General Zod during the climax of Man of Steel. Artist Neal Adams suggested that other alternatives were open to Superman when Zod threatened innocent people with his heat vision, such as covering his eyes. He also criticized Superman for not moving the battle away from Metropolis as the character did at the end of Superman II, causing extensive collateral damage to the city. However, Adam Holmes of CinemaBlend counters that Clark is still inexperienced as a superhero in Man of Steel, learning from his mistakes by Batman v Superman, in which he successfully drives Doomsday to space. In the theatrical release of Justice League, viewers noted that Superman became more hopeful and optimistic and more in line with Christopher Reeve's portrayal of the character, but that his change of character was abrupt and unexplained, among many inconsistencies in the film caused by the sudden handover of directorial duties from Zack Snyder to Joss Whedon. In addition, his digitally removed mustache, which was poorly executed, was the subject of ridicule. Contrarily, critics praised Superman's character arc in the "Snyder Cut" as being more natural, with some claiming that the best scenes in the movie involved Henry Cavill. Tom Jergensen from IGN wrote "His reunion with Lois Lane (Amy Adams) and Martha Kent (Diane Lane) is much more emotional thanks to Snyder’s increased focus on how devastated the two were by his death. However, one way in which Snyder’s cut doesn’t vary much from the theatrical cut in conception is that Superman’s role is limited by design; but here at least, he’s far more prevalent as a symbol for our heroes." Leading up to the release of the 2021 Marvel Cinematic Universe film Eternals, director Chloé Zhao stated that her interpretation of the character Ikaris in the film was heavily inspired by Superman as portrayed in Snyder's DCEU films, especially for Snyder's "authentic and very real" approach in Man of Steel, which "left a strong impression" on Zhao. Notes See also Superman (franchise) Superman (1978 film series character) Clark Kent (Superman & Lois) Characters of the DC Extended Universe References The plot description and characterization were adapted from Superman, Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice at the DC Extended Universe Wiki, which are available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA 3.0) license. External links Alternative versions of Superman Characters created by Christopher Nolan Characters created