In the eighty years since his debut, Superman's been a part of many classic stories. All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly depicted the Man of Steel grappling with mortality while performing amazing feats. Superman: For All Seasons by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale not only provided insight into the early days of Superman but also served as the direct inspiration for Smallville. And currently, Clark Kent is fighting for his life in the "Warworld Saga" in Phillip Kennedy Johnson's Action Comics run, which can basically be boiled down to "Superman does John Carter."

However, the story that many people remember - whether they're comic book readers or casual fans - is The Death of Superman. The story, ironically, was born of a joke. Superman writers were asked to postpone the marriage of Clark Kent and Lois Lane due to Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman planning to tackle that story. The Superman writers were at a loss for a story until Jerry Ordway joked that they should kill off the Man of Tomorrow. From that one joke came an entire storyline that featured Superman perishing in battle against the monster Doomsday. Many Superman writers felt that having the Man of Steel perish would not only boost sales but remind readers why Superman is such an integral character in the comics medium.

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The gambit worked: mainstream media outlets talked up the Death of Superman on primetime news, and the four issues that made up the storyline - The Adventures of Superman #500, Action Comics #687, Superman #78, and Superman: The Man of Steel #22 - became bestsellers. Even characters like Superboy and Steel have gone on to become integral parts of the DC Universe. Its legacy is felt to this day, with storylines like Knightfall and The Clone Saga attempting to push Batman and Spider-Man into similar territory. And it's become a font of inspiration for many Superman films, both made and unmade.

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Image Via DC Comics

Warner Bros' first attempt at adapting the Death of Superman storyline was with Superman Reborn. Produced by Jon Peters, the film was attempting to cash in on the success of Tim Burton's Batman movies - and what better way to do that than to adapt a popular comic book storyline? However, the script gave them pause as elements including Lois Lane becoming pregnant with Superman's child apparently ran too close to Batman Forever. Kevin Smith would later meet with WB and write his own script that incorporated elements from the Death of Superman, titled Superman Lives.

I managed to pick up one of Smith's drafts of Superman Lives at my local comic book store and the first half is actually very similar to the comics as Superman battles Doomsday and ends up dying. He also wears a black and white suit that pays homage to the Return of Superman storyline, which turns out to be the alien superintelligence known as the Eradicator. Impressively, Smith was also able to deal with Peters' major requests such as incorporating Brainiac into the storyline and fighting a giant spider. (I'm not kidding about that last part - there is a giant spider in the script.) Though WB would eventually hire Burton to work on Superman Lives, he threw out Smith's script and hired his Batman Returns collaborator Wesley Strick to do a rewrite. Ultimately due to a ballooning budget and displeasure of WB executives, Superman Lives was put on the back burner.

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Image Via Warner Home Video

The Death of Superman would eventually be adapted in the 2007 film Superman: Doomsday. Under the hand of DC animation legend Bruce Timm, who shared co-directing duties with Lauren Montgomery (Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths) and Brandon Vietti (Young Justice), Superman (Adam Baldwin) and Doomsday's brutal battle was brought to life in a fashion similar to Timm's work on the DC Animated Universe. Timm also co-wrote the script, which streamlines the story so that the Man of Steel returns to life earlier than usual. He has to face a clone of himself that was created by Lex Luthor (James Marsters), who takes his mission of "Truth and Justice" to a darker extreme by slaughtering anyone who breaks the law. This ends up adding more dimension to the story, and showing why Superman is an enduring character - he has incredible power but chooses to use it to protect others. And in a nod to Superman Lives, Kevin Smith even cameos as a bystander who says that Toyman using a giant mechanical spider is "lame."

Zack Snyder would adapt elements from The Death of Superman in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as Zack Snyder's Justice League. In the final act of Dawn of Justice, Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) forms Doomsday - here, a grotesque mix of Kryptonian technology and the dead body of General Zod (Michael Shannon). Superman engages in battle with the monster, and unlike in the comics, he has Batman (Ben Affleck) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) to back him up. The Man of Steel winds up sacrificing his own life when he impales Doomsday with a Kryptonite spear and the monster spears him in the heart in retaliation - which doubles as an overt reference to Snyder's favorite film, Excalibur. In Justice League, when Superman is resurrected, he dons the classic black and white suit and helps the League battle Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds).

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Image Via Warner Bros.

The most accurate adaptation would come with The Death of Superman in 2018 and Reign of the Supermen in 2019. Jerry O'Connell voices the Man of Steel, who is juggling his newfound fame and his relationship with Lois Lane (Rebecca Romijn). Enter Doomsday, who nearly kills the Justice League and ends up dealing a fatal blow to the Last Son of Krypton. This is perhaps the most brutal adaptation of the infamous Superman/Doomsday battle; Doomsday shrugs off Superman's blows and delivers literal ground-shaking punches of his own - drawing blood with his spiked knuckles in the process.

The film's ending explores the grief the Man of Steel leaves in his passing, with Luthor (Rainn Wilson) even expressing his loss. And in Reign of the Superman, his legacy is explored as other heroes including Steel (Cress Williams) and Superboy (Cameron Monaghan) attempt to fill Superman's boots. With other Superman media including Superman & Lois and Krypton putting their own spin on the story, it's safe to say that The Death of Superman will continue to be an influential storyline when it comes to the Man of Steel's cinematic exploits.