Superman's power level

[Lead Cenobite]

Repair would be one way sure. Anything but a simple lift.
By team I mean Superman and earth/humans, and not necessarily other supers.
I despise Superman as the saviour of humanity, and IMO the ability to perform unlimited super-feats makes him so.

No offense, but you couldn't have enjoyed Superman much for the past oh.. 60 or 70 years because even Superman at his weakest in that time frame could lift a cruise ship by himself.

 

[The Batman]

Superman should be able to put other onscreen heroes to shame in terms of feats. People should leave the theater wishing they were THAT powerful. And Zod's in the film, so someone will be able to challenge Supes physically and mentally.

 

[JAK®]

Superman was created to explore the possibilities of a man with superpowers. that is what the character is about at his core. You may say that is shallow, but that's just 50 years of Marvel comics talking. Superman is a mixture of mythology and science fiction, not a soap opera.

Say what you will about the covers seen on Superdickery.com and juggling planets. He was a much more interesting character then than he is now. All-Star Superman proved that.

 

[storyteller]

I don't know, 1 million seems like a good number. Destroy planets power level and shoot energy waves like no ones business.

 

[Asgard]

I think my issue wih his power level is really not with his power level at all, at least not really. What I mean is I wouldnt mind Superman being able to do strength feats even more amazing than lifting an island in SR. Of course Id like limits on not moving entire planets and other ridiculously crazy feats.

My thing is that I dont want Superman to be portrayed as invincible and not only vulnerable to kryptonite. Obviously with Zod in the picture hes gonna hurt Superman physically and push him to his limits, but Id also like to see weapons created by the military cause him physical damage as well.

 

[afan]

No offense, but you couldn't have enjoyed Superman much for the past oh.. 60 or 70 years because even Superman at his weakest in that time frame could lift a cruise ship by himself.

None taken.....

For my money the super-feats(save one) in S:TM were perfect. They were impossible for any man to perform, but they were realistically carried out, and they often featured teamwork, i.e. Superman replaces the engine, but the pilots fly the plane.

The one caveat is rewriting earth's history. Tho it's something Superman has done before in his 70 some odd years, it's just too much. It's a feat that certainly puts his power level in the planet moving range, that many prefer, and yet it is the feat that is most open to ridicule.

 

[Asgard]

Superman turning back time is cool to look at but its too unbelievable for me.

 

[Lead Cenobite]

None taken.....

For my money the super-feats(save one) in S:TM were perfect. They were impossible for any man to perform, but they were realistically carried out, and they often featured teamwork, i.e. Superman replaces the engine, but the pilots fly the plane.

The one caveat is rewriting earth's history. Tho it's something Superman has done before in his 70 some odd years, it's just too much. It's a feat that certainly puts his power level in the planet moving range, that many prefer, and yet it is the feat that is most open to ridicule.

Even moving an asteroid doesn't quite put him at that level. For me that would be his absolute peak. Asteroids can range from something as relatively small as a city to as big as a continent.

 

[Lencho01]

Whatever power level he has, I just hope it's consistent and his powers aren't increased or decreased simply because the plot calls for it.

 

[ALP]

With the physics...gotta find a middle ground.

No one would want to see him lifting a sky scraper by its flag pole lol but he should also be able to lift a plane or ship without hurtling through it.

 

[Naite22]

I think my issue wih his power level is really not with his power level at all, at least not really. What I mean is I wouldnt mind Superman being able to do strength feats even more amazing than lifting an island in SR. Of course Id like limits on not moving entire planets and other ridiculously crazy feats.

My thing is that I dont want Superman to be portrayed as invincible and not only vulnerable to kryptonite. Obviously with Zod in the picture hes gonna hurt Superman physically and push him to his limits, but Id also like to see weapons created by the military cause him physical damage as well.

I agree on that... But if they're going more "realistic" with this movie (Snyder saying it's the most real movie in his career), then what superman does in Returns (lifting the continent) wouldn't work. lifting the weight is one thing - But controlling the freaken balance of the damn thing, is quite another! And that has very little to do with his strength. The continent SHOULD have tipped right off of his hands there. He couldn't possibly hold that steady with his small hands. Hold on to it maybe, but that would only result in pieces breaking off, having the rest of the mountain fall right back into the sea below! They should've had both of supermans arms drilled directly in to the damn thing! That would have made it look like he could control the balance.

