Superman: The Last Son of Krypton (1996 film)

Superman: The Last Son of Krypton is a 1996 American animated superhero film featuring the DC Comics character Superman. Directed by Bruce Timm and Jerry Rees, The events of the movie takes place before Superman: The Animated Series, Which Premiered on September 6, 1996 and ended on February 15, 1997 before it was combined and spun off into an one hour animated television series called The New Batman/Superman Adventures, which was premiered on September 13, 1997 and ended on February 12, 2000. The film was produced by Warner Bros. Feature Animation and Hyperion Animation along with A. Film ApS and distributed by Warner Bros. under their Family Entertainment unit.

Plot
On the distant planet of Krypton, Jor-El conducts research in the desolate northern region. He is suddenly attacked by a giant amoeba-like creature. He manages to escape the creature and returns to his mobile research platform. While working, Brainiac, A coluan being from the planet called colu, appears on screen and demands for his collected data. Jor-El angrily complies, but his bad mood is dispelled by the appearance of his infant son, Kal-El.

His research complete, Jor-El heads home. Later, he goes over the data and it only supports his theory that Krypton is on the verge of destruction. His uncle-in-law, Sul-Van, warns him that his theory will only cause Jor-El to lose the respect of the scientific community, and the ruling council. Jor-El's only hope, Sul-Van warns, is that Brainiac will support his theory, or else his career will be over. As he says this, an earthquake rocks Krypton, worrying the populace.

Jor-El reports his findings to Krypton's ruling council, insisting that the planet's core is undergoing a mounting chain reaction that will destroy it soon. The council turns to Brainiac, who dismisses Jor-El's findings and explains that Krypton is only undergoing a slight polar shift. Jor-El warns the council that their blind dependence on the machine will doom them all, but the council is openly outraged when they hear his rescue plan: to send the entire population into the Phantom Zone—a penal dimension housing vicious criminals and creatures—and then have one person travel to a different planet and release them later.

In spite of Brainiac, Jor-El still believes he's right. Heading to Brainiac Operations to check why the AI disagrees with him, he becomes suspicious when Brainiac won't allow him to check what Brainiac's task is inside Satellite Coms. When he breaks into Satellite Coms himself when Brainiac tries to deny him entry, he discovers that he is correct, and Brainiac knows it. The AI is in the middle of secretly downloading himself into a satellite to escape the planet's destruction. Confronted, Brainiac fully admits that he lied so that he wouldn't be ordered by the Science Council to waste time preparing an evacuation plan, as the planet will be destroyed in hours. According to his programming, the survival of Krypton's knowledge is more important than that of its people.

Jor-El is tempted to destroy him then and there, but Brainiac reminds him that if he goes, so does the planet's legacy. Jor-El's hesitation allows Brainiac to summon a squad of security guards, advising them to use deadly force against him. He narrowly manages to evade them and returns home.

At his home, Sul-Van has been reviewing Jor-El's research and found that it is actually quite sound. Unfortunately, as Jor-El informs him, it is far too late now. Jor-El quickly makes preparations for his back-up plan: to save his son, Kal-El, by sending him off in the small one-person spaceship he had earlier developed as part of his evacuation plan. It was meant for someone to take a Phantom Zone projector to Earth and release Krypton's population in safety, but now it can only be used as a lifeboat to save one person. Sul-Van is skeptical of this plan, but knowing Jor-El can't outrun the authorities, ultimately volunteers to distract the police so his niece, Lara, and Jor-El can prepare the ship to launch.

Seeing Lara's grief over losing their only child, Jor-El offers to make some quick flight modifications so that she can be saved along with him. She refuses, saying that her place is with Jor-El and triggers the final preparations herself. In orbit, Brainiac's Ship fires the krypton's sun (Rao) and fires The Planet Krypton and flies into space. As earthquakes rock the planet, the apprehended Sul-Van calmly recognizes it's Krypton's final death throes. Jor-El and Lara launch Kal-El's ship and it successfully lifts off: watching their son disappear from sight, the couple hold each other and kiss while the terrified population witness their world tearing their civilization and itself apart. Behind Kal-El's ship, Krypton explodes. The spaceship then opens a wormhole in space and enters, several chunks of kryptonite entering into it as well.

