Superman's power level

[obin_gam]

Originally Posted by Llama_Shepherd

He doesn't get his strength from his muscles. He gets it from the sun. The muscle is just a part of his physiology.

Ah, never knew that, thanks!

[ThePowerCosmic]

I want to see Superman and Zod having a heat-vision standoff against each other.

[VM1138]

Originally Posted by afan

I want a powerful Superman, but not an all powerful Superman. As Snyder hinted I am hoping for a physical Superman, physical meaning there are believable limits.....i.e.... He cannot be in Metropolis one moment and then in an instant be in Tokyo. He is very familiar in Metropolis and surrounding areas, but a bit of a legend in Tokyo.


Global exploits are possible but they should coincide with travel as Clark on assignment. He can respond globally where needed, but again where he is needed there is also a story worthy of Clark's attention also.

More powerful than a locomotive....
Faster than a speeding bullet......

Are fine with me as "more" and "faster" are not descriptively limiting, and they are familiar physical manifestations to me, but he is not "more powerful" or "faster" to the ludicrous (continent lifting, planet moving , light speeding, time traveling)extreme.

He needs to breath, he needs to eat. Survival unaided in the vaccum of space is possible for a time, as long as he can hold his breath, but for prolonged periods he needs artificial means, same for undersea forays.

It's not one power that makes him Superman. It's the combination of his powers. Strength actually plays a minor role in carrying planes etc. It has more to do with the propulsive force of his flight ability, and his invulnerability, preventing his propulsive force from squashing him against the structure he is moving.

...And...... despite Superman's presence in the world.....people die..... due to accidents, natural disasters, criminal activity, wars etc...... even in Metropolis. There is only so much a man can do....even a Superman!

Thank you. I don't understand why people would want to see unlimited power. Villains would never be threatening then. And even if they were of equal power, there's just no fun watching two beings push planets at each other, etc. It's got to be grounded for us to relate to the action.

Thus, Superman needs limits. I don't buy the "he's just holding back" because that means no villain could ever pose any kind of challenge to him. Why would he hold back if the world were in genuine jeopardy?

[metaphysician]

IMO, he should definitely be powered down from the Donner films, as they should try to put the modern Superman on screen, not the silver age Superman. So, strong and fast and tough, but no throwing continents into deep space, or traveling through time by exceeding lightspeed, or ignoring nukes as an irrelevancy.

"Like a terrifying mix of Hulk and Iron Man" wouldn't be a bad benchmark. The speed is the real sticking point: the modern audience *is* going to ask, if he's fast enough to reassemble a collapsing bridge in midair or whatnot, why he ever gets bothered by anyone of normal human speed range.

[The Shield]

[The Guard]

I definitely don't want to see a Superman with unlimited power, but I would not mind seeing a Superman who is capable of one time feats of immense power, a la moving planets, etc. Sort of a nod to his Golden and Silver Age power levels.

SUPERMAN RETURNS actually handled that aspect fairly well.

[Superman Prime]

Originally Posted by ThePowerCosmic

I want to see Superman and Zod having a heat-vision standoff against each other.

Standing face-to-face like gunslingers. And then they both blast away with heat vision and walk slowly toward one another, with the energy at the center growing more unstable and intense the closer they get.

[ThePowerCosmic]

Originally Posted by Superman Prime

Standing face-to-face like gunslingers. And then they both blast away with heat vision and walk slowly toward one another, with the energy at the center growing more unstable and intense the closer they get.

Hell yes, they could even be hovering in the air as they have the standoff.

[DeadPresident29]

They can make him as powerful as they want, and then just give Zod an extra 10% to make sure Supes gets pushed to the limit, get him pissed off, and then all hell breaks loose.

[MarvelKnight]

Frankly I hope he can breathe in space.. It's funny how sometimes in the Animated Series he had his space suit and then in certain episodes such as JLU when Luthor takes over the Binary Fusion cannon he can speed down without a suit and be fine...

Assuming they keep this superman for an extended period of time I wouldn't mind seeing a natural progression of his powers enhancing and maturing as he is Superman longer and longer throughout various movies..

[fanboiii]

Originally Posted by Superman Prime

Standing face-to-face like gunslingers. And then they both blast away with heat vision and walk slowly toward one another, with the energy at the center growing more unstable and intense the closer they get.

Too much Dragonball Z.

Isn't Superman's heat vision basically a laser? So they would just overlap.

It's not concussive like Cyclop's beam.

[Superman Prime]

Originally Posted by fanboiii

Too much Dragonball Z.

Isn't Superman's heat vision basically a laser? So they would just overlap.

It's not concussive like Cyclop's beam.

Have fun reading too much into it.

