In the
Soviet Union during the year 1946, a young boy is chased by a gang of bullies. A young girl,
Svetlana, defends him by chasing them away. He reveals to her that he was not scared for his own safety, but that of the bullies before demonstrating superhuman strength and the ability to fly. Svetlana tells the boy he can use his powers to help the country should he so choose.
A decade later, in the year 1955, the Soviet Union releases a propaganda film of an alien superhuman under the command of
Joseph Stalin, whom the American media dubs the "Soviet
Superman".
United States
President Eisenhower tasks
Lex Luthor to develop a countermeasure against him. Meanwhile, Superman prevents a satellite from crashing into Metropolis, which leads to Lex's wife
Lois Lane securing an interview with him.
She shows him a top secret document that leads Superman to a secret
gulag (that was shielded by lead) where he finds a dying Svetlana, who was imprisoned there because she knew his real identity.
Enraged, Superman confronts Stalin and kills him. As a result, Superman becomes the new leader of the Soviet Union, pledging to use his powers for good and to spread the influence of the Soviet state.
Superman advances communist ideals across the world, ending the
Korean War and demolishing the
Berlin Wall, which the Western powers have built to deter him. He also forges an alliance and close friendship with
Princess Diana / Wonder Woman of
Themyscira.
Meanwhile, Luthor unveils a clone of Superman, dubbed "
Superior Man", made from harvesting Superman's cells from the crashed satellite and remotely powered with an orb of energy before sending it out to confront Superman. The two superhumans battle until Luthor overloads the clone with excess energy, causing it to degenerate as the fight progresses until it finally collapses and dissolves. Superman is left appalled by Luthor's actions.
In 1967, Superman stops an invasion by the alien cyborg
Brainiac, reprogramming him to become his advisor, and uses his technology to advance the countries of the
Warsaw Pact, as well as
lobotomize dissidents. However, he is unable to prevent Brainiac from shrinking the city of
Stalingrad before defeating him.
Superman is also forced to deal with the terrorist
Batman, a survivor of the secret gulag who blames Superman for his family's death. Batman kidnaps Wonder Woman and binds her with the
Lasso of Truth to lead Superman into a trap, using lamps that simulate
Krypton's red sun to neutralize his powers. Batman beats Superman and leaves him to die until Wonder Woman breaks free and destroys the lamps' power source, restoring Superman's powers. When Superman threatens to imprison him, Batman chooses to commit suicide. Drained from freeing herself, Wonder Woman leaves Superman, disillusioned by man's brutality.
In the United States, Luthor becomes president and ushers in a new age of prosperity that threatens Soviet dominance. Finding
Abin Sur's crashed spaceship and body, Luthor tasks Colonel
Hal Jordan with uncovering the immense power of the
green ring found on the alien's body, leading to the formation of the
Green Lantern Corps.
In 1983, Jordan leads an attack against Superman, which is briefly halted by Wonder Woman, who tries one last time to end the conflict before announcing that Themyscira will be closed to all men forever.
With Brainiac's encouragement, Superman sets out to confront Luthor at the White House, only to find Lois with the
bottled city of Stalingrad. Superman tells her that for years he has tried and failed to reverse the miniaturization of the city, but Brainiac reveals that the technology has always been available to him; he just chose not to mention it, and Superman gave him no order to reverse the process.
Realizing the error of his ways, Superman stands down, but Brainiac destroys the shrunken city and proceeds with the attack, revealing that the reprogramming failed and he had been using Superman to conquer the planet for himself.
Superman and Luthor battle Brainiac and destroy him, but his ship is set to self-destruct upon his defeat. Superman flies the ship out into deep space, apparently dying in the explosion.
At a ceremony in front of the Capitol Building,
a disguised Superman watches from the crowd as Luthor announces his resignation from his presidency in order to spend more time with Lois, handing over the country to Vice-President
James Olsen. Lois shares a brief glimpse with Superman before he disappears into the crowd.