Later, in the deep reaches of space, a crew of aliens discovers Brainiac's ship. They can study it, but before the ship fires, kills the entire crew and destroys their ship. Meanwhile, Kal-El's spaceship reaches Earth's solar system, and makes touchdown in Smallville, Kansas, briefly giving Martha and Jonathan Kent a scare when it passes over their truck. They locate the ship and discovering its young passenger, Martha decide to adopt him, despite some reluctance from Jonathan. Martha decides to name the infant foundling "Clark", after her maiden name, and the trio heads for home.

Several years later, Clark Kent is now a teenager attending Smallville High. He talks to his girlfriend, Lana Lang, and explains about how he has been developing some strange superhuman powers recently using examples such as hearing a conversation from a distance and seeing a teacher put up decorations for the school dance through a wall. As he talks to Lana, a family driving an RV has a traffic accident and is trapped in a fire. Without thinking, Clark races to the accident scene and frees the family, easily tearing through metal and remaining completely unscathed by the flames.

Clark is disturbed by these new powers and goes to talk them over with his parents. Deciding that he's old enough to know the truth, Jonathan tells him the full story of his adoption. Clark is taken down to the barn, where he is shown the spaceship that he was found in as a baby. His Earth parents give him a holographic projector that activates when he touches it, showing him a holographic message in his mind from Jor-El and Lara inside their family home. They tell him of his Kryptonian heritage as well as the powers he will gain from Earth's sun; they also warn him that his powers may bring fear and attempted destruction from others, but in spite of this, he should never use his powers in anger. This message, however, only serves to further alienate Clark, who runs off in anger and fear. However, he is able to cheer himself up after discovering his ability of flight and returns to the farm to reassure his parents.

Several more years later, in Metropolis, there has been talk of a "guardian angel" doing good deeds. In truth, Clark, now an adult, has been secretly using his superpowers to help people. At the same time, he is hired as a new reporter on the Daily Planet's city desk. He becomes acquainted with his editor, Perry White, as well as his coworkers Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen. Lois, to her displeasure, is assigned to show Clark around for a few days.

Lois wastes no time trying to ditch him, but is surprised to find him already at work at the site of their first joint assignment: the unveiling of Lex Luthor's newest weapon. Lois admits that "Smallville", as she dubs Clark, is not as gullible or green as she had assumed and is suitably impressed. Luthor proudly presents a powerful battle suit dubbed the Lexo-Skel Suit 5000: "constructed by a patented alloy, and virtually indestructible", piloted by a single man, but with as much firepower as a battalion of troops. However, during the ceremony, a group of mercenaries attacks and steals the Lexoskel. Clark decides that it's time for his first public appearance and changes into his outfit. He saves Lois from being crushed and then attempts to pursue the mercenary group. The mercenaries attack, but their weapons are ineffective against the hero. At first, it seems that Clark will save the suit, but the group's leader fires a missile that misses Clark but strikes a passenger jet, causing it to fall.

Clark leaves the mercenaries and attempts to save the plane. At first, he only manages to damage the plane even further but finally manages to slow the its fall and gets it to land in a nearly empty Metropolis park. With such a display of power, there is no way for the hero to hide from the public. Perry White demands that his reporting staff find out who this man is, saying that the public is clamoring for information and is in a state of near-panic. Looking at video footage of the "angel", Lois dubs him "Superman" after the "S" on his costume's chest. Clark is uncertain about maintaining a public image, but knows that if he keeps acting secretively, people will start to fear him. After a conversation with his parents, who openly disapprove of the methods of Gotham City's protector, Batman, Clark decides to have a private interview with Lois to earn the people's trust.

The newly dubbed Superman takes Lois to a place where they can talk in private. He tells her of his Kryptonian background and that he's not here to scare anyone, only to help people. Lois is skeptical and wants to know his true identity. Superman refuses to tell her, but there is enough information to go public.

At LexCorp, Luthor reads the story of Superman's origins while Lois and Clark are there to interview him about the Lexo-Skel theft. Clark muses aloud that the theft will actually work out well for Luthor. With such a powerful weapon in the hands of terrorists, the U.S. government will undoubtedly contract with LexCorp to build a bigger, more powerful version. Luthor laughs off the idea, but Lois is intrigued, especially when Clark later confides to Lois that Luthor possibly gave the suit away.

Back at the Planet's archives, Clark finds a photo of Luthor with the Regent of Kaznia, a country that the United States has placed under a trade embargo, based on evidence that the Regent has been employing a hit squad of terrorists against his political enemies. Clark's theory is that Luthor staged the theft in order to make a secret sale to the Regent.

