Adding my voice to the Man of Steel vs. The Avengers: Age of Ultron debate

(photo courtesy of galleryhip.com)

In this post I will be adding my voice to this debate concerning the Man of  Steel vs. The Avengers: Age of Ultron. This won’t take along because I believe the debate is nonsensical and it is yet another marketing ploy to make Marvel appear as the beacon for superhero films while DC lags behind. The debate is about the treatment of ordinary citizens in both films. In Man of Steel it is claimed that no regard was given to the ordinary citizens of Metropolis that were devastated by the actions of General Zod’s terraforming/world engine machine. Also the final fight between Zod and Superman also paid little regard to the citizens. Basically superman should have cleared the area before he fought Zod and Zod, who was determined to destroy all life, should have given him time to clear the area. In contrast there are several moments in The Avengers: Age of Ultron where a lot of care is taken for the lives of ordinary civilians before the combatants wreak havoc or before a lot of destruction takes place. For a lot of care to be taken a lot of unannounced arrivals must get the job done for the team. If not then this great desire to save the lives of citizens by the avengers would come across as a destructive form of idealism, a genuine moral hazard. What this debate does reveal is that Man of Steel has actually influenced The Age of Ultron. It is pretty clear also that a solo superman man film, Man of Steel, was much larger in scale than the struggles of The Avengers, regardless of their globetrotting.

Firstly, most of the destruction in Man of Steel , that claimed a lot of human life in metropolis, was caused by General Zod and his world engine. The world engine was a machine designed to alter the earth’s atmosphere by increasing the gravity and making the atmosphere more compatible with Krypton and more accessible for the kryptonians. This was nothing different from what the kryptonians used to do when their civilization expanded to other planets. The difference here was that Zod disregarded the lives of humans on the earth he chose to alter with the engine.  He chose not to consult them before releasing the world engine. This is what villains do. Because Zod  did not consult with the humans there would be no time for mass evacuation particularly as so many were interested in seeing what the aliens were preparing to do. In contrast Ultron’s evil plan which takes place in Sokovia in The Age of Ultron was not allowed to be effective because his location was revealed pretty easily and his desire to destroy humanity was pretty clear. The avengers knew what to expect and so they were able to put plans into place to evacuate the citizens especially with some unexpected help which makes the grand talk by Captain America feasible. Without that bit of assistance then all that grand talk about saving lives would have revealed Captain America’s grand petty bourgeois status. Some people must realize that Captain America, apart from his great strength, is all talk. He does not possess the material means to make things happen from a productive point of view. This is probably why he is at odds with Tony Stark/Ironman who is a member of the dominant bourgeois class and does possess the means to make things happen from a productive standpoint.  If that bit of assistance did not arrive then all the trappings of the petty bourgeois would have been revealed especially the one more fitting in this case: flippant idealism. Idealism that has no bearing with reality. Whedon could not let the great captain down. In any case the avengers are able to care because they know in advance, from the moment Ultron is created, that he plans to destroy humanity. Before the final confrontation therefore they can make their best efforts to preserve life. This was not the case in Man of Steel because it was not clear what Zod was planning.

Secondly, the final fight between Zod and Superman was not as destructive when you consider the death toll. The fight took place for the most part in the area that felt the effects of the world engine. When they crashed into buildings they were mostly empty. Also Zod was not partial and he did not care who died in the process. Nolan, Snyder and Co. made this clear when Zod, having lost his crew to the phantom zone, made it clear that he has nothing left and would make superman suffer particularly as he realized that he had a soft spot for humanity. This was why superman decided to kill him rather than risk the lives of innocents who were being directly threatened. It seems that some people believe that superman had an abundance of control in the fight. If he did he would have easily restrained Zod and there would not be much of a fight. In The Age of Ultron Ultron is not as powerful as he is in the comics because even Captain America can take him on one on one. Ultron and his robot army are subdued pretty easily and don’t offer much of a threat. Only one avenger really suffers. It is not like Zod and his crew that was more difficult to stop. In order to stop Zod and his crew only the captain americas of the world would think that no significant loss of life would occur. Faora even made it clear to superman in their encounter that for every human life he saved they would take a million more. If it was not for the plan to send his fellow kryptonians to the phantom zone then lives would have been lost and there would not have been much that superman could have done about it. He could not do much about it because he would face off with several kryptonians that were close to his power level.

