As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
- Superman trashes a fleet of Bialyian fighter bombers, and destroys the weapons they were carrying with zero casualties in under a minute.Superman: It ends today! Ends without a single loss of life!
- Against seemingly all reason, Atomic Skull gets one, too. The Elite are trying to make an example of a meta-human on Superman's home turf of Metropolis. Atomic Skull is, by and large, a B-list Superman villain, yet he absolutely demolishes the Elite before Superman shows up. They've all got powers, certainly, but they're chump-change by the standard of most meta-humans that Superman fights. He rightfully calls them the 'interns' to Superman's 'boss.' It's made abundantly clear that if he were put one-on-one with any of them, he'd kill them without breaking a sweat, and they only win through Superman's guidance. The sort of abilities that let them run rampant among human opponents are nothing in the face of an enemy who went toe-to-toe with Superman, which in turn leads to the final fight when Superman shows them what happens when he doesn't hold back.
- And this makes Superman's trashing he delivered to the Skull at the start of the movie even more awesome.
- Superman and Manchester Black lifting an entire section of tunnel, trains and all, out of the ocean.
- Manchester Black delivers some of the best speeches despite his morals. His speech as they were trying to kill Superman was downright awesome and terrifying at once.
- Another good example is his ultimatum to the shadowy organizations and criminal elements of the world after hacking communications worldwide after the aforementioned train incident, which is also when he and the rest of the Elite reveal their team's name.Manchester Black: This is a call-out to the shadow cabinets, petty dictators and all-around tossers of the world. You're on notice. We're not bound by lines on a map or political alliances or governing bodies of any kind. We are our own bosses, and we have a very simple job. There are the good guys, namely us and the bad guys, namely anyone who treats anyone else like trash to further their petty aims. We turn bad guys into memories. So mind your manners, lads and lasses, or we'll blow your house down. We're the Elite. You asked for us, world. Now you got us.
- Another good example is his ultimatum to the shadowy organizations and criminal elements of the world after hacking communications worldwide after the aforementioned train incident, which is also when he and the rest of the Elite reveal their team's name.
- Superman beating the crap out of the Elite and seemingly killing them. They're fine, of course (aside from their wounds), as Supes was just showing them what would happen if he ever followed their way of dealing with villains.
- As a hopeful, wholesome character who has been 'deconstructed' time and again, it's incredibly awesome to hear Superman throwing it right back in the face of a would-be edgy anti-hero:Superman: How does it feel, Black? How does it feel to be deconstructed? To be the victim? To watch your dreams die?!
- Superman, being the last person you'd expect to prove this, is absolutely terrifying in demonstrating why you should Beware the Superman. Props to the movie and George Newbern for making Superman sinister when doing this, instead of his usual good-natured self in the comics.
- Superman's supposedly final speech to Lois Lane is that someone has to prove that humanity is more than brutal 'justice,' and that if he must give his life to prove it, then so be it. When he decides to show exactly what the Elite cries for when they think they've killed him, he's like an even more horrifying version of Darkseid. Even Doomsday was a Superman restricted to nothing but strength and stamina. Imagine Doomsday with every single one of Superman's powers, no Superman to stop him, and just as much disregard for human life. At least Doomsday was driven mindlessly insane by the trauma of his creation: Superman seemed to actively disdain the Elite for making him think of them as 'people' instead of 'problems'. This comes frighteningly close to the speech the Plutonian gave to a group of supervillains as he casually divulged their secret identities after his massive Face–Heel Turn.
- The fact this whole thing was an expertly performed act on Clark's part. At no point did he let it slip for a moment that he was putting on an act and no one was ever actually in danger. Even more so as it meant he had to pull his punches to not kill anyone, while giving the impression he wasn't.
- As a hopeful, wholesome character who has been 'deconstructed' time and again, it's incredibly awesome to hear Superman throwing it right back in the face of a would-be edgy anti-hero:
- Manchester Black. He might seem like a Smug Snake with a flair for speeches, but he's not to be taken lightly. The final fight between him and Superman demonstrates this. The fact Black could survive a fight with a seemingly gloves-off Superman, let alone go toe to toe with the Man of Steel and badly hurt him before getting depowered (a precision manoeuvre as Superman can barely stand after Black's Wave-Motion Gun) is a Moment of Awesome in and of itself.
- Moreover, Black fights for his own ideals to the very end, even knowing and fearing what he was up against. If he didn't turn out to be a smug Jerkass, Black probably would've been pretty likeable as a character for this reason alone.
- Superman repeatedly bitch-slapping Manchester Black (His slaps are practically the equivalent of a full-force punch from a normal human being) is as hilarious as it is awesome.
- Superman's "fun to kill"
speech. - Superman's last speech, taken straight from the original comics, is still pretty awesome.Black: You- You think that's it?! It's not over, you poncy twit! If you think I'll just go to jail and rot, you're living in a dream world!Superman: Good. Dreams save us. Dreams lift us up and transform us into something better. And on my soul, I swear that until my dream of a world where dignity, honor and justice are the reality we all share, I'll never stop fighting. Ever.