Lois decides to investigate herself in secret and goes to a Kaznian tanker ship docked in Metropolis Harbor. On the ship, Lois meets up with John Corben, who says he's the head of a diplomatic mission to restore friendly relations with the U.S. However, while she is snooping around the ship, she finds the Lexo-Skel, and is captured.

Meanwhile, back at the Planet, Jimmy tells Clark about a smuggling story he and Lois worked on. Clark sees the tanker in one of Jimmy's pictures, and guesses where Lois has gone.

Out at sea, Corben is about to execute Lois, but Superman arrives. He easily defeats the terrorists, but Corben climbs into the battle suit to have a fighting chance against him. Superman flies Lois to safety and then goes to fight Corben. The battle drags from the harbor to Metropolis, with Corben seemingly having the upper hand, until Superman literally tears the suit apart, forcing Corben to surrender.

On Lois' order, the Planet stops the presses and re-prints the front page, with a story on Superman's triumph. Superman pays a visit to Luthor's office. At first, only Luthor talks as Superman gives him the silent treatment. He tells Superman that he has total control over Metropolis, and Superman cannot prove Luthor's connection to Kaznia. Luthor then confides his global ambitions and offers Superman a position. When Superman remains silent, Luthor finally loses his composure and throws a small model of the Lexo-Skel at him. Superman crushes it in his hands and warns Luthor that he'll be watching him.

He then flies through Metropolis while various citizens cheer him on. On the next day, As Lex Luthor introduces his new Museum of Natural History to a group of reporters, a couple of small time criminals break in and go for a rather large jewel. Clark Kent, who is amongst the reporters, hears their entry and takes off to become Superman. Inside, Superman's attempts to stop the criminals are progressing nicely until he comes near a display of minerals. He sinks to the ground in pain, allowing the criminals to escape.

Luthor discovers the phenomenon and has the display analyzed to discover what happened to Superman. He learns that one of the rocks is from an foreign solar system and realizes that he now has the perfect weapon against Superman. Determined to make sure that his discovery is indeed genuine, Luthor hires a thug named Joey to pull off a heist, which will attract Superman and lead him into a trap.

Meanwhile, Clark meets Lois at a diner and instantly starts to feel the damaging effects of the alien rock. Lois explains that she obtained a slither of Luthor's rock from a contact at LexLabs, Professor Peterson, the head researcher of the new rock, and is taking it to Professor Hamilton at S.T.A.R. Labs for analysis. Lois gives Clark a peak of the rock but immediately drops it from the pain, causing Lois to think he's getting sick. Near the diner, Luthor's hired thug and two henchmen steal hundred dollar printing plates from Commissioner Jones and flee with jet packs. Superman goes after them and captures the henchmen, but is unable to stop the leader from reaching his destination, a parking garage. Joey fakes his surrender and lures Superman towards the middle of the complex where the rock hanging from the ceiling. Superman, weakened, is then pummeled by the Joey. Fortunately for Superman, Joey becomes overconfident and takes the fight too far away from the rock. With a small amount of strength back, Superman tosses himself and Joey over the edge and into a stream below where he is able to apprehend him.

After his confrontation with the thug, Superman starts to meet Bibbo, and then he confronts Luthor, who proposes that if Superman leaves him alone, he'll be allowed to live. Superman refuses and later follows Lois to S.T.A.R. Labs where she is meeting with Hamilton. Hamilton explains that the rock is likely a fragment of Krypton and coins the phrase "Kryptonite". He also explains that the radiation can be shielded with lead. Lois receives a call from Peterson who tells her to meet him in the new museum. However, it is revealed that Peterson was threatened by Luthor into calling Lois. Luthor then orders Mercy to "deal" with Peterson.

Lois and Superman go to the museum only to find that they have walked into a trap. The exits are sealed and a mechanical Tyrannosaurus activates and attacks the duo. Superman tries to confront the robot monster, but finds that the Kryptonite was left in its mouth. The dinosaur pummels Superman until he informs Lois that some cups displayed in the museum are made of lead. Lois manages to get the kryptonite into the cups and Superman defeats the dinosaur. After their escape, Superman disposes of the Kryptonite by throwing it into outer space. Luthor, in the meantime, has commissioned further expeditions to find more Kryptonite on Earth.

A fashion show is being held in Metropolis and Clark and Lois are assigned to write up on it. As they watch the show, Lex Luthor shows up along with his newest date: Lana Lang. Clark is quite interested in the fact as he used to date Lana back in high school. While Lana leaves to work on her fashion show, Luthor meets up with an employee, Mr. Eelan, who speaks of some mysterious customers.

Lana finishes dressing up one of her girls and is soon confronted by two women who kidnap her to get her expensive dress. Clark walks in the room just after Lana's been taken. The kidnappers throw Lana into an elevator and are soon confronted by Superman. They toss Lana out of the elevator to distract Superman and attempt to escape. However, Superman manages to both save Lana and capture the criminals. After her rescue, Lana lets on that she knows that Superman is really Clark Kent. Luthor shows up after Superman leaves and expresses his happiness that showed up.

Later at Lana's apartment, Superman talks to Lana and asks how she was able to figure out his identity. Lana confesses that it was obvious as she saw him do those amazing skills back when they were in high school and noticed that both Superman and Clark Kent had arrived in Metropolis around the same time and easily made the connection. Superman then changes the subject and warns her about Luthor. He mentions that the man Luthor spoke to was an arms dealer and that he may be selling weapons for Luthor. Lana is unconcerned and assures him that she can handle Luthor. Superman then starts to leave, but again warns Lana to be careful. As he fies off away from Lana's apartment, he is seen by Mercy Graves.

Mercy reports what she saw to Luthor, but Lana manages to dissuade him from punishing her. Luthor speaks to his arms dealer, but Lana listens in on him. Mercy observes this and offers to kill Lana, but Luthor refuses. Outside, Lana calls up Clark and tells him about the arms deal.

Outside Metropolis, the arms dealer shows his customers a weapon that shoots a microwave beam and causes objects to overload their electrons and explode. Superman shows up and confronts them but only manages to capture the criminals. The arms dealer destroys a rail bridge and escapes while Superman saves the train.

Later that night in Metropolis park, Superman and Lana talk where Lana continues to insist that she becomes Superman's sidekick but he continues to refuse her. Lana then confesses that she still has feelings for him and asks to let her prove that they can be a great team. However, before Superman can further protest, Lana kisses him and they both share a moment. However, unbeknownst to either of them, Luthor is watching from afar and angrily leaves.

The next day, Lana has lunch with Luthor and overhears him talking to Eelan over the phone about another arms deal in Central City. Lana calls it in to Superman and still refuses to listen to his warnings. There's a knock at Lana's door and she enters into a limo only to find Eelan is driving.

Lana wakes up in a lead factory and is told that the because of the lead fumes the place is automated and Superman can't see them. She is placed in a mold for lead bars and is nearly covered in molten lead. However, Superman shows up anyway, revealing that he suspected Central City to be a ploy. Eelan attempts to stop Superman with his weapon and causes molten lead to fill the factory. Both Lana and Eelan are almost killed but Superman manages to save them both. A few days later, Clark is reading the paper at the Daily Planet where Luthor is being investigated over the weapons he tried to sell. Lana then appears to him and informs him that she is heading off to Paris to continue her job while also informing him that she has learned her lesson after her ordeal. Clark reveals that he does indeed care about her even saying she is like a sister to him. Lana thanks Clark and tells him that he will find that special someone someday, however they are soon interrupted when Lois calls out to Clark informing him of a new assignment. Lana takes her leave and Clark heads to Lois.

Later, Superman gives his rocket a test run and proves that it's greater than any other ship on Earth. He finally comes to a stop and congratulates Professor Hamilton for his work on converting the rocket for manned space travel. Hamilton thanks Superman for the opportunity and wonders about other civilizations, in awe of how many of them could be even more advanced and civilized than Earth's...

Elsewhere in juxtaposition, Lobo causes a ruckus in an alien bar and captures Sqweek, a rat-like alien that apparently stole money from the alien Emperor Spooj. Before Lobo can take his bounty, Squeek's older brother Gnaww shows up and insists that he will get the bounty on Squeek. Lobo manages to beat Gnaww and his gang and takes off. As he flies through space, a creature has Lobo brought onto his ship. The creature introduces itself as the Preserver, and explains itself as a being who collects and preserves the last member of species across the universe. He wants Superman, the last Kryptonian, for his zoo and he believes only Lobo can capture him. At first Lobo refuses, but he agrees when he sees his payment.

