Superman's evolution stated in two clauses — the before and after of a person who tried hope and watched it fail catastrophically. The belief in control is not cynicism. It is the conclusion drawn from a specific lesson: hope did not save Lois, did not save Metropolis, was insufficient for the scale of what the world required. Control was what the world needed and hope could not provide it.

The game refuses to entirely endorse either position. Hope as Batman's principle keeps producing moral victories that do not save enough lives. Control as Superman's principle keeps saving lives at costs that accumulate into something that also cannot be called saving. Injustice 2 is the franchise asking whether the choice between them is as binary as both men believe.