LogFAQs > #910350710

Eventually, investigating Nuclear Man reveals that he wasn't just in league with Emil Hamilton - Hamilton was a geneticist who previously worked at LexCorp (as hinted in Superman III), and Lex Luthor himself has used DNA from Superman's escape rocket to recreate Jor-El in clone form. Nuclear Man becomes more and more unhinged, but Lois refuses to believe that this modern messiah is anything but what he originally appeared. When Steve decides to break into a live WGBS broadcast and reveal what he knows, Nuclear Man flies through the studio and breaks Steve's neck live of the air. His body is angular, white and jagged now, and he has clearly lost it. Nuclear Man threatens to use all of the weapons he collected on Earth itself unless the leaders of Earth kowtow to his demands. Lois is in shock, but Jimmy notices a small earpiece in Nuclear Man's ear and determines that there is a signal being broadcast. He traces the signal to a LexCorp satellite thought previously deactivated. Superman realizes that Lex is alive.

Superman follows the signal and goes to confront Lex in Antarctica, where Lex has constructed a fascmile of the Fortress of Solitude, where he freely admits to Superman that he is behind everything. Nuclear Man arrives and begins to duke it out with Superman as Lex casually follows behind the fight, explaining that Superman (in Superman II) had given him a mandate to help fix the world. Lex admitted that Superman had been right: the world needed them both. And Superman needed Lex to help end the nuclear arms race. The Man of Steel needed to be a paragon of virtue, and he couldn't get his hands dirty. So Lex simply went out and "bought himself a new Superman". Lex demonstrates a slight disappointment in the failure of his Nuclear Man as the mind was clearly becoming "feral and visceral" without treatment from Emil Hamilton, a regrettable but necessary casualty once Superman's cronies caught wind of the plans. Superman also learns that there are several other malformed clones of Jor-El at Lex's disposal, and he dukes it out with about 20 of them, cleaning the board.

Superman eventually watches the original clone of his father die in front of him, and the clone dies speaking of pride in his "son". Lex himself is grabbed by Superman and pressed against a wall, where Superman demands Lex to release and the warheads back to the governments of the world, but Lex says that he has already detonated them during the fight. "Even your super-senses can be distracted from time to time."

Lex turns on TV monitors to reveal that Nuclear Man's Sahara paradise has been destroyed by nuclear armageddon, killing hundreds of thousands. The body of "Nuclear Man" (in reality just another clone) is found at the heart of the blast, and one by one, world leaders vow to permanently dismantle their nuclear plans and come together after witnessing the horrors of nuclear holocaust to prevent this type of atrocity from ever happening. There is also regret from world leaders at letting Superman abandon them, and a call for his aid.

Lex and Superman have an intense debriefing at this point, and Lex leaves the ball entirely in Superman's court. "I did what you could never do. I brought about world peace. This entire planet was poised at the brink of destruction, and I did what Lex Luthor can do best. I did what Superman couldn't."

Superman lets Lex go and steps outside, listening to the radio and TV broadcasts with super-hearing. He takes a deep breath, and launches himself into space. The credits roll, and over them we hear time passing and voices acknowledging that Superman appears to not be coming back. We also hear the reports suggest Lex is no longer in hiding and providing aid and relief in the Sahara. The final line in the credits is "Thank god for Lex Luthor."
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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful