DC Kills Superman With Brutal New Origin That Will Leave Fans Speechless

Published Sep 24, 2026, 8:00 PM EDT Nicolas Ayala is a Senior Writer for the Comics team at ScreenRant, with over five years of experience writing about Superhero media, action movies, and TV shows. DC kills off Superman brutally before his story can even begin. Krypton's destruction is fundamentally intertwined with Superman's heroism since the death of one world is the exact catalyst required to save another. Had Krypton never exploded, the infant Kal-El would have grown up as an ordinary citizen under a red sun, far away from the destiny that awaited him across the stars. The tragic catastrophe that forced Jor-El and Lara to launch their son into the cosmos gifted Earth their main defense against a gauntlet of threats and the main leader of their superhero community. Superman rarely displays a desire to immerse himself in Krypton culture. After all, he accepted that his home planet's destruction is completely irreversible, and he considers himself first and foremost a product of Earth and a member of humankind. Clark Kent respects the memory of Jor-El and Lara, but he sees Jonathan and Martha Kent as his true parents, and he believes that any attempts to resurrect his Kryptonian parents or recreate his dead society would offer no real benefit to anyone involved, choosing instead to honor Krypton as a historical memory but dedicate every ounce of his energy to protecting the living world that adopted him. But what happens when Kal-El isn't the one who survives Krypton's destruction? Turns out Jor-El and Lara's baby could have easily met the same fate as his parens had a few circumstances played out differently. Baby Kal-El And Lara Lor-Van Die A Brutal Death In Jor-El's Origin Story Superman: Father Of Tomorrow #5; Written By Kenny Porter; Art By Danny Earls & Nick Filardi In a universe where Jor-El manages to escape Krypton instead of Kal-El, the Kryptonian scientist matures into an even more heroic Superman who pushes Earth's technological evolution a whole century forward with nothing but his intellect and futuristic inventions. Still, the Father of Tomorrow has been haunted by his biggest regret, which he now reveals is spending too long trying to perfect his escape rocketship, which prevented his wife and son from boarding it in time. Jor-El's flashback to Krypton's destruction shows Lara Lor-Van and Kal-El being pulverized down to their skeletons right before the planet's collapse atomized them. The Father of Tomorrow's heroic actions turn Earth into an even more utopian society than the traditional Superman, but he feels a much deeper regret over Krypton's collapse than Kal-El. But ultimately, Jor-El and Kal-El reach the same conclusion about the morality of using their near-omnipotent power to save humanity. The more they try to eliminate crime and suffering, the more threats that arise. There's nothing they can do to change the past, and there's nothing they can do to guarantee a perfectly peaceful future. Both Supermen can only try their best to protect everyone they can. Earth's History Changes Drastically Depending On Which Kryptonian Survives Krypton's Destruction Has A Massive Influence On Earth Humanity is incredibly fortunate that its Kryptonian refugee is Kal-El, a naturally selfless and humble soul whose Midwestern upbringing forged him into the ultimate beacon of altruism. In Superman: Father of Tomorrow, Earth is perhaps even luckier to inherit an ultra-intelligent Kryptonian who provides humanity with futuristic technology. These specific outcomes are a statistical miracle, however, as if a single variable had shifted, the infant rocketed away from Krypton could have easily been an average Kryptonian who wouldn't be interested in risking their peace of mind to protect the Earth, at best, and who would use their yellow-sunlight abilities for personal gain regardless of the destruction they cause, at worst. Krypton wasn't a society of flawless saints. Just like Earth, Superman's home planet was a civilization filled with flawed, selfish, and apathetic inhabitants. Had a typical, status-obsessed Kryptonian bureaucrat or an arrogant scientist survived instead of Kal-El, the sudden acquisition of godlike powers under Earth's yellow sunlight could have corrupted them instantly. Without Clark Kent and Jor-El's innate moral restraint, most other Kryptonian survivors could have used their godlike powers to hoard resources for their own comfort. In a terrifying twist of fate, Earth could have easily found itself populated by an unstoppable class of supervillains, with no moral Superman to contain them. Do you think Superman's survival was a matter of fate? Father of Tomorrow #5 is now available from DC Comics Created By Joe Shuster, Jerry Siegel First Appearance Action Comics Alias Kal-El, Clark Kent, Jonathan Kent Alliance Justice League, Superman Family Race Kryptonian Franchise D.C.