All Things Superman: An Open Discussion - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Part 30

[Dr.]

Care to explain? I've always been curious about the "mirror" explanation; is it impossible because the heat-vision would melt the mirror?

That’s what I figure. By the “internal rules” of the mythos, Supes’ hair can withstand fire, lava, extreme air friction and - depending on the iteration - a nuclear explosion or a trip to the Sun. So heat vision must be hotter still in order to cut his hair. But if it is, the beams would destroy any mirror.

My theory: Jor-El must have packed some Kryptonian Gillette razors into Kal-El’s spaceship.

 

[Kal-El.9859]

Care to explain? I've always been curious about the "mirror" explanation; is it impossible because the heat-vision would melt the mirror?

Well in Superman 3 when he did use his heat vision on the mirror in the bar it melted it. But then when Zod was using his heat vision on Superman in Superman II, Superman took a sideview mirror off a truck to reflect the beams back at Zod. So it's never really been portrayed consistent in the movies....this is a chance to get it right

 

[Kal-El.9859]

That’s what I figure. By the “internal rules” of the mythos, Supes’ hair can withstand fire, lava, extreme air friction and - depending on the iteration - a nuclear explosion or a trip to the Sun. So heat vision must be hotter still in order to cut his hair. But if it is, the beams would destroy any mirror.

My theory: Jor-El must have packed some Kryptonian Gillette razors into Kal-El’s spaceship.

I really wish we could thumbs up posts without having to quote them and do....

 

[Naite22]

Yeah I agree, they need to focus the next trailer on the action but I think they will.

They definitely need to show some awesome action in the next trailer, you are so right. Also, the action needs to be something we usually don't see in other superhero films. For instance, the action seen in the newest Iron Man 3 trailer looks cool - but seen like a million times before. I Wish and PRAY that this next MOS trailer will truly show images that quite frankly just hasn't been seen within a superhero film before. It's that simple! They need to blow this one out of the water, and really make an impression that screams "SUUUUPERMAN! - this film will kick ass all over every other superhero film in terms of action!" (at least). Yeah, I wanna see that...

That being said, I also wish to hear some great solid dialogue and some intense drama unfold in this next trailer.

Where the first theatrical trailer was very slow moving, I wish this next one to be full of adrenaline!

 

[Simo]

I really like that there are Kryptonian weapons. Jor-El's rifle and Faora's dagger have me irrationally excited.

Don't forget Zod's weapons too!

So how about those posters...

 

[Kal-El.9859]

They need to market this movie to where the general public will get excited....not just us comic book fans and Superman fans. The majority of us are going to go see it regardless. The people they obviously need to worry about are the non-fans....as we have all been saying here for a very long time...

 

[Cassandra Cain]

They need to market this movie to where the general public will get excited...not just us comic book fans and Superman fans.

That's WB for ya.

 

[ChickenScratch]

Well in Superman 3 when he did use his heat vision on the mirror in the bar it melted it. But then when Zod was using his heat vision on Superman in Superman II, Superman took a sideview mirror off a truck to reflect the beams back at Zod. So it's never really been portrayed consistent in the movies....this is a chance to get it right

I always thought of it as different beams at different intensity and frequency depending on how he wishes to use it. See in SR when he fires a spread to stop falling glass or a tight more intense beam. Kal has full controle from years of work.

 

[Kal-El.9859]

I always thought of it as different beams at different intensity and frequency depending on how he wishes to use it. See in SR when he fires a spread to stop falling glass or a tight more intense beam. Kal has full controle from years of work.

True, but don't you think Zod would have used a higher intensity for his beam as well as Drunk Superman in Superman III?? If Zod was using his heat vision as a weapon, which he was, it should have melted the mirror...not bounce back, if you're using the intensity route

 

[Simo]

Geoff Boucher‏ from Entertainment Weekly and formerly Hero Complex is taking a quick survey it seems via Twitter...

You get a magic movie ticket for private screening tonight of Star Trek , Man of Steel or Iron Man 3. Which do you choose?

Quick count and MOS has more picks with Star Trek in second.

 

[McLarenMP4]

Here's the answer to your laser question.

A strong laser beam shot at a mirror, what will happen- the beam reflects back or the mirror burns?
- Anonymous
A:
I guess you mean a very powerful laser. The answer depends on how perfect the mirror is. If it absorbs a little bit of the light, it can start to degrade, start absorbing more light, then get fried. On the other hand, every ordinary laser has some mirrors as intrinsic parts, and they obviously do not routinely get fried. It all depends on how much absorption occurs at the mirror and how intense the laser beam is.

