All Things Superman: An Open Discussion - Part 8

[Micromind]

On a similar topic, if Superman is bleeding then he's obviously been cut/injured ......... so how quick should he heal? Should the cut seal itself up (Wolverine style) within a few seconds, as it was often shown in Smallville, or would he need to fly up into direct sunlight to achieve that - like in Superman Returns?

Or should his healing ability not be as powerful as previously shown, and it takes a while for him to recover from injuries?

In Superman Returns, he was poisoned and injured by a piece of Kryptonite, he flew up to get direct Sunlight to recharge his powers, not heal himself as we got to see him falling to Earth and then he was taken to the Hospital, where Doctors removed the Kryptonite piece from his back.

He got healed in the Hospital room within a matter of (say) 3 - 4 hours, that is an acceptable speed of recovery, not as fast as Wolverine and not slow as Humans (who would have required weeks to heal and recover.)

 

[KingKane88]

On a similar topic, if Superman is bleeding then he's obviously been cut/injured ......... so how quick should he heal? Should the cut seal itself up (Wolverine style) within a few seconds, as it was often shown in Smallville, or would he need to fly up into direct sunlight to achieve that - like in Superman Returns?

Or should his healing ability not be as powerful as previously shown, and it takes a while for him to recover from injuries?

Whilst part of me wants to see his powers at their peak - and thus have him heal fairly quickly - I don't want him to heal so quickly that his injuries really have no impact or effect on him.

I feel if his injuries heal too quickly there would be no reason for him to get hurt in the first place, no reason for Zod to be punching his brains in, etc, thus making any fight scene irrelevant. If Zod see's Sups healing too quickly, he should obviously be smarter then that and not even fight him, and use his brain to destroy Sups a lot like the tactics Sups used to destroy Zod in Sups 2, out-smarting him.


Gotta say though (and to contradict my above statement), that would be cool if Zod busted Sups up pretty good, then the Camera focused in on Sups face, and in slow-mo you see all the wound/cuts heal and close up hella smooth style, with a look of "WTF" on Zods face t:


.

 

[hopefuldreamer]

Realism would call for tad bit bloodier battle scenes as apposed to simply dirtied up faces.
.

I don't see what realism has to do with it...

All it takes is consistency in the level of his strength.

If they portray him as entirely invulnerable and impenetrable by any force, then it's perfectly realistic that Zod's punch won't make him bleed.

Or they can go the Smallville/STAS route and have super punches hurt/make him bleed.

 

[hopefuldreamer]

Gotta say though (and to contradict my above statement), that would be cool if Zod busted Sups up pretty good, then the Camera focused in on Sups face, and in slow-mo you see all the wound/cuts heal and close up hella smooth style, with a look of "WTF" on Zods face t:
.

Why would there be a WTF moment?

Whatever Superman can do Zod can do. So Zod would heal just as fast...

 

[elgaz]

In Superman Returns, he was poisoned and injured by a piece of Kryptonite, he flew up to get direct Sunlight to recharge his powers, not heal himself as we got to see him falling to Earth and then he was taken to the Hospital, where Doctors removed the Kryptonite piece from his back.

He got healed in the Hospital room within a matter of (say) 3 - 4 hours, that is an acceptable speed of recovery, not as fast as Wolverine and not slow as Humans (who would have required weeks to heal and recover.)

I worded that a little badly. I've seen SR an embarassing amount of times so I'm aware that he didn't heal himself by flying into the sunlight - not surprising given there was still kryptonite lodged in his body.

What I meant was, should his healing ability be accelerated when he places himself in direct sunlight in a maneouvre similar to that one scene in SR (and many similar scenes from other Superman lore) where he is above the clouds?

 

[Micromind]

Super punches hurting Supes (and Zod) to a certain degree would be okay, but then it would look ridiculous if they show Zod unhurt by a missile, there has to be a consistent approach.

Superman (or Zod) should not get hurt in the beginning but show some signs of getting injured (scratches, minor cuts) after a fight, and he should get wounded only after a major battle.

I also feel that he should take a few hours to heal, and not get healed immediately.

 

[Micromind]

What I meant was, should his healing ability be accelerated when he places himself in direct sunlight in a maneouvre similar to that one scene in SR (and many similar scenes from other Superman lore) where he is above the clouds?

Solar Recharge speeding up his healing process ? I think it was shown in One of the STAS episodes where Dr. Hamilton (also in the cancelled Burton Superman movie ?) where Supes wears a special solar suit to heal and recover his powers faster.

Maybe they will use this concept again.

 

[elgaz]

Super punches hurting Supes (and Zod) to a certain degree would be okay, but then it would look ridiculous if they show Zod unhurt by a missile, there has to be a consistent approach.

Superman (or Zod) should not get hurt in the beginning but show some signs of getting injured (scratches, minor cuts) after a fight, and he should get wounded only after a major battle.

I also feel that he should take a few hours to heal, and not get healed immediately.

Good point. I guess that all ties in with what power level they're at - which I posted a thread about a while back.

We don't know yet if we're getting a Superman/Zod who's totally unfazed by a nuclear bomb, or a Superman who can be mildly stunned by an average missile. Will be interesting to see what approach they take. I agree that consistency is very important though.

 

[hopefuldreamer]

Good point. I guess that all ties in with what power level they're at - which I posted a thread about a while back.

We don't know yet if we're getting a Superman/Zod who's totally unfazed by a nuclear bomb, or a Superman who can be mildly stunned by an average missile. Will be interesting to see what approach they take. I agree that consistency is very important though.

Personally I'd rather he be the kind of superhero who physically can take care of a nuclear bomb.

