Could someone explain about Superman please?

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

I don't read his comics but have watched the movies, Smallville and know a little about him as a result. I'm no expert on the lore and realise that there are many interpretations of the character and his story. What I'm curious about is what's the deal with Kryptonite?

In Smallville, it made Clark sick/weak/vulnerable/powerless. In the movies, from what I understand, coming into contact (or simply being around) Kryptonite made him effectively "human", though not sick. As though he were on Krypton, under a red sun instead of Earth's yellow Sun that gives him his powers. So if he is "human", and therefore vulnerable/mortal, how come he didn't die in Superman Returns? At the end, he had a piece of Kryptonite under his skin and plummted to Earth at terminal velocity. Surely without his powers he would have been a red (and blue?)splat on the ground. With them, he wouldn't have fallen like that.

Is he immortal, or just invulnerable? I can't understand that part. If he's immortal, how did he age to be a 30-something man, instead of stopping aging in his teens, or whenever? What are the other facts about him a non-fanboy wouldn't know?

 

[Eleuthera]

The "scientific" explanation (in the comics) is that the Kryptonite radiation drives out the solar radiation from his cells, draining him from his powers and giving him radiation sickness (of sorts).

Red solar radiation does the same (without the sickness), but much quicker.

Basically, his cells take in (solar) radiation, very efficiently for red solar (driving out the yellow), pretty efficiently for yellow, and a bit for kryptonite. So he usually doesn't immediately lose his powers when K-radiation hits him, but he will over time, he does immediately get "severe radiation sickness".

Several different colours of K have some different effects as well, but I'm not sure what the current set-ups are, I haven't collected/read Superman comics in about 5 years.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

He's not immortal but he will live longer than most humans due to be extra tough. Most of the reason we die is because our organs degrade. Not so with Supes.

As far as I understand Kryptonite is part of Krypton. It contains radiation from a red sun. That's not good for superman as his powers depend on our yellow sun. If he was on Krypton he would be just like a normal guy. The yellow sun probably outpowered the Kryptonite in Superman Returns. He was in space exposed directly to copious amounts of Superman friendly radiation after all.

This is early comic book science so it doesn't make loads of sense. That's the jist of the reasoning though.

 

[JimB]

So if he is "human" and therefore vulnerable/mortal, how come he didn't die in Superman Returns?

Because Bryan Singer, the director of the movie and an adopted child, wanted to project his issues onto the screen and tell a story about an adopted child who didn't need biological parents because everyone in the world loved him so much they wouldn't let bad things happen to him.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

These answers are brilliant stuff, it's interesting to learn a little more about this. It does make one wonder how much of these facts, the lore, the extended DC universe, the backstory or history, whatever might get consideration or utilised with just Superman alone, but never gets explained or put into context. Maybe each story they take a handful of these, mix them up, take only what is needed to tell a particular story (or worse, take specifically what is needed for the story to come out right in the end) and so on.

I guess I always thought that the kryptonite thing had a binary effect on the character. ie. He was either unaffected and bulletproof, or he was affected and vulnerable.

If then he was made vulnerable/human by kryptonite, could he be killed the same way any human could? For example he was fatally wounded and left "vulnerable" until his heart stopped? And this magic vulnerability thing, does that mean that even if he were fully-powered up, he could still potentially be harmed or killed? Or does he just regenerate too fast, like Wolverine or something?

 

[mindlesspuppet]

These answers are brilliant stuff, it's interesting to learn a little more about this. It does make one wonder how much of these facts, the lore, the extended DC universe, the backstory or history, whatever might get consideration or utilised with just Superman alone, but never gets explained or put into context. Maybe each story they take a handful of these, mix them up, take only what is needed to tell a particular story (or worse, take specifically what is needed for the story to come out right in the end) and so on.

I guess I always thought that the kryptonite thing had a binary effect on the character. ie. He was either unaffected and bulletproof, or he was affected and vulnerable.

If then he was made vulnerable/human by kryptonite, could he be killed the same way any human could? For example he was fatally wounded and left "vulnerable" until his heart stopped? And this magic vulnerability thing, does that mean that even if he were fully-powered up, he could still potentially be harmed or killed? Or does he just regenerate too fast, like Wolverine or something?