Lobo goes to Earth, and enters the Metropolis Police Department. Asking the on duty officer if they have seen Superman, the officer tells that they rarely do and only if in trouble; Lobo delightfully takes it as the opportunity to make some. Having sieged the police station, utterly destroying it, and all before his boredom gets to creating a nuclear bomb to detonate, Superman shows up to stop him and Lobo attacks him. Superman fights back but Lobo proves to be just as strong as his adversary. The police attack with gas and Lobo shows that he has a weakness to it. He soon recovers quickly, however, and attacks again. The two continue to do battle and Lobo calls in his bike. This doesn't provide too much trouble until Lobo fires a missile. While it misses Superman it heads straight for a train. Superman intercepts the missile and takes the blow. Lobo now seems to have the upper hand until Lois intervenes. Lobo encroaches on her and Superman attacks him with newfound determination, in the process causing considerable damage to the LexCorp building (while Luthor is comically speaking on the telephone with the President about another new weapon). Now Superman has the upper hand but Lobo manages to escape into space, vowing to return.

Determined to prevent Lobo from coming back, Superman uses his rocket to follow Lobo into space. After a brief fight involving his ship and Lobo's bike, Superman leaves his ship in his Space Suit to fight Lobo hand to hand. When Superman seems to be winning the fight, the Preserver is informed that Superman is within range and captures him. Superman wakes up in what he believes to be Krypton but learns he is in a small cage made to look like Krypton. Superman attempts to break out but finds that his powers are canceled out by a red light that gives the same radiation as the red sun of Krypton. Lobo mocks Superman, but soon finds himself captured as well, since he is the last Czarnian.

After his humiliating defeat at the hands of Lobo, Gnaww tells Emperor Spooj that Lobo took a bribe to release Sqweek. Emperor Spooj angrily orders Lobo returned either dead or alive.

The Preserver returns Superman's outfit but refuses to release him. He reveals that he has even taken some species from Earth. Lobo awakens in his cell and finds that there are two alien women with him but when he tries to escape they prove to be robots and strike him with knock out gas. Superman is determined to escape and notices a large rhinoceros/triceratops-like creature peacefully eating across from his cell. Using a large crystal, Superman provokes the creature into attacking thereby getting it to shatter the glass holding him in. Outside of his cell, Superman's strength begins to return and he sets out to leave. Lobo asks to be freed as well but Superman refuses, deciding he deserves to stay locked up. Enraged, Lobo vows to escape and take his revenge not only on Superman but all of Earth. Superman gets Lobo to promise that he'll leave Earth alone and frees him.

Shortly after Lobo's escape, security droids approach and insist the two return to their enclosures. When Lobo refuses, the droids attack with stun weapons. However, the droids are no match for the duo and are destroyed. The two continue on but are dropped into a pit with a huge snake-like creature that nearly eats Superman. Lobo, however, saves him. Seeing the power of his captives, the Preserver decides that he may have to capture them himself. Just then, Gnaww hails his ship and demands Lobo be turned over to him. The Preserver invites him to come upon his ship and retrieve Lobo himself.

Back inside the ship, Lobo retrieves Sqweek but he and Superman are attacked by Gnaww and his gang. The two are no match for their weapons and all seems lost until Superman gets a plan. He tricks Gnaww into throwing him into one of the enclosures which contains a dodo from Earth. Superman basks in the light of a simulated yellow sun and regains his powers. Lobo nearly makes it to his bike but finds the Preserver there waiting for him. The Preserver gives Lobo one last chance to go back to his enclosure but Lobo refuses. In response the Preserver transforms into a red, hulking clawed giant and attacks. Lobo is nearly killed but Superman intervenes. However, in his new form, the Preserver is a formidable opponent. Lobo decides to do his "good deed for the century" and opens the ship's door causing the Preserver to be sucked out into the vacuum of space. Lobo get on the motorcycle and rides to space then superman takes his ship and pulls the preserver's ship.

Meanwhile, a lone truck drives down a winding road out in the middle of the desert. It arrives at communications site where many members of LexCorp are busy getting their apparatus set up. Amongst the employees are Lois and Jimmy, who only know that Luthor is meeting with someone important. While the reporters ponder over who it is that Luthor is meeting, he arrives, and a few seconds later a spaceship appears in the sky. Luthor approaches and is greeted by a hologram of the robot form of Brainiac. As a show of good faith, Luthor gives Brainiac a disk containing basic information about Earth and is allowed onto the ship.

