A.K.A.: Superman: American Way

or
Superman: Dreams End

or
President Luthor: Man of Steel

This movie plot is meant to end the Superman film saga that I wrote a while back. Although it's not necessary, to get the most out of this article, feel free to read my earlier plots:

Superman Begins
Superman vs. Bizarro vs. Doomsday
Supermen's Reign and Brainiac
Superman vs. Krypton/Zod
and it's not a plot but
Reasons to Reboot the Franchise

This plot doesn't really add any new elements to these films, but finishes off all of the ones that were mentioned earlier and brings all arcs to their inevitable (and hopefully unexpected) conclusions. In this film, Supes is brought to his breaking point as everything he worked for is now crumbling around, him and his perceptions of justice are being re-evaluated.

Plot:

Movie starts off with Luthor making a speech as the President of the USA. Through his reforms, America has been escalating the world markets. Lois asks a question from the press gallery about questionable business practices from his own company LexCorp. But Luthor dismisses her outright.

Overseas, we see Superman take down a ring of weapons runners, he opens one of their cargo holds and finds that there are some children being smuggled as well. Superman then confronts Luthor in one of his buildings. Superman tells him that the info was accurate, but that the CIA missed the facts about children. Luthor is pleased, not that the children are safe, but that it'll make for great press coverage.

Lois is talking to Perry White, telling him that even with Superman helping Luthor, there are certain activities done by a Superhuman which Superman would never do. Perry wonders that with Supergirl dead, and the Kryptonians back, that there is only Conner, but he'd have no reason to help Luthor.
Cut to Superboy (Conner) shaking down Luthor's opposition, and being a complete jerk about it. Jimmy and Clark then come to take pictures of the aftermath. John Henry Irons (Steel) goes there too and claims that these where his supporters in a movement to uncover Luthor's deeds. Clark uses his vision to discover some papers in the rubble. The papers hint that Steel's supporters are using some questionable tactics to track Luthor. Clark doesn't say anything and pockets them.

Luthor summons Superman with a watch signal, and Superman arrives just outside of one of the government buildings. Luthor then tells Clark that there is a moral dilemma; some terrorists have a bomb just out of reach, but a foreign power is watching them and if they take it, it'll be an international incident. But they are sure the bomb will go off in America if left as is. Luthor tells Superman that if Superman gets involved, he'll have to brand it an illegal act and make Superman an outlaw. Clark says there is no way to prove that the bomb will go off. But Luthor gives Superman some pictures of the terrorists past actions and tells him that the bomb will be transferred tomorrow and they'll lose track of it.

Clark talks to Lois in their apartment, he says that he has to do some things that will make Superman a hated figure. She says he just has to do what's right.

Superman is shown attacking the terrorists and taking the bomb. This transfers into Lex Luthor talking in front of a screen, telling the people that do to his latest actions, Superman has crossed a line and that he will be taken in or taken down to appease the Asian power. We see Lois looked shocked at the revaluation.

Perry White is now looking for a new figure to idolize for the paper. Lois is resistant, but Perry says the best thing to do is not mention Superman for a while. They look to Steel, as the new idol. Everyone knows him, he doesn't hide his identity, and he's not a dangerous unregistered power.

Superboy is going through Metropolis yelling for Kal-El to come face him. Problem is that Superboy's voice is so loud that it's actually causing damage. Lois tells Superman to go, as Clark runs out of the Daily Planet, and appears in costume behind Superboy. Superman asks Conner how he got so powerful. Conner says nothing, but Supes deducts that Luthor increased his powers. Supes than asks Conner to stop, but Conner doesn't listen. A fight ensues.

After taking it the fight away from the city so they can really cut lose, Conner overexerts his powers and wears himself out.

Superman breaks through the Oval office, and tells Luthor that this is what he caused. Supes drops Conner's body on the floor and tells Luthor save him or face justice. Luthor says some stuff about the American dream and how Superman no longer follows it. Superman leaves in disgust. After he leaves, Luthor takes one of Brainiac's devices and uses it on Conner. Luthor then explains what the real reason Conner was made; to see if Kyrptonian powers were able to be transferred to human DNA. It was successful.

