Man of Steel/Nightmare Fuel

For Krypton to rise... Earth must fall.

This film is by far the darkest Superman origin story yet. And with good reason.

• Krypton's destruction. While inevitable and of no surprise to any viewer even remotely familiar, is utterly horrific. The entire planet self-implodes with mass eruptions consuming cities and wildlife in an instant. And we're even treated to Lara getting immolated up close with no cut away.
  • Worse still, it was caused by Kryptonians mining their planet's core in a desperate attempt to gather resources. They doomed themselves to extinction and Jor-El was the only one who realized it. He tried to convince the council to evacuate but their free will prevented them from seeing reason and they refused.
• Zod's threatening speech to Lara, moments before he is sent into the Phantom Zone. His cold hateful stare combined with his unkempt rage demonstrates how far he has fallen. To think that he was once a well-respected leader and a good friend of Jor-El, whom he murdered out of spite. Now he intends to hunt down his infant son.

"You think your son is safe? I will find him. I will find him, Lara. I WILL FIND HIM!!!"

—Zod to Lara

• The Phantom Zone is a Fate Worse Than Death. It exists in a subspace dimension where time passes much slower. It is meant for the worst kinds of criminals. If it wasn't bad enough, Zod and his worshipers are forced into cryocapsules and the process looks painful to say the least.

"You won't kill us yourselves, but you'll damn us to a black hole for ETERNITY!"

—Zod to the Council

• Clark experiencing X-Ray vision for the first time. For one, he's just a kid and has no idea what is happening. One moment his vision is normal and the next, everything becomes translucent including his own body, everyone around looking like living corpses. Especially when he sees his teacher's heart beating.
• The message from General Zod transmitted to Earth. It is rather terrifying as every telecommunications system is immediately overridden by an outside signal before this loud screeching noise. It's a hell of a way for humanity to discover that they are not alone in the universe.
  • General Zod's appearance over the screens. His form blurs in and out of the static, creating the appearance of this EldritchAbomination. Indeed the armour of the Kryptonians is extremely intimidating even in plain view.