Snyder has earlier talked realism of how Supes would pick up a car and throw it, for instance. So whatever amazing feats this superman will be doing in the movie, it should be consistant with the real life world around him. And I LOVE the sound of that!

 

[Kurosawa]

None taken.....

For my money the super-feats(save one) in S:TM were perfect. They were impossible for any man to perform, but they were realistically carried out, and they often featured teamwork, i.e. Superman replaces the engine, but the pilots fly the plane.

The one caveat is rewriting earth's history. Tho it's something Superman has done before in his 70 some odd years, it's just too much. It's a feat that certainly puts his power level in the planet moving range, that many prefer, and yet it is the feat that is most open to ridicule.

In the classic comics, Superman could go into the past but he couldn't change history. They stuck pretty close to the typically accepted rules of time-travel from that period-that anything Superman would do in the past was actually already part of history, that he couldn't exist except as a phantom if he traveled to a time when he was already alive, etc. So the ending of STM makes no sense with the rules of the Superman comics of the time-something I noticed the first time I saw it.

 

[Lead Cenobite]

What about that story where he chases that creature in space and ends up time travelling back to Krypton? From what I remember, he was more than a phantom then. He even got into a relationship with a movie star and became friends with Jor-El.

 

[KrypJonian]

I'd be interested in hearing people's thoughts on what Superman's power level should be in this new film.

As we all know, his power levels have differed vastly over the years, in all types of media. Silver-age Superman in some comics could move a planet, yet some other versions of Superman (Superman Returns for example) had him straining to control the weight of an aeroplane. There's a vast difference there.

But of course, that's just referencing raw strength. What about his other abilities?

• How fast can he fly? In some versions he can surpass light speed, in others it's more like the speed of sound.
• How powerful is his heat vision and super breath?
• Can he survive in space? In some versions he can, in others he needed a suit for deep space travel.
• How resistant is his body to injury? I've seen him survive a nuclear explosion unscathed in one comic, only for him to be stunned by a rocket from a helicopter in another.

Personally, I'd like to see a very powerful Superman. Whilst I'm all for 'humanising' him and not making him so powerful we can't relate ............. he is Superman after all; we expect him to be like a God, so why not take it to an extreme. He is the most iconic superhero of all, and widely revered as the most powerful. He can barely feel rounds of bullets pinging off his chest, so should a rocket be that much more damaging?

We also have a director in Zack Snyder who has a great flair for visual extravagance, and IMO that goes hand in hand with showcasing amazing powers.

I think Superman SHOULD be like a god... If he showed up in less civilized times, he would be seen as a god...

He shouldn't be able to travel through time with his speed, but he should be, by far, the fastest thing to ever exist...

He should have no trouble lifting planes or anything else. But we'd have to wait til a practical situation for him to move a planet (or a moon) would present itself, and then we'd see how powerful he is...

His heat vision should be powerful enough to melt anything known to man... otherwise, what's the point?

Freeze breath, I don't know and don't really care... I'd be satisfied with it being powerful winds and not arctic breath...

Space survival? It doesn't make sense for him to have any breathing in space abilities, but he should be able to hold it for longer, otherwise he could just drown with some kryptonite... So I imagine he would need some apparatus for space travel...

 

[JAK®]

Superman should be;

Faster than a speeding bullet.

More powerful than a locomotive.

And able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

 

[Godzilla2014]

Whatever power level he has, I just hope it's consistent and his powers aren't increased or decreased simply because the plot calls for it.

Agreed. I find that so annoying in films when stuff changes arbitrarily for the sake of the plot.

 

[afan]

In the classic comics, Superman could go into the past but he couldn't change history. They stuck pretty close to the typically accepted rules of time-travel from that period-that anything Superman would do in the past was actually already part of history, that he couldn't exist except as a phantom if he traveled to a time when he was already alive, etc. So the ending of STM makes no sense with the rules of the Superman comics of the time-something I noticed the first time I saw it.