Relating to magic vulnerability, yes, he can be harmed or killed even at full power. Which is why Captain Marvel was able to defeat him.

 

[Clearing the Eye]

So if he is "human" and therefore vulnerable/mortal, how come he didn't die in Superman Returns?

Because Bryan Singer, the director of the movie and an adopted child, wanted to project his issues onto the screen and tell a story about an adopted child who didn't need biological parents because everyone in the world loved him so much they wouldn't let bad things happen to him.

I don't know if that's sad or good... Maybe both.

 

[Kpt._Rob]

Ah kryptonite... here's the deal with kryptonite, is that it's not a solidified science-fictional concept... it's a plot point given form. What it does to him seems to change from one media form to the next, and even within single continuities. That is to say that it doesn't function by scientific laws so much as it does by narrative laws.

As for whether Supes is immortal or just invulnerable, the answer is neither. He's definitely not immortal, for instance if you read Kingdom Come (... and you should!!!) you'll find that he ages pretty significantly. And he's not invulnerable either, just really really strong. Apart from kryptonite, he's also weak to magic, so spellcasting characters can do every bit as much damage to him as can characters who bring kryptonite with them. And even without these things that he's weak to, it is possible to do enough damage to him to kill him, for example Doomsday (who infamously killed Supes in the "Death of Superman" storyline) didn't do anything more than repeatedly bludgeon him... of course Doomsday fell with the final punch too. And even if you can't match strength with him, it may not be necessary to do more than remove him from sunlight, for example see the awesome alternate universe story Superman: Red Son.

Of course if you're a villain's villain, you won't bother with any of those approaches. If you really want to beat Superman you'll put someone else in harms way. Or if you're Maxwell Lord, you'll just mind control him and use the man himself to put people in harms way. That ended up being pretty effective. Until Wonder Woman decided to take care of the problem that is.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah, kryptonite is just weird...and everywhere, and has varying effects. And there's all sorts of different colours. I think there's a pink version that makes Superman excessively camp...no really.

Also, black kryptonite made supergirl split into two people who fought each otehr for a few issues.

 

[FalloutJack]

A few posts of this and we begin to understand why Batman's more popular. It's just so much harder to have this kind of confusion about a superhero who is - for all intents and purposes - human.

 

[HardkorSB]

If he's immortal, how did he age to be a 30-something man, instead of stopping aging in his teens, or whenever?

Well, you can argue that a Kryptonian matures differently than a human so he may just look like a human adult, while on a cellular level, he's still a kid.
OR you can take human biology into account. Human beings get physically older because the cells in their bodies stop dividing (I think they divide about 90000 times during a person's life on average). Superman's cells may have the ability to divide millions or even billions of times before he dies.
OR, if you think about it from a storytelling perspective, if it would take him 100 years to reach maturity, it would only create obstacles for the writers. I think that is the correct answer and all the other "scientific" stuff came later because people at some point demanded explanation for why he's the way he is.
Kryptonite in the beginning was just to give the villains some way to hurt him. The different colors are (in my opinion) just there to create different interesting scenarios for Superman. and trying to explain it in great detail will only make it more confusing.
Some things in fiction shouldn't be explained because it hurts the story.

 

[Gabanuka]

A better question is how he keeps his muscles up when everything is practically weightless to him

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Some things in fiction shouldn't be explained because it hurts the story.

I completely agree on this point. I don't particuularly need everything explained in detail or given a scientific basis. It usually does little for a story except to detract from it. As long as something is internally consistent, sensical and fun/exciting/entertaining/immersive I'm usually willing to suspend disbelief.

Though I do wonder how Adam Jensenn can turn invisibile. I mean he still has non-augmented parts and his clothes are just normal clothes. Even accepting that his augments can turn invisible, what about his hair, his cool sunglasses and the rest of him? Answer that Eidos Montreal! ;-)

 

[idodo35]

well about superman returns... it was a plot hole as simple as that... if he had a piece of kryptonite under his skin he should have died...
and he isnt immortal he is just (mostly) invornable (i say mostly cause he was killed once by doomsday who was simply stronger then him...) and in many "future" storys superman is seen older then he is now... on the other hand it seems that superman cant (wont) ever die of old age so i guess we will never know...