Superman goes to Steel's house and tells him that he's got something for him, a device that he took off of Superboy. Steel analyses it and tells him that it looks like an old LexCorp device he worked on, used to increase strength, and agility. The only problem was that it worked the brain so hard that no one could think properly while using it. He explains that some technology looks similar to Brainiac's, and that the changes might enhance mental capacity. Superman congratulates him on all the good press he'd getting.

We cut to a huge explosion taking place just off the coast. Luthor claims that it was the bomb Superman took and that he must be taken down. Luthor takes the blame for not taking down Superman and says that he'll resign if he doesn't bring the alien to justice by the end of the month.

Luthor walks into a safe house, and finds the man of steel there, waiting for him. Luthor asks what took him so long, and Superman claims that Americans need their Presidents not to be tarnished. Luthor than punches Supes, knocking the wind out of him. Superman then pulls him below the safe house to reveal that it was Luthors secret base. Luthor grabs a gun he used against Zod, and Superman starts to lose. But eventually, Supes gets knocked beside the stasis tubes where Luthor is working on Conner and Supergirl; this gives him the determination to keep on going. The fight goes on in the lab beneath the Earth until Superman falls into the devices that he found on Conner. Luthor asks what he's going to do? Superman claims that if all Luthor wanted is power, he'll get it. Superman clips all the devices on Lex. Lex beats Superman almost to death for a minute, but then breaks down under the added mental pressure. The devices increase Lex's mental ability and breaks Luthor down to realizing how insignificant his life really is, and renders him helpless as he realizes how inferior he is to Superman. Superman leaves in disgust.

Perry White and Lois are at a press conference that says President Luthor is sick and under evaluation, and that vice President Peter Ross is acting commander and chief for the time being. Lois is there with Clark, and they reveal that they have proof of Luthor's dealings and that his administration was completely corrupt. This causes a huge commotion in the press room.

We see the Daily Planet headlines showing that Luthor was taken down. We then see Clark and Lois in bed talking, and Lois finds it Ironic how after all this time of Lex hating Superman, Clark was the one that took him down. Lois rips off his shirt to reveal the 'S' and the 'S' transfers to Superman flying over the world, hearing all the voices, cries for help, etc. and whooshing off towards the screen.

Credits Roll.

During the Credits, we see Daily Planet headlines, among them are:

-Luthor confined to house arrest.

-Ex-Hero (Steel) Wins race for Mayor

-Jimmy Olsen wins Awards for Turtle Boy role

-Lex Corp bought out by Wayne Industries

-Daily Planet to become televison news show

-Luthor creates 100th lifesaving cure.

-Luthor and Superman solve crisis

-Luthor to lead charities as Superman goes up and away.

After the credits, we go 150 years into the Future, where we see Brainiac's ship coming towards the Earth. Supergirl and Superboy are alive and all grown up, Supergirl claims that Brainiac will be too easy to beat. An army of (friendly) Kryptonians fly up in space behind them.

Afterward:

So, that's what would happen if I was given free reign and an unlimited budget to reboot the Superman franchise. Throughout the whole saga, I think I added every major element from Superman's past (excluding his crossovers,) except the bottled city of Kandor, the Superman Robots, the villain Parasite, and that magical Imp no one likes. I tried to do some original twists to make the character relevant for today's audience. Did I succeed, or not? That's for you to decide, and the best way to do that is to wait and see what the WB movies do with the series and then compare them to mine.

If I were to take away one thing from my stories, it would probably be Steel. I liked the character, but I couldn't really think of anything for him to do in my plots; he's just there, mainly as a comparison to Lex Luthor.
Well, now that it's done, I'd like to know what you guys liked or disliked about this whole series. Any elements here you'd like to see in an actual movie(s)? Let me know