Nightmare Fuel / Superman vs. the Elite

"This isn't you, you don't do this!"

"I do now."

Beware the Superman doesn't even begin to describe it. And he's just faking it!

WARNING: Spoilers are off on Nightmare Fuel pages.

• The Atomic Skull's murder of innocent people. They're scared, they're glowing, and then crumble to dust.
• The brutal methods used by the Elite to dispatch enemies are pretty horrifying, which include telekinetically breaking bones, being fed to carnivorous monsters and dragged screaming into black holes of death. What's worse is the Elite's callous disregard for life;
  Menagerie: (pointing to a small, bloody chunk on Hat's shoulder) You've got terrorist on you.
  Hat: (casually flicking it off) Ick.
  • What's scarier? At first, the Elite were mostly targeting terrorists and criminals. As the film goes on, they begin to target government officials and other high-ranking figures. The film strongly implies that the Elite would eventually target anyone who breaks the law, or opposes them.
    • And they already did. They wanted to kill Superman simply for disagreeing with them.
• The Elite revealing they slaughtered the leaders of Pokolistan and Bialya and are essentially planning to let the countries 'start from scratch'. Two nuclear capable countries. There are so many ways that could end badly. For context, Superman had just stopped a group of fighter jets without killing a single pilot and states to Manchester Black that he plans to get the leaders of both countries to sit down and talk peace. Manchester Black snarkily says it's too late for that, to which Superman says it's never too late for peace. Manchester Black then states he literally meant it was too late: when the Elite captured the leaders, Manchester read their minds and realized that they were too hateful to back down, so they murdered them on the spot. He casually mentions it as though it was no big deal.
  • Just the fact that the leaders of Pokolistan and Bialya, which again are two nuclear powers, were so utterly hateful towards each other that the Elite could justify killing them. Call it a Moral Event Horizon, but the Elite assassinating them probably did save a lot of innocent people.
    • Which is then negated by the fact that such governments rarely have a stable chain of command or people able and willing to easily step into the breach. The ensuing power vacuum struggle likely caused even more deaths.
• The Elite's beatdown of Superman, even if it turns out he was playing them. Superman disagreed with them, and they resorted to murder. Manchester Black gives a chilling speech about how Might Makes Right, his cold view on what the world needs, that if anybody pushes back against the Elite, the Elite will kill them. He emphasizes that Superman is the first hero the Elite will kill who stands in their way, and if any of Superman's allies try to avenge his death, the Elite will kill them as well. That wouldn't just mean superheroes; a ton of civilians would die in the ensuing massacre for disagreeing with the Elite. If you need any further proof for why the Elite are NOT the kind of heroes that the world needs, this is it. They intend to become dictators in all but name for the entire planet, and they'll destroy anyone or anything they saw as an obstacle to their draconian attempts to improve the world. Then comes Superman's speech.
• When Superman shows himself again, it’s in the form of a giant tornado, on the moon and he’s completely shrouded in darkness as his eyes are glowing red as he gives a speech to signal his fall from grace and the Elite's impending demise. It’s chilling in ways that defy description. Loud as thunder, but he never raises his voice. Just... read it for yourself. Does this sound like our Big Blue Boyscout?
  Superman: I finally get it. Thank you. I made the mistake of treating you people like... people. But now, I understand better. I understand what the world wants. What it needs. The world needs people in charge who are willing to put the animals down.
• The ensuing realization to the speech by the members of the United Nations that after being "killed" by the Elite, it's not Superman anymore. He was more than just a Flying Brick: he was a set of ideals for humanity to aspire to. Stripped of those ideals, he's a morally-unrestrained demigod that terrifies some of the most influential people on Earth with nothing more than a few sentences. A fan inserted "One-Winged Angel" into the scene, and:
  Female UN Staffer: Is... is that Superman?
  Male Staffer: Not anymore...
  Music: SEPHIROTH!
  • Just the fact that Superman created a whirlwind on the moon. It's not sci-fi artistic license: he's moving that fast. What's even worse: It seems that what he did was cause it with his mind.
• Superman's entire means of dispatching the Elite. Even when it turns out Superman didn't actually kill any of them, and managed to avoid the apparent collateral damage to the civilians of Metropolis, the ways he made it look so convincing are terrifying:
  • A simple poison dart, and he puts Pam in so much pain that her heart stops. In a single kill, he proves how much harm a single being can do when armed with a fortress full of doomsday weaponry.
  • Hat tries to exploit that Superman's vulnerability to magic, but can barely get a sentence out before the vacuum collapses his lungs to the point that he suffocates and passes out. Black calculated that the winds clocked in at 500 miles per minute or 30,000 miles per hour. Nothing on any planet in the Solar System even comes close to that. The Elite should be thankful Superman only did that on the Moon- winds like that on Earth would be enough to instantly create apocalyptic firestorms, continent-drowning tsunamis, and would erode absolutely everything in their path. Superman could trigger the apocalypse just by flying fast enough.
  • In a panic, Manchester teleports himself and Coldcast to Earth, banking on Superman holding back as he uses Metropolis' citizens as a Human Shield while he "flattens the city." Coldcast objects to this plan when something swoops in and takes him away, the resulting winds were strong enough to throw cars around like toys, showing Black that he doesn't care about collateral damage. Superman mocks Black's question with the whereabouts of Coldcast. Where is he? Heading for orbit at Mach Seven. For those unversed in such measurements, that means he's exiting Earth's atmosphere at over five thousand miles per hour. ^note Also, those winds would have been Mach 40. He then hits the ground like a meteor and says, quite simply, "If you had super-hearing, any second, you'd hear the 'pop'." Thus is the realization: if Superman wanted, he could carry most of his opponents to death.
    • Special note is the slight pause and emphasis on the word "pop" that Superman gives, see the page image. In truth, Coldcast is alive and incapacitated, but Superman made it seem like he heard everything and delighted in it. What is even worse is that chillingly creepy murderous grin in his face, and combined with a bloodshot eye and the hellish background, it makes Superman look more like a demon straight from Hell!
  • Superman effortlessly dodges most of Black's attacks to the point that his super speed turns into Flash Stepping. And then he walks through sustained fire from Manchester like it was a strong wind. Even after taking the biggest hit Black could throw at him, it took almost nothing to focus his heat vision and destroy's Black's powers.
  Superman: I scanned your brain for abnormalities. And when I found one, I cut. it. out.
  Black: What?!
  Superman: Heat vision. Focused through your pupils like a scalpel. Instant lobotomy. ^note In reality, he used the same flashbang trick from the comics to temporarily concuss Black's brain, but most viewers won't know that since they didn't read the comic.
  • Superman's Evil Laugh is the one terrifying thing that tells anyone that they will die in the most horrifying way possible. The fact that this is George Newbern somehow makes all of this worse. This is the Justice League Superman. And he's using the same exact tone as one of his other roles: Sephiroth. To hear the voice of one of gaming's most iconic villains coming from one of the comic industry's greatest heroes is nothing short of terrifying.
  • The worst part of all this? This was Superman proving a point. Superman displayed Batman levels of planning on how to permanently, lethally take down his enemies while using the same kind of recklessness as the Elite. If he was trying to kill them efficiently, he could've ended the Elite in seconds with his powers and resources. And if you know Batman, the implication that Superman has all these contingencies in his head is terrifying.
• The movie's tagline even gives off an air of unease and dread, as the film itself is already putting forth the question of what it takes to see justice done.

  World Saved. Humanity Lost.

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