Key Takeaways
- Superman fails Metropolis in various storylines due to his battles and decisions.
- Examples include nuclear destruction, collateral damage, and leaving the city to villains.
- His absence leads to increased crime, suffering, and destruction, showcasing his failures.
Ever since he appeared in Action Comics #1 in 1938, Superman has been one of the most iconic superheroes the world has ever seen. The poster boy for DC Comics, Superman has dedicated his life to protecting the people of Earth from evil and faced off against countless planet-ending threats. Fighting for truth, justice, and the “American Way,” Superman is a beacon of hope for the people of Metropolis and all those he protects.
But Superman isn’t perfect (and how boring would he be to read if he was?). Superman fails all the time. Sometimes it’s thanks to the weird effects of some super-rare kryptonite, sometimes he’s outmatched, and sometimes he just makes a human mistake. Unfortunately, when someone as powerful as Superman fails, the repercussions tend to be massive. This is especially true for the people of Metropolis, the hero’s adopted city. These examples are some of the worst times Superman has failed Metropolis across DC Comics, games, and films. We’ve focused on times he’s failed the city specifically, rather than his more personal failures, or times he’s failed Earth, or reality as a whole.
1 That Time The Joker Nuked Metropolis
Injustice: Gods Among Us #1
Fans have seen a lot of evil versions of Superman over the years. One of the most evil and powerful versions of Superman first appeared in the Injustice video game and its tie-in books. This version of Kal-El was created when the Joker finally managed to prove that all it takes for a hero to turn into a villain is one bad day.
To be fair, it was a terrible day. Using a special form of his toxin, the Joker poisoned Superman, making him think a pregnant Lois Lane was his old foe Doomsday. In the ensuing “fight,” Superman brutally kills Lois, believing her to be Doomsday. Unbeknownst to him, the Joker had implanted a detonator in Lois’s chest. The second her heart stopped beating, it set off a devastating nuclear blast in Metropolis.
Most of the city was destroyed and millions of lives were lost. If this wasn’t bad enough, Superman then fell into darkness, slaughtering the Joker and becoming a dystopian dictator. He rebuilds Metropolis in his new authoritarian image, failing the city a second time.
2 Fighting Zod Leads To Huge Collateral Damage
Man Of Steel (2013)
Superman has faced off against General Zod and his forces multiple times, both in the comics and film. At this point, it’s pretty much tradition that when this Kryptonian pops his head up, Metropolis is in for a bad day. Zod likes to target Metropolis, and since Superman usually manages to save the day in the end, fans can’t really blame him if the city gets a little damaged. That being said, his fight against Zod in 2013’s Man of Steel is a different case.
One of the darkest DC movies, Man of Steel stars a far more reluctant and behind-the-ears Superman. He’s also a lot less careful. There are multiple times in the film where Superman focuses on fighting rather than protecting civilians, but his final fight against Zod is the best/worst example of this. As the two duke it out across Metropolis, they have great fun smashing each other through skyscrapers and generally causing as much damage as possible. The movie doesn’t do a good job of explaining if the city has been evacuated at this point (or how) and Henry Cavill’s Superman doesn’t seem too bothered. In fact, his laissez-faire attitude toward collateral damage is one of the main reasons Batman has a bone to pick with him in Batman Vs. Superman.
3 When He Decided A Five-Year Year Holiday Was A Good Idea
Superman Returns (2006)
Superman Returns is the kind of film that some comics fans love, and others hate. Brandon Routh was arguably a great Superman casting let down by a film with a messy plot that relied on a flawed premise. That premise is the idea that the world’s greatest hero would ditch his loved ones and the planet he protects so that he can go on a glorified five-year sabbatical.
For those who haven’t seen it, the film shows Superman returning to Metropolis after a five-year hiatus, where he goes looking for his destroyed home planet. It’s an uncharacteristically selfish decision from everyone’s favorite boy scout. Unsurprisingly, Superman’s disappearance didn’t go unnoticed. For a start, it led to Lex Luthor being released from prison (not good). Secondly, it left the city without its protector, leading to an increase in crime and tragedies in general.
One of the film’s biggest themes is the emotional psychological impact of the world’s greatest hero just leaving and what it does to the people of Metropolis. As Perry White puts it in the film, “People are sick of tragedy.” To make things worse, after reappearing, Superman seems more interested in making up with Lois than doing what’s right. Superheroes deserve a holiday, but five years is pushing it.