Mike W.

One experiment I worked on as a graduate student used a laser and some mirrors which were kept in a room which was not very well sealed from the outside. Ants crawled in and one crawled on one of the mirrors and cooked. This set off the process Mike describes. We had to keep spare mirrors around for these cases. I suppose just plain accumulation of dust can have the same effect, which is one reason why people in laser labs like to keep the air clean.

Tom

http://van.physics.illinois.edu/qa/listing.php?id=1982

 

[HankTheTurtle]

But it's not "laser vision" it's "heat vision".

 

[Kal-El.9859]

But it's not "laser vision" it's "heat vision".

oh people and their "laser vision"

 

[C. Lee]

Well in Superman 3 when he did use his heat vision on the mirror in the bar it melted it. But then when Zod was using his heat vision on Superman in Superman II, Superman took a sideview mirror off a truck to reflect the beams back at Zod. So it's never really been portrayed consistent in the movies....this is a chance to get it right

I believe that with lasers, you have to hit the mirror at the right angle. One way melts it, one reflects off of it.

 

[Kal-El.9859]

I believe that with lasers, you have to hit the mirror at the right angle. One way melts it, one reflects off of it.

I think that may be true, but as Hank just said....it's heat, not lasers. So who knows

 

[McLarenMP4]

It's laser and there's an easy way to prove it. Why is the colour always red regardless of refraction or intensity? Because it's a laser.
If you watch a gas flame you can see the different level of heat from the bottom of the flame where it's cooler and yellow, then it progresses through the different levels of colour in the visible spectrum which ends with us visually as white heat. If it were heat vision you would see him going through different colours while varying the intensity of the heat.
With lasers it's different because it's a single colour regardless of refraction or intensity, a red laser won't become a white laser if it increases intensity.
His heat vision is just a pulsed low intensity beam from his laser vision.

 

[ThePhantasm]

They did the explicitly "heat" vision thing in Superman Returns and it just wasn't as cool. So yeah, I see heat vision and laser vision as essentially the same thing, given how it has been depicted in the comics.

 

[ThePowerCosmic]

I've never liked that heatwave look for his heat vision.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

It is that way in the comic to give a visual cue. It is not laser vision, it is indeed heat vision.

 

[ThePhantasm]

It is that way in the comic to give a visual cue. It is not laser vision, it is indeed heat vision.

Yeah, I know, a laser beam is easier to depict than "heat" vision. But that has translated over to the movies too. People expect Supes to be firing red hot lasers from his eyes, not scientifically accurate heat waves.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Yeah, I know, a laser beam is easier to depict than "heat" vision. But that has translated over to the movies too. People expect Supes to be firing red hot lasers from his eyes, not scientifically accurate heat waves.

Oh, I agree. I'd much prefer the "Cyclops effect". Just pointing out why it looks like that.

 

[Kal-El.9859]

It's laser and there's an easy way to prove it. Why is the colour always red regardless of refraction or intensity? Because it's a laser.
If you watch a gas flame you can see the different level of heat from the bottom of the flame where it's cooler and yellow, then it progresses through the different levels of colour in the visible spectrum which ends with us visually as white heat. If it were heat vision you would see him going through different colours while varying the intensity of the heat.
With lasers it's different because it's a single colour regardless of refraction or intensity, a red laser won't become a white laser if it increases intensity.
His heat vision is just a pulsed low intensity beam from his laser vision.

They made it ready so it would be easier to show up. If you look at it in Smallville and Superman Returns it's heat vision. They have never called it "laser vision" in the comics....if they have, point it out to me....

 

[Poni_Boy]

I always liked how Cyclops' optic blasts were ridiculously large and amorphous. That single laser beam thing doesn't really portray how powerful the heat vision is. I can respect what they went for in SR but, just no. If he blasts Zod or wheoever with a shot like Cyc in X-3 I'd be a happy camper.

 

[McLarenMP4]

They made it ready so it would be easier to show up. If you look at it in Smallville and Superman Returns it's heat vision. They have never called it "laser vision" in the comics....if they have, point it out to me....

They may call it heat vision because it's easier to explain that he stores solar energy from the sun and emits it from his eyes as heat & not that his eyeballs have a series of intricate mirrors.
But can you recall in the comics whether the colour of his beams changed when the intensity increased or did it remain red regardless?
I'm not well versed on the comic series but from the TV & nearly all visual media it's been laser vision regardless of what they call it. It doesn't make sense from a scientific standpoint to be heat if it stays red regardless of intensity.

 

[ThePhantasm]

I personally don't care what they call it so long as it is badass.