Dawn Of Justice Rumor: Doomsday Appearance?

Will Doomsday be making an appearance in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice?  Before everyone gets their not-worn-anymore-red-Superman-trunks in a knot, I’m fully aware of the news that there’s a fake Dawn of Justice script out there.  The Doomsday rumor comes courtesy of Bleeding Cool, and their scoop is not from a script.  The news site reports that their sources have seen designs for the notorious character.

For people who don’t know who Doomsday is, shame on you!  He’s the one character who came the closest to killing Superman.  I get very technical when I mention anything dealing with the death of Superman.  One keen reader pointed out that I shouldn’t just say “Superman was killed” and think people know what I mean.  For all intents and purposes, yes, the Man of Steel died in the famous Death of Superman story arc of the early-nineties.  But we later find out that Superman entered a death-like hibernation state and, using Kryptonian technology, he was able to regenerate.  Don’t you just love the semi-deus ex machina of comic book stories?

Doomsday has been characterized as the ultimate killing machine and was originally known as The Ultimate on Krypton.  He was created during Krypton’s prehistoric era by Bertron, an alien scientist not of Kryptonian origin.  Bertron’s experiments into evolution and genetics involved placing a humanoid infant in Krypton’s environment — a violent, harsh world at that time.  As the infant died, Bertron would collect the remains and clone a stronger and more “evolved” version with the genetic memories of the previous one.  He repeated these experiments for years and ended up creating a creature with a hate for all life.  The Ultimate’s physical abilities made it invulnerable to harsh temperatures.  He also developed the ability to absorb solar energy as sustenance and required no air.  The Ultimate would later identify Bertron as an enemy, kill him, and escape Krypton.  He then rampaged across the galaxy crossing paths with various supervillains and superheroes — one of them was Green Lantern.  The moniker of Doomsday would later be given by Booster Gold when he talks about how The Ultimate’s path of destruction resembled “the arrival of Doomsday.”

There has to be these thoughts and questions going on in every fan’s head right now:

• This is way too soon for a Superman death.
• Enough characters already.
• How will they tie in Doomsday’s history and also cover character development?
• Will Doomsday be purely CGI?  Or will an actor play him?
• If Superman does die, will the world feel that much of an impact from a being they’ve only known for a few years?

Remember guys, this is still a rumor.  If anything, Bleeding Cool does say that Doomsday may only be seen in a flashback sequence when Superman is learning about Krypton’s history.  Besides, Dawn of Justice is almost two years away —  a lot can happen.  Screenplays get revised.  Film gets cut.

The only live incarnation of Doomsday has been in the TV series Smallville.  Most of Doomsday’s appearances have been in comic book, animated, and video game forms.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has a US release date of May 6, 2016.