt to take on Superman. While watching television, Kent sees numerous personalities, including cosmologist Neil DeGrasse Tyson and U.S. Senator June Finch argue about Superman's effect on the world, with Tyson supporting Superman and Finch expressing skepticism. Following White's rebuff of Kent's attempts to investigate Batman and reports of misconduct by Batman from the Gotham Free Press, he decides to confront the caped crusader more directly as Superman, halting Batman's attempt to seize kryptonite from Luthor's men and leaving him a warning.
During a publicized congressional hearing at the U.S. Capitol on Superman's actions, Finch questions Superman for some of his alleged controversies, but a bomb planted there by Luthor explodes, killing everyone inside except for Superman. Superman blames himself for not detecting it in time and self-imposes exile. Luthor lures Superman out of exile by kidnapping Lane and Martha Kent. He pushes Lane off the LexCorp building. Superman saves her and confronts Luthor, who reveals he manipulated him and Batman by fueling their distrust. Luthor demands he kill Batman in exchange for Martha's life. Superman tries to explain this to Batman, who instead attacks him and eventually subdues him using a kryptonite gas following a lengthy duel. As Batman prepares to move in for the kill using the spear, Superman pleads with him to "save Martha," causing Batman to pause in confusion.
Coming to his senses about how far he has fallen from grace after Lois arrives and explains Superman's words, Batman promises to rescue Martha. Superman regains his strength and confronts Luthor on the scout ship. Luthor executes his backup plan, unleashing Doomsday, a genetically engineered monster from Zod's DNA and his own. Diana Prince, an antiques dealer whom Bruce encountered at the gala earlier and was also revealed as a metahuman known as Wonder Woman, arrives with her metahuman powers on display, and joins forces with Batman and Superman against the creature. Though outmatched, Superman realizes its vulnerability to kryptonite and retrieves the spear. After bidding goodbye to Lois, he impales the creature with the spear, but in its dying moments, the creature kills Superman, who was weakened by kryptonite exposure. Superman is mourned by the world, and Clark is given a private funeral in Smallville attended by Lois, Martha, Bruce, Diana, and other close acquaintances.
Resurrection Theatrical cut
In 2017, in wake of an invasion by the demonic New God Steppenwolf, Prince teams up with Wayne to create their own metahuman group, recruiting Barry Allen, Arthur Curry / Aquaman, and Victor Stone. However, the group still proves no match for Steppenwolf and his minions, and Wayne comes to the conclusion that they need to resurrect Superman if they truly wish to save the Earth. Kent's body is exhumed by Allen and Stone and placed in the amniotic fluid of the Kryptonian scout ship's genesis chamber, alongside a Mother Box that they had retrieved, as the device was used to save Stone's life after a horrific accident.
Allen uses his powers to charge it up and successfully resurrects Superman. However, Superman's memories have not returned, and he attacks the group after Cyborg accidentally launches a projectile at him. On the verge of being killed by Superman, Batman sends Lane to calm down Superman.