The Real Reason Superman Murdered A Longtime DC Villain

There’s little question Superman is a hero driven by a strict moral compass. One of the Man of Steel’s biggest rules is that he doesn’t kill. However, he once unintentionally broke that rule by murdering longtime DC Comics’ villain Doctor Light.

Superman has shown a murderous side before, even if the idea of killing goes against his personal beliefs. He has previously revealed how he believes not killing makes him a better hero, but, in certain situations, whether that’s in film, television, in alt-universe stories, or in main comics’ continuity, Kal-El has killed before. One of the most brutal examples was during The New 52’s Justice League arc, ‘Trinity War,’ when Superman used his heat vision to melt Doctor Light’s skull.

In Justice League #22 by Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Eber Ferreira, and Oclair Albert, Superman and Wonder Woman are visited by Pandora, who is part of the Trinity of Sin. She reveals she’s the reason the seven sins are in the world, as she was tricked into opening the (Pandora’s) box that unleashed them. She tells Kal-El and Diana it’s possible the sins can be imprisoned again but she needs Superman’s help – she puts a skull in his hand which influences him into turning evil. After dropping the artifact, Superman returns to normal and the league meets up with the new Justice League of America. In their encounter on Khandaw, when Doctor Light accidentally hits Diana with one of his light blasts, Superman kills him with his heat vision.

Doctor Light’s murder leads to a brawl between the league. However, Firestorm is able to sense Kryptonite in Superman’s system. It’s revealed the Justice Leaguer Atomica (the Earth-3 version of the Atom) actually put a tiny piece of Kryptonite in Superman’s brain and hit a nerve that triggered his heat vision. It turned out Atomica was actually part of the Crime Syndicate. So, while Superman killed Doctor Light, Atomica was responsible as she turned Superman into a weapon.

Thankfully, the story is from a comic book, so you can bet Doctor Light didn’t disappear after getting murdered by Superman. He later returns as a being of pure light that’s able to shape himself into a human-looking form – although it’s basically the end of Doctor Light’s turn as a hero. The New 52 was an especially confusing time for continuity, so while Superman murdered Doctor Light, it wasn’t by choice – and he didn’t stay dead. So did Superman really kill him? Yes, yes he did. Did Doctor Light stay dead? Sort of.

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Liam McGuire
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Lead writer for Screen Rant’s comic team. [email protected]. Find me on Twitter @LiamRMcGuire for comic news and reporting.

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