How the Reign of the Supermen Movie Differs From the Comics

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Reign of the Supermen, available on DC Universe and for digital download.

The DC Animated Universe follows up its Death of Superman by adapting the Reign of the Supermen, stitching together various DC titles of the '90s to illustrate how the Last Son of Krypton would return to action after four replacement Supermen tried to do his job in the interim.

As expected, quite a few changes are made from the source material, not just to fit the 90-minute runtime of the film, but to also match the continuity established by the DCAU. With that said, let's look at some of the deviations made and compare them to the original story.

CYBORG SUPERMAN'S PURPOSE

The source material depicted Hank Henshaw, Cyborg Supeman, as an astronaut who merged with LexCorp's technology following a meteorite accident -- the only way his consciousness could be preserved. Heartbroken about the loss of his crew and wife, Terri, Hank left Earth to explore alien culture. Isolated in the dark recesses of space, he grew vengeful, blaming his agony on Superman, which led to him co-opt Superman's arrival ship to build a new body and become the Cyborg Superman.

This movie, though, changes his background drastically, as it's Darkseid who plucks Hank from the accident. In the film, the ruler of Apokolips rebuilds Hank and sends him to infiltrate and win public favor on Earth. Hank was nothing more than a conduit to convert humans into a new legion for Darkseid, maroon the Justice League at the edge of the universe and to open a huge portal inviting Apokolips' armies back. There is no alliance with Mongol and his Warworld, no destruction of Coast City and no plot to frame the other Supermen, like the comics. Hank is merely Darkseid's lackey, brainwashed by the Anti-Life Equation.

THE RISE OF THE SUPERBOY

In the comics, Superboy was created by CADMUS' head Paul Westfield using his own DNA. But contrary to what the boy thought, he wasn't a clone at all. He was actually genetically engineered to be as Kryptonian as possible, using research Westfield did on Superman's biological makeup. Westfield's team was able to discover a telekinetic field for a human that would give them the ability to simulate Superman's powers, such as flight, invulnerability and strength, which led to Superboy -- their 13th trial -- coming to fruition.

Reign of the Supermen pulls an arc from Smallville and, most notably, Young Justice, as Superboy really is a half-human, half-Kryptonian hybrid in the adaptation. Lex Luthor uses Superman's DNA from the battle with Doomsday and splices in his own genetics to create the aspiring hero. Here, rather than Westfield at the helm, Dabney Donovan is Lex's cloning expert. Also, as opposed to trying to get Superboy to become his tool alongside Supergirl, like in the books, in this story Lex simply wants Superboy to impress the United States President so that he can be endorsed as the new Superman, giving Lex even more ins with the government.

NEXT PAGE: Superman Returns (A Little Differently) in Reign of the Supermen

STEEL'S BIG PLAY

When Superman died in the comics, John Henry Irons took up his mantle after being saved in the past by the Kryptonian. He forged his Steel costume using hammer and fire, the old school way, and then hit the streets to fight crime. His main goal was to remove old weaponry he had created that was now falling into the hands of gangs, while also taking the opportunity to inspire youths with his socially conscious superheroics.

Here, Steel is approached in a different manner. His costume is actually fragmented into unique segments of armor, similar to Tony Stark's Iron Man, and after Lois susses out his identity, both begin to investigate Superman's death like true detectives. They figure out Lex's cloning scheme, Hank's deception and, most importantly, Steel actually tracks down the Fortress of Solitude and finds a revived Kal-El. He isn't Superman's reincarnated soul, as Lois thought in the books, but a science genius who helps her uncover the truth about the other pretenders and why Superman was in stasis.

THE ERADICATOR'S MISSION

The Eradicator was tech that was repurposed to passionately protect everything that belonged to the planet Krypton in the comics, including Kal-El. This led to a feud, with Superman eventually tossing the sentient being into the sun. When Kal-El died, though, the Fortress' robots reactivated the Eradicator and turned it into a soldier. It fed off Superman's energy while he lay in his regeneration chamber, allowing it to masquerade as a fully-powered Superman. In the story's finale, Eradicator's redemption would come full circle, as it sacrificed itself, taking a Kryptonite blast from Hank to save Superman.

Here, the Eradicator doesn't have a sinister background or any past rivalry with Superman. It's simply tech that was converted to be a humanoid guardian in Superman's stead. However, the biggest change comes in the film's finale, where Superman uses the Eradicator as a virus stored in a Kryptonian crystal, plugging it into Hank's head to delete his presence from the cyborg's body. In other words, the Eradicator isn't just a war machine, it's a digital construct that can be uploaded anywhere, anytime and acts as an artificial intelligence to carry out Kal-El's will.

SUPERMAN'S RETURN

In the books, the Fortress robots gave Superman a mech suit when he awoke after being fed information about the disarray that was happening in his absence. He made his way back to Lois and Metropolis, united with Steel and Superboy and then went after Hank and Mongol for destroying Coast City. When the dust settled, he was left with no choice but to punch through the cyborg's chest, killing him so he could assume his mantle once again.

The animated movie takes a different spin, with Superman coming back after the Eradicator almost kills Steel at the Fortress, thinking he came to assassinate Kal-El. Superman does return with his black suit like the comics, but he doesn't rock any mech armor, instead using his trusty arrival vessel to get back to the action. The biggest change, however, comes in the fashion he regains his powers. As opposed to Eradicator converting a lethal Kryptonite blast into yellow energy to replenish Kal-El, like in the source material, here it's Lois who opens the panels on the Watchtower while Kal-El battles Hank, allowing the yellow sun sun to return all of Superman's powers, officially making him the Man of Steel again.

Directed by Sam Liu, Reign of the Supermen stars Cameron Monaghan, Jerry O’Connell, Cress Williams, Patrick Fabian, Rebecca Romijn, Nathan Fillion, Rainn Wilson, Toks Olagundoye and Nyambi Nyambi. The film is now available on Digital HD, with a Blu-ray release on Jan. 29.