Ursa (comics)

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Ursa is a supervillain that appeared as an enemy of Superman in the theatrical film "Superman II". She was a co-conspirator and accomplice of General Zod. Ursa was played by actress Sarah Douglas. The character made a brief appearance at the beginning of "Superman: The Movie".

[edit] Superman: The Movie

In the first Superman film, Ursa appears alongside General Zod and Non as they are being sentenced to the Phantom Zone by Superman's Kryptonian father, Jor-El. Jor-El describes her as "the woman Ursa, whose perversions and unreasoning hatred of all mankind has threated even the children of the planet Krypton." She, Zod, and Non are imprisoned in the Phantom Zone where they should remain for all eternity and are not heard from again in the first film.

[edit] Superman II

In the theatrical version of "Superman II", Ursa, Zod, and Non are freed from the Phantom Zone when a hydrogen bomb thrown into space by Superman detonates near the Zone, shattering it. The three villains encounter a group of astronauts on Earth's moon, where we see Ursa's hatred for males first-hand. She meets an astronaut, asking him what sort of a creature he is. When he replies that he is a man, Ursa rips the NASA emblem off his spacesuit, rupturing it and killing him.

Following the Lunar confrontation, Ursa and the villains make their way to Earth, which they believe is called "Houston", and proceed to lay waste to the small town of East Houston, Idaho. From there, they move to the White House, where the President of the United States (played by E.G. Marshall) surrenders to Zod. When Ursa, Zod, and Non finally meet Superman, a climactic battle sequence takes place in the streets of Metropolis, which ends when Ursa and Non throw a bus onto Superman and he flees the scene. Lex Luthor then tells the villains he knows where Superman has gone and suggests taking Lois Lane along because of her relationship with Superman. The villains are led to the Fortress of Solitude in the arctic, where Ursa and Non threated to tear Lois Lane in two if Superman does not kneel to General Zod. Superman attempts to get the villains into a molecule chamber that will remove their powers, but ends up being forced into it himself by Zod. Superman has tricked the villains, however, because the effects of the molecule chamber are seen throughout the fortress instead, while Superman remains protected inside the actual chamber. The powers of the villains have been removed and Ursa is last seen when Lois punches her, sending her falling into a crevice in the Fortress, never to be seen again.

In extended versions of the film that have screened on television, Ursa has a slightly expanded role. She is seen ripping a badge off a military officer's uniform at the White House while remarking how peculiar it is that men wear ribbons and jewelry on this planet. In one deleted scene, a boy in East Houston attempts to escape and get help, but Non throws a light from the top of a police car at him and his horse with super-strengh, killing the boy. A woman remarks "he was only a boy!" Ursa replies, "who will never become a man!" Also, in some extended versions, a powerless Ursa, Zod, and Non are seen being led into Artic Police vehicles following the final confrontation at the fortress. The theatrical version suggests that they are dead, as they are all seen falling into crevices inside the Fortress from which they never come out. But extended versions clearly show that they are alive.

[edit] The Character

Ursa is depicted in both films as a hater of any member of the male gender anywhere. The only exceptions to this appear to be Non and General Zod. In the first film, this aspect of her character is emphasized by Jor-El in his speech as he sentences them to the Phantom Zone. In the second film, as directed by Richard Lester, Ursa's male hating tendencies survive, but the reprise of Jor-El's speech emphasizes a different aspect of her character. In Lester's "Superman II", Jor-El says "Ursa, the only feeling you showed was for your vicious general. Your only wish, to rule at his side." Lester altered the character slightly, making her softer, and at least to a degree, in love with General Zod. In "Superman II" footage shot by Richard Donner, Ursa is more vicious and expresses her desire to kill as many men as she can in one scene from an extended TV version. In Donner's footage, Ursa does not necessarily appear to be in love with General Zod, but is with him because they share common goals.

Throughout "Superman II", Ursa collects symbols and badges as she encounters law enforcement and military officers on Earth, and she keeps these badges on her costume as symbols of those she has conquered or killed. She takes a NASA patch from an astronaut, a Sheriff's badge, a badge from a military officer's uniform at the White House, and several more badges and symbols that can be seen attached to her uniform as the film progresses.

The character of Ursa has never appeared in the Superman comic books, but she is almost undoubtedly based on the character of Faora from the Pre-Crisis Superman comics. Faora was a Phantom Zone villain who first appeared in Action Comics #471 (May, 1977). Like Ursa, she hated males and was in fact sentenced to the Phantom Zone for "wantonly causing the death of 23 Kryptonian men in her own male concentration camp."