And if that means no blood from a super punch in order to be consistent about his impenetrability, that's fine by me.

Like I said, there are other ways to make him look dishevelled and 'beaten' during a fight with Zod. He can be worn down. His insides can be shaken. But he still does not bleed.

 

[elgaz]

Thinking about this too hard actually makes me appreciate how much of a task it is for anyone to craft a new Superman film.

How strong do we make him? How fast? How does he heal? Etc. If he's too powerful some people don't like it, and if he's not powerful enough, some people don't like it. And that's before you even get into the plot, casting, effects, etc.

It's a very delicate balancing act.

 

[KingKane88]

I don't see what realism has to do with it...

All it takes is consistency in the level of his strength.

If they portray him as entirely invulnerable and impenetrable by any force, then it's perfectly realistic that Zod's punch won't make him bleed.

Or they can go the Smallville/STAS route and have super punches hurt/make him bleed.

You have to think though, Zod has the same Powers as Sups, why wouldn't his punches make him bleed??? Think about it, if an ant (tiny baby buggy fruity ant) punched one us humans, would it make us bleed? NO! But if someone our own strength (another human) punches us, of-course we would! Thats my logic here.

Why would there be a WTF moment?

Whatever Superman can do Zod can do. So Zod would heal just as fast...

lol I know, I was waiting for someone to bust me out on this! Haha I was more thinking along the lines that Zod does not know his powers yet (as he just arrived from Krypton in a Ship), while with Sups he had his whole life to realize what he is capable of.


Whatever it is, just seeing it in my mind as I thought about it looked damn cool! t:



.

 

[hopefuldreamer]

Thinking about this too hard actually makes me appreciate how much of a task it is for anyone to craft a new Superman film.

How strong do we make him? How fast? How does he heal? Etc. If he's too powerful some people don't like it, and if he's not powerful enough, some people don't like it. And that's before you even get into the plot, casting, effects, etc.

It's a very delicate balancing act.

Very true.

You have to think though, Zod has the same Powers as Sups, why wouldn't his punches make him bleed??? Think about it, if an ant (tiny baby buggy fruity ant) punched one us humans, would it make us bleed? NO! But if someone our own strength (another human) punches us, of-course we would! Thats my logic here.

That seems fair actually

lol I know, I was waiting for someone to bust me out on this! Haha I was more thinking along the lines that Zod does not know his powers yet (as he just arrived from Krypton in a Ship), while with Sups he had his whole life to realize what he is capable of.


Whatever it is, just seeing it in my mind as I thought about it looked damn cool! t:
.

don't worry, I imagined it cool too, I'm just being picky

 

[BH/HHH]

a bit of blood would be good, like someone suggested even if Zod busts open Superman's lip and he's shocked that would be a great scene.

 

[Lily Adler]

I want two shocked Supes scenes. Zod actually hurting him and when he fails to save someone.

 

[Mindreaper21]

I really want to see Superman with a bloody lip. I want to see that he is not indestructable, but that he can feel pain and fight through it.

Also, if kryptonite is in this movie, I don't want it to make him look like he's having stomache cramps from eating a bad taco. I want to see physical changes as it's harming him and the agony in his eyes.

 

[Rodrigo90]

When I was writing last night, I put myself in Superman's head.

I thought about why he runs away to the artic and grows a beard

Just imagine having the stress and sensitivity that Superman has. If he goes to rescue people in Smallville during the tornado and fails, that would completely devastate him and it is enough for him to run away from the tragedies that require him to be a hero.

 

[McLarenMP4]

My take on it is that in order to be consistent, when Superman is battling with the likes of Zod because of the amount of punishment his body is taking it weakens his immune system to the point where his superpowers starts to weaken, the 1st of which is his invulnerability.
We assume that Superman stores his solar energy and when that starts to go then he needs to get a recharge.

That would explain why he can withstand the force of a nuclear blast and survive but battling with a superpowered being causes his solar reserves to deplete and eventually injure him, it would also explain why he doesn't heal immediately.

 

[McLarenMP4]

Duplicate post

 

[Rodrigo90]

If Superman bleeds, then he can hardly be called 'Man Of Steel' can he?

 

[hopefuldreamer]

I want two shocked Supes scenes. Zod actually hurting him and when he fails to save someone.

Same.

Understanding that he can't save everyone, dealing with the fact that sometimes he's going to get there too late, is IMO so important in understanding Superman emotionally. Why being Superman isn't EASY because he's 'too powerful' to get hurt... that being so powerful makes things even harder on a man like him because everybody expects more of him, and if he doesn't have people around him like Lois and his parents to remind him that he can't expect that much of himself, he'd be too ridden with guilt to do his job properly at all.

 

[X Knight]

I want two shocked Supes scenes. Zod actually hurting him and when he fails to save someone.

I want a scene where Superman is shocked to find out he has a chance of actually establishing a new film franchise.

 

[BH/HHH]

I want a scene where Superman is shocked to find out he has a chance of actually establishing a new film franchise.

Dude you don't know how much I'm laughing at this

 

[Rowsdower!]

I want a scene where Clark runs all over Metropolis looking for a phone booth where he can change into his costume. When he ultimately fails to find one, he flies to all over the world, ultimately finding a phone booth in London. Then he changes into Superman, flies back to Metropolis, and saves the day.

 

[Lily Adler]

I want a scene where Superman is shocked to find out he has a chance of actually establishing a new film franchise.

 

[That person]

I want a scene where Clark runs all over Metropolis looking for a phone booth where he can change into his costume. When he ultimately fails to find one, he flies to all over the world, ultimately finding a phone booth in London. Then he changes into Superman, flies back to Metropolis, and saves the day.