Later, Superman returns from an experimental flight of his space ship which was newly modified for space travel and is asked to attend a meeting between Luthor and the Pentagon, but first he placed the Preserver's ship to the Arctic Ocean and create his Fortress of Solitude. Meanwhile at the Pentagon, Luthor is unconcerned about the security implications of his rendezvous, and informs the military that they can't meet up with Brainiac, who is, however, willing and eager to meet with Superman. Superman flies out to the desert and enters into Brainiac's ship. Things seem to be peaceful at first, and Superman even finds words written in the Kryptonian language. Before Superman can explore the ship further, a troop of robots appears and attacks. Superman manages to beat them, and Brainiac shows himself and apologizes for the attack, claiming it was his way of gauging Superman's powers. Brainiac goes on to explain that he too is from Krypton and claims that Superman's father Jor-El saved him from Krypton's explosion as well. Since Krypton's destruction, Brainiac had explored the universe and collected the knowledge of countless worlds, storing the information in glowing orbs. Superman is allowed to touch the orb containing Krypton's information. Brainiac had explored the bottles that collected, Superman sees the the Bottle City of Kandor and Brainiac invites him to join in his quest across the universe.

Later, Superman considers Brainiac's offer and decides to sleep on it. As he sleeps, more memories from the orb appear to him in the form of a dream. He sees Brainiac's betrayal of Jor-El and his abandonment of Krypton. He wakes up with newfound distrust of the computer.

Out at LexCorp, Luthor has his men set up an apparatus to trade information with Brainiac. Superman shows up and warns Luthor not to trust Brainiac, but Luthor is unconcerned, as he has set up several missile launchers to destroy Brainiac's ship if he gets out of line. Realizing that he won't get anywhere with Luthor, Superman goes to see Brainiac.

While Superman is in Brainiac's ship, he touches more of the orbs as the transaction begins. He discovers that Brainiac destroys every planet that he visits. When confronted, Brainiac is unsympathetic, claiming that only the knowledge of the planets was important, and that it becomes more valuable when fewer beings have it. Superman attacks Brainiac, but is restrained.

Meanwhile, Luthor discovers that Brainiac has betrayed him. The upload is no longer in his control and even the missiles have been disabled. Luthor mentions that with his computer systems, Brainiac can shut down every defense computer on the planet and thereby destroy it with relative ease.

Fortunately, Superman manages to break free of his bonds and manages to overcome Brainiac's defenses. He cuts off Brainiac's control of the upload and Luthor fires his missiles. However, Brainiac still manages to weaken Superman and destroys the missiles heading for his ship. In one last effort, Superman manages to damage Brainiac, cutting off his defenses and allowing the missiles to strike his ship. Brainiac requests that Superman leave him behind and save the orbs instead. Superman manages to get the Bottle City of Kandor, and the single orb before the ship is completely destroyed.

Elsewhere, Lobo was Finally back with Emperor Spooj, Lobo relaxes and finishes his story, saying why he was so late in delivering his bounty. Emperor Spooj claims that he knew Lobo would never let him down and reveals his displeasure with Gnaww and his gang for lying while turning to the gang who were being punished with cleanup duty along with Sqweek. However, he is curious about the fate of Superman and the animals. Lobo explains that Superman took the creatures and the ship to the Arctic Ocean and create his Fortress of Solitude so that they might still be preserved. Later, Luthor is both relieved and angry about what has just transpired and refuses to hear about some "alien code" that is left on his computers.

Up in the Arctic Ocean, Superman places the Bottle City of Kandor on the table, then he places the memory orb in a holding spot in the middle of a hollow iceberg. He leaves, but claims he'll be back, as the place has "possibilities".

