The Man of Steel Part One

ACT 1 SCENE 1

DEEP SPACE

Pan over stars. Silence.

A space station comes into view.

SPACE STATION INT.

A small dark room. Tinted with red light. In the center is a large sphere, as wide
as the length of a truck. It's smooth and metallic.

A man enters. He is very old. His eyes are colorless. His hair is thin.
He runs his hands across the sphere, admiring it.

Old Man (speaking kryptonian)
My son, death.

A growl from the sphere. The old man looks at the sphere, proud. he smiles
and closes his eyes. He holds up his right hand. He is holding a small device.

It's a cube with many appendages and screens. He fiddles with it with both hands.
It starts to pulsate light. he lets it go but it floats in the air. The cube's
outer shell breaks apart and floats around what it was containing: a small, blue,
sun-like object. The tiny "star" floats in front of him.

Old Man (speaking kryptonian)
Death and destruction, my son.

He takes a long breath and throws his head back.

Old Man (speaking kryptonian)
Death.

The "star" expands an explodes in red fire engulfing the room.

SPACE

The space station explodes.

The sphere shoots through space.

ACT 1 SCENE 2

SPACE ABOVE EARTH

We are far behind superman as he floats above earth. His cape is drifting. His feet
are together and his arms are sprawled out like Christ. We can't make out much
detail of him. The scene is peaceful.

Then, he hears a gunshot.

At a lower angle, we watch him cut through the hemisphere like a meteor.

BANK INT. DAYLIGHT

Four men armed with handguns have taken hostages in a bank. They are not collecting
money.They stand apart from each other. Hostages are lined up with their hands tied
behind their backs against a wall. One armed man is standing in front of them.
Another is holding his gun above his head,pointing to the ceiling. He fires upward,
again. The hostages cry out

Armed man 1
Everyone remain calm. You will return home safely tonight. He will be here for you
soon.

Armed man 2
For us all.

Superman flies through the glass doors of the bank in a streak of color. He lands
in the center of the bank, cracking the marble floor. He lands in a crouching
position.

Superman
Gentlemen-

Superman stands up straight. Our first good shot of The Man of Steel.

Superman
I'll be escorting you out, now.

Very suddenly, the armed men put the barrels of their guns pointed into their heads
from under their jaw.

Armed man 3
We offer our lives in your name, Superman.

They pull the triggers. Time slows down around Superman. He pushes each barrel away
from each of the mens' heads. By the time he gets to the fourth one, the bullet
is already pushing against his skin. breaking the skin slightly. Superman pulls the
bullet away and drops it on the floor. The fourth man is only bleed slightly. Time
snaps back to normal.

The three other bullets fly out of their barrels and hit walls and the ceiling. The
men fall down dead, despite Superman's efforts. Superman looks around in shock. He
X-rays the men. Each is missing a front tooth.

Closeup on Superman's face, heavy with the realization, this was a ritual suicide.

ACT 1 SCENE 3

BANK INT. NIGHT

The bank is now a crime scene. A detective is kneeling by one of
the dead bodies.

He's wearing latex gloves. He lifts up the dead mans lip to reveal the
space where his front tooth should have been.

Superman stands behind him with his arms crossed.

SUPERMAN
Cyanide?

COP
Probably. But we'll leave that up to forensics

He stands and takes off the latex gloves. Other police officers are around
the scene doing various tasks.

Superman looks distraught

COP
The way I hear it, they were a part of some "Superman Cult"

Superman winces very slightly. Hardly noticeable.

SUPERMAN(shaking his head)
Four men dead. For me? How could they think this is what I wanted?

COP
Can't say I don't understand it. You're the closet thing to a God
I've ever met.

Superman wrinkles his brow.

He regains his composure

He turns to shake the cops hand

SUPERMAN
Well officer, I appreciate your work. I'll leave you to it.

Superman turns and walks out of the bank.

The cop follows him outside. Multiple officers are around and
there are several police vehicles and ambulances parked. Paramedics and
cops are talking to hostages.

COP(sarcastically)
More banks to save?

SUPERMAN
No more tonight. It's quiet out there, and I have bigger plans.

He waves and flies away.

the cop pulls out a cigarette and begins to light it

COP(mumbling to himself)
I wouldn't wanna rob no damn bank either, with him flyin' round.