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Nightmare Fuel / My Adventures with Superman

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My Adventures With Superman takes a more lighthearted approach compared to other DC media, bringing Superman back to his roots as the idealistic hero from the Silver Age of Comics. But as with many examples, the lighthearted tone only makes the more scarier moments all the more frightening.

Per wiki policy, Spoilers Off applies here and all spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned.

  • At the end of the battle with Ivo, Superman rips open the armor as it begins feeding on the wearer when it can't get outside input. Ivo prior to donning the suit was a strapping young man in his physical prime. After the suit came off, all that was left was a shrivelled up old man that looked half mummified.
  • Episode 7 "Kiss Kiss Fall in Portal" finally introduces Kryptonite... and the gruesome effects it has on Clark. When the League of Lois Lanes fire their Kryptonite gun at Superman, his veins start turning green and even crystallize into more Kryptonite crystals. If that's not enough, Clark's labored breathing when hit will make you shiver, implying that the Kryptonite poisoning has entered his lungs.
  • In the end of the same episode, Lois discovers why the other Lois' were so "shoot-first-ask-later" regarding Superman: the file she stole from them shows her (and the audience) three evil Supermen that are out there in the multiverse. To nail the point home, the three that are shown greatly resemble Ultraman, Justice Lord Superman, and Superboy Prime, three very evil and very terrifying versions of Clark from established universes. If anything, the scene does a good job showing why a lot of people Beware the Superman in this show.
  • The devastating No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Task Force X gives to Superman in "Zero Day Part 1". Clark is too physically and emotionally exhausted to fight back, which gives the team the opportunity to trap him in a Curb-Stomp Battle he only wins by the skin of his teeth.
  • From the same episode, Ivo's deranged laughter as his Parasite armor drains Superman's powers while his mask retracts to show his disfigured face.
    Ivo: I told you, Superman, [his voice suddenly deepens] this ends when I'm done!
  • The second part of Zero Day reveals the full extent of the titular event. It turns out to be a failed invasion of Earth by a mysterious invading force that was quickly taken out by an explosion, potentially the destruction of Krypton, but the invaders still managed to wipe out an entire army of which Amanda Waller and Sam Lane were the only survivors.
  • Ivo turning into a kaiju after absorbing energy from Livewire and Metropolis, turning him into a rampaging monster that even Superman believes to be Beyond Redemption.
  • "Hearts of the Fathers" has Clark finally exposed to the Kryptonite shard kept in the sphere...and it turns out that the League weaponizing the green rocks into the power source for the laser guns actually diluted the effects. When exposed to the pure, unrefined shard, Clark gets the Tainted Veins again and near instantly collapses, unable to even move away from the crystal's effects on his own and struggling to breathe properly. It's all but outright stated that just being nearby the stone will kill him in minutes and Clark is rendered so utterly helpless during those moments that he can't even move under his own power, only wait for his inevitable suffocation with actual Tears of Fear in his eyes. The effects come off as disturbing close to a realistic allergic reaction, and the creepy cracking noise of the crystal's radiation in the soundtrack continuing onwards underneath Clark's panicked gasps only drives home how relentlessly the energy is affecting Clark.
    • The episode's ending. While Clark, Lois, Jimmy, and the Kents have a relaxing Thanksgiving together, we finally get the reveal of Brainiac and his mysterious dragon, the latter of whom vows to make the Earth kneel while we hear innocence screaming and see an entire city burning.
    • The Catapult Nightmare Clark has in the episode's beginning, finding himself confronted by Nemesis Omega in the cornfield of the Kent farm, the masked being opening another portal to Earth with but a gesture, underscoring the unspoken fears everyone has about it: if it wasn't killed on Zero day, it could return at any moment when they're least expecting it, and Earth won't be lucky a second time. Clark and Nemesis' attention is brought to the fleeing Lois and Jimmy, pursued through the cornfield by Nemesis' army of robots, Lois desperately screaming for Clark's aid. But even with his Super-Speed, Clark can't reach them faster than Nemesis' Eye Beams, with Lois and Jimmy both being vaporised before him, Clark only able to grab the ashes of what used to be Lois' hand. The chilling thing isn't even their violent and swift death, but Clark's reaction. Upon processing what he just witnessed, Clark's disbelief is replaced with pure anger, shooting a hate-filled Death Glare at Nemesis with an expression that screams that he's ready to kill him for it. It's a sharp reminder that for all his negative opinions about Superman, Alex was not wrong. Clark really is just one bad day away from snapping and deciding that he's done being nice to his enemies, especially if his rage clouds his judgement enough to make him think they deserve it, and that's exactly what Nemesis is to him. A threat apparently equal to him that he might not be able to protect Earth, and especially his loved ones from, even with all his powers. And to underscore that Clark's greatest undoing wouldn't be Nemesis, but himself losing all the good qualities that make him Clark Kent, Nemsis' faceplate opens up...to reveal Clark's own face underneath, a stoic expression of detachment and disinterest towards the lives he's taken and the destruction he'll cause on his face. Its no wonder Clark is left greatly shaken by it all.

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