Uncredited appearances

 * Annie
 * Pete Ross
 * Jenny

Development
On September 5, 1992 (The same date as Batman: The Animated Series Premiered, and During the production of Thumbelina, A Troll in Central Park and The Pebble and the Penguin.) the Superman animated film rights were purchased by Don Bluth and his partner Gary Goldman, and The production on the film began in Late-1992 or early-1993, while Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert and Bruce Campbell are the executive producers of this film, Tim Allen, Daphne Zuniga, Rob Paulsen, John P. McCann, Robert Tapert and Arnold Schwarzenegger were considered for the roles of Superman, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Perry White, Lex Luthor and Brainiac. Even though the production was completed before the post-production was started in late-1994, However, as of 1995 (The same date as the Don Bluth Entertainment studio was closed down after the release of their final feature, The Pebble and the Penguin) The films Post-production was shut down because it's 75% Completed, Then the film's release got cancelled and Warner Bros. purchased the animated Superman franchise from Don Bluth & Gary Goldman, while the 35mm reels will be given to the Warner Bros. library, later, Bruce Timm is gonna direct his own version of the film, with Jerry Rees (Director of The Brave Little Toaster) & Stefan Fjeldmark (The founder of A. Film ApS) as the Co-Director of this film. While He, Paul Dini, Alan Burnett, Thomas L. Wilhite are the producers of this film, and Jean MacCurdy & Stefan Fjeldmark are the executive-producers of this film.

Casting
Tim Daly, Dana Delany & Clancy Brown was considered for the roles of Superman, Lois Lane and Lex Luthor. Brad Garrett (Stand-up Comedian Actor) was interested for the roles of Bibbo Bibbowski & Lobo.

Animation
There are 2 hours 50 minutes 3 seconds of animation. To fit a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, Superman: The Last Son of Krypton was rendered at 1920 by 1440 pixels on Cineon File format, and was animated in 2D & 3D using Digital Creation's Brilliance 2.0, Corel PHOTO-PAINT 6, Softimage 3D 3.0-3.5, Toonz 4.0, Alias|Wavefront PowerAnimator 7.0-7.0.1, Animo, Pixibox Digital Ink & Paint & Piranha Animator.

Theatrical Release
The film was released in theaters on August 23, 1996. The movie will be preceded by Superior Duck, a Looney Tunes short film directed by Chuck Jones.

Home Media Release
Superman: The Last Son of Krypton (1996 film)/Home media

The film was released on VHS and Laserdisc on December 3, 1996, and re-released on VHS on March 11, 1997. The VHS release only featured the short film directed by Chuck Jones, Superior Duck. The laserdisc version includes the deleted scenes that was used from the international director's cut, Superior Duck (A Looney Tunes short film directed by Chuck Jones), The Making Of Superman: The Last Son of Krypton (45-minute featurette), Trailers and more, The VHS tape was reprinted and re-released through Warner Home Video's catalog promotions: The Warner Bros. 75th Anniversary Celebration (1998), Century Collection (1999), Century 2000 (2000) and Warner Spotlight (2001).

The film was also Released on DVD on March 26, 1997, and the International Director's Cut Version was released on VHS, DVD and Laserdisc on April 1, 1997

On August 28, 2001, the film was released as a 3-disc special-edition DVD set. Disc 1 includes theatrical version and all-new commentary with Directors Bruce Timm & Jerry Rees and Producers Paul Dini, Alan Burnet & Thomas L. Wilhite, Disc 2 includes international director's cut version and all-new commentary with stars Tim Daly, Dana Delany & Clancy Brown, and Disc 3 Includes all of the special features from laserdisc (Except for Deleted Scenes that was already on Laserdisc) plus It Includes Superior Duck (A Looney Tunes short film directed by Chuck Jones), The Making Of Superman: The Last Son of Krypton (45-minute featurette), Trailers, TV Spots, Still Production Galleries and more, Plus the specifications includes Separate Viewing Presentation Formats: Widescreen (1.85:1) and Full screen (1.33:1), the new Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX and THX Certified including THX Optimizer.

The film was Released on HD-DVD & Blu-Ray Disc for the first time on November 28, 2006 (The same date as Superman Returns was released on DVD, HD-DVD and Blu-Ray), The HD-DVD & Blu-Ray Version was the International Director's Cut Version, and it contains both widescreen and full screen formats, and it is the first ever digital presentation, and it includes special features from the 2001 3-disc edition DVD.. The film was also release on UMD Video for PSP on the same date. On June 7, 2011 (The same date as The Superman Motion Picture Anthology, 1978-2006 Released on Blu-Ray), Warner Bros. released another Superman: The Last Son of Krypton Blu-Ray to commemorate the film's 15th Anniversary and was Repackaged from 2006 Blu-Ray.

The film was released on 4k Ultra HD Blu-Ray on August 23, 2016, 4k version of the International Director's Cut contains the upscale of the original 4:3 Open Matte format.

The film became available on HBO Max on January 1, 2021, Including Theatrical version and Extras from the 2001 3-disc edition DVD.

Television Premiere
The film made its cable television premiere on TNT on June 18, 1998