[The Guard]

I would imagine with enough force behind it, a heat vision beam could be as concussive as anything else.

[Superman Prime]

DBZ is actually a good comparison. Their energy attacks were usually a bizarre combo of laser/concussive/explosive, all of them heat-based.

[UaalaDan]

It's not that he breathes on space. He holds his breath. Superman in TAS was way too weak. I mean, a machine gun could cause him problems...

[DarthAlani]

Superman does not even need to breathe in some versions.

[TheWatcher]

I like it that way.

[DarthSkywalker]

Originally Posted by Superman Prime

DBZ is actually a good comparison. Their energy attacks were usually a bizarre combo of laser/concussive/explosive, all of them heat-based.

Not really. Basically, most DBZ are life energy being weaponized. It is like two wills battling.

[LordofhouseEl]

Originally Posted by The Shield

I love Superman like this its so terrifying and yet all so powerful, I think they did a great job of a rage of a God in Superman vs the Elite after he came back and cut loss on them. He was terrifying and yet just a being of pure power and terror. The elite thought they were in his league until that very moment.

[DeadPresident29]

^^ That. It'll be annoying if he's a boy scout.

[Superman Prime]

Originally Posted by DarthSkywalker

Not really. Basically, most DBZ are life energy being weaponized. It is like two wills battling.

I don't understand how this is supposed to contradict what I said.

[Snoo]

Just the other day I've read yet another all-too-familiar fan comment on some website about Superman's too Godly powers. The person was more of a casual viewer than a fan. They said: "I like Superman but he has too many powers." This surprised me because usually such comments go more along the lines of "I don't like Superman because he has too many powers", then they continue to add "he's a lame boring simpleton, too", etc etc. But here was a person who liked him as a character already, they just found him to be too powerful.

Which makes me wonder if the general audience and the casual fans would feel drawn to Superman more if he was less powerful/if he struggled with his powers but otherwise had the same personality. Could they relate to a depowered version more even if he was the same ol' goody-goody "Boyscout" in terms of character? Basically, if it isn't his powers, is it Superman's too happy and sunny personality people simply can't stomach in this day and age? Or is it both? What's the bigger issue? It's hard to tell...

I've always wondered if these people kind of, I don't know, resented him because they felt he had it "too easy" and could do almost anything with his powers. That would imply the powers are the bigger issue and not his personality. But when you've got the powers AND the cheerful personality on top of that, the latter's probably too much for the viewers/readers and they can't take it. "Not only I can't relate to him as a person because he doesn't struggle with anything, he's even SMILING ABOUT IT!" Sigh.

So, what would you rather have if you had to choose between powers and personality? Would you rather have a depowered Superman with his character intact or would you darken his character and make him broodier and even more distant around people but have him be extremely powerful? Me, I'd take the less powerful Superman any day because I love him most for who he is as a person.

[Superman Prime]

Originally Posted by Snoo

Which makes me wonder if the general audience and the casual fans would feel drawn to Superman more if he was less powerful/if he struggled with his powers but otherwise had the same personality. Could they relate to a depowered version more even if he was the same ol' goody-goody "Boyscout" in terms of character? Basically, if it isn't his powers, is it Superman's too happy and sunny personality people simply can't stomach in this day and age? Or is it both? What's the bigger issue? It's hard to tell...

These questions were already answered in large part some 16 years ago with the Byrne reboot. In the long run, de-powering Superman didn't help.

Look at "All Star Superman". That's a highly praised story by fans and non-fans alike, and it has a version of the character whose powers are almost akin to those from the Silver Age.

I've always wondered if these people kind of, I don't know, resented him because they felt he had it "too easy" and could do almost anything with his powers. That would imply the powers are the bigger issue and not his personality. But when you've got the powers AND the cheerful personality on top of that, the latter's probably too much for the viewers/readers and they can't take it. "Not only I can't relate to him as a person because he doesn't struggle with anything, he's even SMILING ABOUT IT!" Sigh.

I think some people dislike the character because our society is in a phase of "dark and gritty" (similar to how cinema was prior to the release of Star Wars in the 70's) Look at the success of CSI and its spin-offs, and whatever other crime dramas are floating around out there.

It's more like a phase of fickle entertainment than anything inherently wrong with the character of Superman.

[The Guard]

Its more about people not possessing the imagination to see how a character with powers that great could be tested.

[Superman Prime]

It's ironic. People say Superman's powers don't allow him to be challenged. But the fact is, Superman's powers force writers into a challenge.

Whereas with Batman... you can basically inter-change plot elements and characters (like the Family Guy writing team), and come up with something people will like because it's Batman. It's like a game of mad libs.