Thirdly, in Man of Steel Zod actually put his plan into operation. Ultron never had a chance to really do anything in the end. He only talked about destruction but he was not allowed to do anything even though the final plan, which made no sense to me, was designed for maximum impact. It only made sense from the perspective of comic books. Zod actually began his terra forming project and killed a couple of people along the way. It makes you wonder why Ultron never just launched his robotic army on the entire earth and actually start the killing process. If he did that it would have been more difficult for the avengers to contain civilian casualties.

Fourthly, superman was reckless at one point when he attacked Zod who was threatening his mother to discover the location of the codax. An emotional superman charges at Zod  flying with the both of them whizzing through the corn fields, partly destroying the infrastructure of a factory and then finally crashing with Zod into the small town gas station. Not sure how many potentially dead from that. He then invites Faora and a big brute into the town for a challenge and then tells people to shut the doors. As if doors can stop a incoming train thrown at superman in the town by the brute. The critics have a point regarding that scene but let’s face it superhero battles are not fun if big objects  are not being affected.

Everyone knows that marvel wanted to get one up on DC.  The Age of Ultron is designed to appeal to everyone and has to appear holy and pristine as it caters to the petty bourgeois class and their sensitive sensibilities. It’s no wonder why this film drained Whedon since he had to cater to everyone, please everyone, make sure everyone was satisfied. No offense taken even though the product is diluted. Whedon and co. must have heard the criticism made against Man of Steel and decided to make it clear to the audience that the The Age of Ultron represents a significant step forward. This supposed positive can make the executives feel more comfortable as the millions pour into the purse. They have pleased the petty bourgeois class.

As big as The Age of Ultron is it still does not have the scale of Man of Steel. In The Age of Ultron they are only dealing with a computer program out of control whereas in Man of Steel superman is dealing with a lot of heavyweights from an alien planet. In the marvel universe the sight of aliens rocks people to their core. In some sense Man of Steel delivered more in terms of scale than The Age of Ultron even though The Age of Ultron is supposed to make much more money. Deep down some of the marvel fans know that Man of Steel is a bigger film in terms of scale and so they have to find some way to outdo it by mentioning the disregard for causalities on the part of General Zod. It was much more effortless on the part of Nolan, Snyder and Co. to create a film on such a large scale whereas Marvel fans will have to wait until 2018 for The Avengers: Infinity Wars and  a true test for the avengers in the form of Thanos. Thanos will not be effective if he does not wreak havoc that claims a lot of lives and so we will see what sort of damage control Captain America can bring about when the whole planet is at stake and people are being killed by the thousands around the globe. The main point here is that the Avengers never had to deal with the scale that was present in Man of Steel. The scale being the challenge by so many super powered alien beings.  In The Avengers: Infinity Wars they will only be dealing with one truly powerful alien being.

Lastly, more credit should be given to the influence of Man of Steel on The Age of Ultron. It influenced the whole talk of evolution and the father element. Zod and his crew in Man of Steel  were determined to preserve the pure blood lines of the kryptonian race while crushing the weak. Ultron loves to talk a lot about evolution and that only the strong survive.  Ultron is Tony stark’s son in some strange way. Superman also had to grapple with a lot of father issues. Just give credit where credit is due. Even though the father issue was always prevalent in the marvel comic books but not between Ultron and Stark but Ultron and Antman. The point here is that Man of Steel really made that a paramount element. The Age of Ultron also tries to make it a significant theme as well but not as successfully. 

This debate is just another way for Marvel fans to discredit DC where they should be giving credit where credit is due. How come no one is talking about the complete disregard the Avengers had for the governments of the world including the big bad US government. Not once was an army general consulted or a president asked to address the ultron crisis. Lol. Time to give Man of Steel a rest and focus on your own problems marvel fans.