4 His Fight Against Doomsday Nearly Destroyed The City
The Death Of Superman
1992’s The Death of Superman is one of the most iconic Superman tales ever told. Superman has died, or appeared to die, more than once in the books, but this was arguably his biggest. The storyline saw Superman fighting Doomsday, one of his greatest villains, across Metropolis, causing untold destruction throughout the city in the process.
To be fair to Superman, he does his best this time to keep collateral damage to a minimum, but Doomsday’s sheer destructive power is too much for him. Entire neighborhoods are leveled, and while Superman manages to save the occasional individual between blows, it’s clear that a lot of civilians are killed during the fight. Many of those not killed are left homeless.
While Superman ultimately defeats Doomsday, he “dies” in the process. Fans can’t really criticize him for dying, but his death opens Metropolis up to yet more suffering. Not only because its inhabitants are left mourning their hero, but because several impostors turn up claiming to be Superman. This turn of events led to the Reign of the Supermen arc, which saw Metropolis suffering yet more destruction in the true Superman’s absence.
5 The Battle Against Imperiex Destroyed Much Of The City
Our Worlds At War
One of the hardest lessons that Superman has been forced to learn time and time again is that sometimes it doesn’t matter how strong you are. There’s always someone stronger. He learned this back in 2001 when Imperiex the cosmic villain set off a massive intergalactic war with Earth at its epicenter. Imperiex wants to destroy the Earth’s core as part of a wider attempt to restart the entire universe and to do this, he sends down powerful “Imperiex Probes” to attack locations all over the world.
Surprise, surprise, one of these targets is Metropolis. Superman does his best to protect Metropolis but is quickly overwhelmed. Each probe is capable of planetary levels of destruction, and Superman has to juggle trying to stop the probe while fighting off the villain’s forces. Despite Superman’s best efforts, whole sections of the city are turned to rubble, and thousands of civilians are killed. As the losses build up, Superman is forced to make difficult decisions as to which is more important, the wider global threat or protecting the city he loves.
Despite being put in an impossible situation, Superman is haunted by his decision. This event saw Superman lose some of the people closest to him, including his father, Jonathan Kent. The event ends with Imperiex’s defeat, but Metropolis is left shattered and Superman is left feeling like he failed his city.
6 Doomsday Keeps Targeting Metropolis Because Of Superman
Reign Of Doomsday, Superman: Doomed, Day Of Doom
The people of Metropolis must sometimes wonder if keeping Superman around is worth the effort. Sure, he’s handy to have around, but he attracts his fair share of trouble. Case in point, Doomsday, a genetically engineered being designed to be the ultimate killer, is obsessed with killing him. Something that frequently puts Metropolis in its crosshairs.
Superman managed to kill Doomsday during The Death of Superman, but the creature has returned multiple times. Usually, when he does, he attacks Metropolis as a way of getting to Superman. Supes knows this but has repeatedly failed to prepare himself or the city for Doomsday’s inevitable return. In 2011’s Reign of Doomsday, an even more powerful, smarter version of the creature turned up and started attacking the city.
Once again, the ensuing battle caused massive collateral damage. Then, Doomsday returned in 2014, this time sporting a viral infection that turned Superman and many of the city’s inhabitants into Doomsday-like creatures. Doomsday stomping on Metropolis happens so often that an entire miniseries, Day of Doom, was written about it. The series deals with how Doomsday’s attacks on the city affect the people of Metropolis and how many of them feel abandoned by Superman in the wake of the creature’s destruction.
7 He Retired And Left Metropolis In The Wrong Hands
Kingdom Come
Superman has been put through a lot over the years and 1996’s Kingdom Come explored what would happen if he simply gave up. Lois Lane is killed by the Joker, who is then murdered by a new hero, Magog. Rather than being punished for his crime, Magog is celebrated by the people. This leads Superman to become disillusioned by humanity’s preference for violence, and he decides to leave Metropolis for good. It goes about as well as can be expected.
Superman’s retirement allows for a new generation of violent, reckless superheroes to rise. Major cities like Metropolis are turned into battlegrounds where heroes and villains run amok unchecked, causing destruction wherever they go. Metropolis, once a beacon of hope, is transformed. Eventually, things get so bad that Wonder Woman approaches Superman and convinces him that the world is on the brink and needs him to return.
He does so, but becomes increasingly authoritarian, sparking even more trouble. Kingdom Come is one of Superman’s best Elseworld tales because it shows what would happen if humanity’s guiding light finally grew tired of us and gave up. Superman failed Metropolis when he retired, but by choosing Magog over their hero, they had it coming.
