News Mums Advice March 12, 2025 0 Comments

DC Rewrites the Death of Superman’s Parents, Making the Lore Even More Tragic

WARNING: Contains Potential Spoilers for ABSOLUTE SUPERMAN #5!One of the most defining and well-known aspects of Superman’s lore is the destruction of Krypton and the death of his parents. While DC has undergone various reboots and presented rewrites of this origin, it has always remained relatively the same—until now. In Absolute Superman, DC completely reimagines the death of Superman’s parents, giving Kal-El a new reason to hate Kryptonite.

As with previous issues, Absolute Superman #5—by Jason Aaron, Rafa Sandoval, Ulises Arreola, and Becca Carey—shifts between the present and the past, with the past primarily focusing on Kal-El’s life on Krypton before its destruction. This issue highlights Krypton’s final hours as the planet begins to explode, with the El family and those they can fit on their ship making a desperate attempt to escape.

The ship successfully launches with Kal, his parents, Krypto, and a few dozen other Kryptonians on board. However, disaster soon strikes, and this time, it appears that Kryptonite is responsible for the death of Superman’s parents—but not in the way you might expect.

DC Reimagines Superman’s Parents’ Deaths with Kryptonite as the Killer

Comic Page Comes From Jason Aaron’s Absolute Superman #5 – Art by Rafa Sandoval & Ulises Arreola

absolute-superman-5-parents-2 DC Rewrites the Death of Superman's Parents, Making the Lore Even More Tragic

Absolute Superman #5 opens with the El family’s spaceship successfully taking off, a stark departure from typical canon, where it’s usually only Superman who is aboard the ship, not his parents. Just when it seems they might have narrowly escaped the planet’s destruction, massive chunks of Kryptonite—radioactive remnants of the planet—smash into the ship, tearing it apart and sending the onboard Kryptonians plummeting to the ground. In an awesome twist, however, the Kryptonians’ spacesuits begin to form protective shields around them, transforming into individual ships that continue their escape.

As Krypton’s self-destruction intensifies, more chunks of Kryptonite are hurled into the sky. Sandoval’s art shows these chunks taking out the individual ships and killing the Kryptonians inside. The only ship shown successfully leaving the atmosphere is Kal-El’s. As he calls out to his mother and father, whom he had been in contact with through the comms, there is no response. It’s heavily implied that Lara and Jor-El died in this moment, crushed by the Kryptonite. While not the typical way Kryptonite causes death, it’s still the ultimate cause of their demise.

angry-superman-and-his-villains DC Rewrites the Death of Superman's Parents, Making the Lore Even More Tragic

Superman has always been a symbol of hope—but not anymore. In the Absolute Universe, the Man of Steel has just earned a brutal new title.

Superman’s Parents May Not Be Lost After All

Comic Page Comes From Jason Aaron’s Absolute Superman #5 – Art by Rafa Sandoval & Ulises Arreola

absolute-superman-5-parents-3 DC Rewrites the Death of Superman's Parents, Making the Lore Even More Tragic

While it’s highly likely that Lara and Jor-El’s ship was destroyed by Kryptonite, killing them—especially given Superman’s present-day narration, which states, “…no matter the depth of the love… it can all go away. Every last speck of it”—there remains a possibility they survived. Since their deaths weren’t explicitly shown, they might have escaped Krypton’s atmosphere. Hence, until Superman confirms their deaths, there’s still a chance they lived and died another way. The next issue may provide clarity, either confirming or disproving their fate. Until then, fans can reflect on the tragic end of Superman’s homeworld and those he loved.