True, but it seems like a very fine line......to me.
In his travels back in time he interfered, he took action, he made a difference.....coincidentally the action assisted and secured written history.....however in the rules of time travel any difference no matter how small or well intentioned can rewrite history. Not sure if he couldn't change history or that his inteference fortunately assisted history.

 

[TruerToTheCore]

Time travel is a funny story device, but virtually every story that uses it has some flaws in its own logic. In "Star Trek", for example, every time travel story seems to have its own set of rules!

In his travels back in time he interfered, he took action, he made a difference.....coincidentally the action assisted and secured written history.....however in the rules of time travel any difference no matter how small or well intentioned can rewrite history. Not sure if he couldn't change history or that his inteference fortunately assisted history.

It's pretty much the "destiny" kind of approach to the topic, basically everything has been written already and Superman has always been there. Which is actually problematic. Superman could use his powers in every story to travel back, just look what has happened and solve the case, which could result to Superman existing virtually everywhere and every time...

 

[afan]

Time travel is a funny story device, but virtually every story that uses it has some flaws in its own logic. In "Star Trek", for example, every time travel story seems to have its own set of rules!

Yup.

Straying from topic,..... but one of my favorite time travel hooks was in a film titled "Millenium".
It involved time travelers from an apocalyptic Earth future identifying past plane crashes in which there were no surviviors. They would board the plane, put all the passengers to sleep, replace them with clones, and transport the originals to the future to restock humanity. Since no one survived the crash removing them from the past had no effect on history.

 

[misjuevos]

since superman is fighting zod won't zod be weaker than superman? superman has been on earth soaking up the sun's rays for a long time. zod would have just came to earth and barely got a dose of yellow sun power. sort of like how in kingdom come superman is even stronger when he is older since he has been absorbing the solar energy his whole life.

 

[storyteller]

Actually comics wise it appears superman is like a sponge. He soaks up the rays until he's full. Since he uses his powers a lot he recharges a lot. So time on earth doesn't matter so much as age, body size, proximity to the sun. So Superman and Zod are equal in terms of raw power.

 

[Siby]

How does Superman absorb the sun's rays? Is it through exposed skin? Does wearing human clothes or his costume block/hinder the absorption?

I'm new to this whole "power through sun absorption" idea. I always thought he had powers because he was an alien with innate physiologic abilities.

 

[Godzilla2014]

How does Superman absorb the sun's rays? Is it through exposed skin? Does wearing human clothes or his costume block/hinder the absorption?

I'm new to this whole "power through sun absorption" idea. I always thought he had powers because he was an alien with innate physiologic abilities.

I have always thought that Superman could do it because his cells (at least the skin cells) contain a substance like chlorophyll that allows his skin to photosynthesize, like a plant.

 

[Mace Bloodstone]

Superman should be;

Faster than a speeding bullet.

More powerful than a locomotive.

And able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

That's more like figurative language. That's what people think of him but not necessarily something he can really do.

 

[Godzilla2014]

That's more like figurative language. That's what people think of him but not necessarily something he can really do.

I agree.

Here's the problem: None of this is specific.

Superman should be;

Faster than a speeding bullet.

What kind of bullet? Fired out of what length of barrel? Speeding bullet, as opposed to lardass bullets which I have never heard of (and I study guns)? How much faster?

More powerful than a locomotive.

What kind of locomotive? What does powerful mean? Able to pull greater loads? How much more powerful?

And able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

How high must a building be to be considered a "tall building" in this context? What about length of the jump? What about a tall, long building? How much higher? How much longer?

This is why that these things are pretty much useless in expressing Superman's level of power, unless you're talking about Superman in his really early days. If you're talking about modern Superman, then not a single one of these analogies is worth mentioning. Instead of speeding bullet, you'd be talking relativistic speeds. Instead of a locomotive, you'd be talking freighter ships. Instead of leaping tall buildings, he would just fly over the damn thing.
It's kind of like saying that I am,
"Faster than a speeding snail!
More powerful than a house cat!
Able to leap tall subway turnstiles in a single bound!"