The Death of Superman (2019)

The Death of Superman is special because it treats a superhero spectacle like a human story, marrying bone-rattling action to a surprisingly tender emotional core. The animation hits with real weight and clarity, and the film’s relentless, city-shaking showdown feels less like empty noise and more like a test of character—especially as Superman keeps choosing people over victory. What really sells it, though, is the warmth and ache in the relationship between Clark and Lois, giving the film a heartbeat that lingers after the punches stop. Be warned: it’s intense and often brutal for an animated feature, but if you want a faithful, impactful DC story that earns its drama, this one delivers.

The Death of Superman is clearly trying to deliver a faithful, emotionally weighty adaptation of a famous comic storyline, with a relentless sense of escalation and real consequences for Metropolis. The problem is that if you’ve seen this premise before, the beats can feel familiar and a bit mechanical, and the movie leans so hard on one extended brawl that character depth and variety sometimes get shoved to the sidelines. It’s also brutally intense for an animated superhero film, with sustained, punishing violence that can feel more exhausting than thrilling. Still, the voice work is solid and the film commits to the tragedy with sincerity, so if you want a straightforward, hard-hitting Superman endurance test, it’ll do the job; if you’re after novelty or a more nuanced Justice League story, you may want to skip it.