You'd be forgiven for thinking a film like this – one with aspirations of launching a new extended universe – might delve into origin stories and the likes, but Superman takes a different tack.
When we meet him, he's also currently in the headlines after his intervention in a conflict between aggressor state Boravia and its neighbouring country Jarhanpur.
Towards the beginning of the film, Lex distracts Superman by hatching a kajiu in Metropolis – which the hero goes to battle with help from other metahumans including Mister Terrific and Green Lantern – and while he is occupied, the villain's henchmen break into his Fortress of Solitude in the Antarctic, looking for dirt on their nemesis.
When Lex is able to unscramble the message and broadcasts to the world what it really says, there are pretty disastrous consequences for our hero. But how does this all end up? Read on to have the Superman ending explained.
Superman ending explained – full spoilers for the DC reboot
The second half actually saw his father, Jor-El (played by Bradley Cooper), instruct him to rule over Earth's "simple" people – including spreading his Kryptonian genes by keeping a harem of women.
Desperate to clear his name – and to reclaim his beloved Krypto – Superman hands himself in and is then given over to Lex, who unsurprisingly has some nasty plans in store.
Using a portal, he takes him to a "pocket universe" he has created, where he keeps a massive prison housing hundreds of people who have wronged him.
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Anyway, Lex holds Superman in a cell along with a metahuman known as Metamorpho, who is able to transform his body into any element or substance.
When Lex leaves – promising to come back the next night and continue with the torture – Metamorpho allies himself with Superman and frees him from the cage, with the pair then trying to mount an escape from the dimension along with Krypto.
View Green Video on the source websiteEventually, they are able to find Superman, Metamporpho and Krypto and make it out – although unknown to them, this also damages the pocket universe and creates a rift which could destroy Metropolis. In the meantime, Superman heads back to his human parents' house in Kansas for some much-needed rest and recuperation following his brush with the deadly Kryptonite.
Initially, he is confused about the purpose of this selfie dump – convinced it has something to do with her obsession with him – but it soon becomes apparent that each selfie secretly contains clues about Lex's plans, much of which are concerned with the war between Boravia and Jarhanpur.
When Lex discovers that Superman is now aware of his plans, he decides against closing the rift as it heads in the direction of Metropolis. This will both keep Superman busy while the new Boravian invasion of Jarhanpur can go ahead and also give him a better chance of defeating him.
While Superman is dealing with the Rift, Lex sends his greatest weapon – the mysterious Ultraman – to attack him, and in the ensuing fight the villain's mask comes off, revealing his true identity: he is an imperfect and unintelligent clone of Superman himself.
The two versions of Superman continue to fight, but the true, heroic version of the character emerges victorious and throws the clone into the rift before descending on Lex's headquarters to confront his nemesis.
What was Lex Luthor's real motivation?
But Lex also has his say, and reveals that he had only become involved in the war between Boravia and Jarhanpur as an excuse to kill Superman – that had been his main goal all along.
As this conversation is happening, the story posted in The Daily Planet detailing Lex's crimes is quickly gaining traction and public opinion rapidly turns back in favour of Superman.
All the while, Mister Terrific has managed to use Lex's computers to stop the rift – saving Metropolis from a nasty fate.
How does Superman set up the new DCU?
The very final scenes find Superman back at his Fortress of Solitude, where he has repaired the robots who had been damaged during Lex's earlier invasion.
While he is resting, Superman repeats his previous demand for his robots to play footage of his parents – but this time, instead of showing the message of his Kryptonian family, we see a montage of scenes from his childhood with his Earth parents.
Superman is now showing in UK cinemas.
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