Important takeaways
- Superman fails Metropolis in various stories because of his struggles and decisions.
- Examples include nuclear destruction, collateral damage, and leaving the city to villains.
- His absence leads to increased crime, suffering and destruction, demonstrating 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 countless planet-ending threats. Superman fights for truth, justice and the “American Way” and 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's just making a human mistake. Unfortunately, when someone as powerful as Superman fails, the repercussions tend to be huge. This is especially true of the people of Metropolis, the hero's adopted city. These examples are some of the worst times Superman has failed Metropolis in DC Comics, games, and movies. 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 many evil versions of Superman over the years. One of the most evil and powerful versions of Superman first appeared in Injustice video games and its connection 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 horrible day. Using a special form of his toxin, the Joker poisoned Superman, leading him to believe that a pregnant Lois Lane was his old enemy 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' chest. The second her heart stopped beating, a devastating nuclear explosion started 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, slaughtered the Joker and became a dystopian dictator. He rebuilds Metropolis in his new authoritarian image and lets the city down a second time.
2 Fighting Zod leads to massive collateral damage
Man of Steel (2013)
Superman has faced off against General Zod and his forces several times, both in comics and movies. By now, it's pretty much tradition that when this Kryptonian rears its head, Metropolis is having 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 said, his fight against Zod in the 2013s Man of steel is another case.
One of the darkest DC movies, Man of steel plays a much more reluctant and behind the ears Superman. He is also much less cautious. There are several 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 dukes out across Metropolis, they have a blast 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 the collateral damage attitude is one of the main reasons Batman has a bone to pick with batman vs. Superman.
3 When he decided a five-year vacation was a good idea
Superman Returns (2006)
Superman returns is the kind of movie that some comic book fans love and others hate. Brandon Routh was undoubtedly a major Superman casting let down by a film with a muddled plot that relied on a flawed premise. That premise is the idea that the world's greatest hero would leave his loved ones and the planet he protects so he can go on a glorified five-year sabbatical.
For those who haven't seen it, the film sees Superman return to Metropolis after a five-year hiatus, where he searches for his destroyed home planet. It's an uncharacteristically selfish decision from everyone's favorite Boy Scout. Unsurprisingly, Superman's disappearance did not go unnoticed. At first it led to Lex Luthor being released from prison (not good). Second, 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 tired of tragedy.” To make matters worse, after resurfacing, Superman seems more interested in making up with Lois than doing what's right. Superheroes deserve a vacation, but five years is putting it off.
4 His fight against doomsday almost destroyed the city
Death of Superman
The 1992s 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 battle Doomsday, one of his greatest villains, over Metropolis, causing untold destruction throughout the city in the process.
In fairness to Superman, he does his best this time to minimize collateral damage, but Doomsday's sheer destructive power is too much for him. Entire neighborhoods are razed to the ground, and while Superman manages to save the occasional individual between battles, it is clear that many 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 even more suffering. Not only because its residents mourn their hero, but because several imposters show up claiming to be Superman. This turn of events led to Reign of the Supermen arc, which saw Metropolis suffer even more destruction in the absence of the true Superman.
5 The battle against Imperiex destroyed much of the city
Our worlds at war
One of the hardest lessons Superman has been forced to learn time and time again is that sometimes it doesn't matter how strong you are. There is always someone stronger. He learned this back in 2001 when the cosmic villain Imperiex started a massive intergalactic war with Earth at its epicenter. Imperiex wants to destroy the Earth's core as part of a larger attempt to reboot the entire universe and to do this he sends down powerful “Imperiex Probes” to attack locations all over the world.
Surprise, surprise, one of those 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 must juggle trying to stop the probe while fighting the villain's forces. Despite Superman's best efforts, entire sections of the city are reduced to rubble and thousands of civilians are killed. As the losses mount, Superman is forced to make difficult decisions about what is most important, the wider global threat or protecting the city he loves.
Despite being 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 the defeat of Imperex, but Metropolis is shattered and Superman feels like he failed his city.
6 Doomsday continues to target Metropolis because of Superman
Reign Of Doomsday, Superman: Doomed, Day Of Doom
The citizens of Metropolis sometimes have to wonder if keeping Superman around is worth the effort. Sure, he's handy to have around, but he attracts his fair share of trouble. As an example, Doomsday, a genetically engineered being designed to be the ultimate killer, is obsessed with killing him. Something that often puts Metropolis in the crosshairs.
Superman managed to kill Doomsday during Death of Supermanbut the creature has returned several times. Usually, when he does, he attacks Metropolis as a way to get to Superman. Supes knows this but has repeatedly failed to prepare himself or the city for Doomsday's inevitable return. In the 2011s Doomsday reignan even more powerful, smarter version of the creature appeared and began attacking the city.
Again, the ensuing battle caused massive collateral damage. Then Doomsday returned in 2014, this time with a viral infection that turned Superman and many of the city's residents into Doomsday-like creatures. Doomsday stomping on Metropolis happens so often that an entire miniseries, doomsday, was written about it. The series is about 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, leaving Metropolis in the wrong hands
Kingdom Come
Superman has been exposed to a lot over the years and the 1996s Kingdom Come explored what would happen if he simply gave up. Lois Lane is killed by the Joker, who is then killed by a new hero, Magog. Instead of being punished for his crime, Magog is praised by the people. This leads to Superman becoming disillusioned with humanity's preference for violence, and he decides to leave Metropolis for good. It's going about as well as you'd expect.
Superman's retirement allows a new generation of violent, ruthless superheroes to rise. Major cities like Metropolis are transformed into battlefields where heroes and villains run amok unchecked and cause destruction wherever they go. Metropolis, once a beacon of hope, is transformed. Eventually it gets 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, creating even more problems. Kingdom Come is one of Superman's best Elseworld tales because it shows what would happen if humanity's beacon finally got tired of us and gave up. Superman failed Metropolis when he retired, but by choosing Magog over their hero, they made it come.
