Mental Blocks

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superman41082
Ok, I've heard writers agree on the same thing about Superman and the limits of his powers and I totally agree. Being a young man once myself, I've walked right into a wall or something else because I'm checking out the cute chick passing by. Most of us can all relate to that, but just try to imagine being a guy that could walk straight through the wall if you stared too long. Clark Kent is definitely a guy who does not know his own strength, and has been this way since a very young age. It has to be terrifying for someone who cares about people so much that one moment of carelessness could hurt or kill someone. In part, this is why he developed the mild-manner.

Timidness is the opposite of exertion. The mind has an enormous effect on the body and someone that is timid will be physically weaker than if they were more free spirited, but under stress, when fight or flight kicks in, that timidness will end and true peak levels will arise. This is when the shy 100 lb house mom lifts the back of a car that her child is trapped under it. Writers agree that because of the environment Clark grew up in, that he would have inhibited his strength wish psychological blocks and those blocks would only whither under stress. Furthermore, since Superman takes efforts to avoid being strong, he hinders the amount of radiation he would absorb than if her felt less constricted. Most of Superman's quote, 'fights', are hardly stressful for 'The Man of Steel,' and his adrenalin is rarely tapped into at all. Writers agree that based on how strong he is not under stress that under stress Superman's strength would increase the same way that a normal man or woman's strength would increase under stress, but in an exponential way because of how much stronger and how much more careful he would have to be from a normal human, but then there's also the radiation factor. When Superman gets very upset, his eyes start to glow, and this is a clear indication that he is absorbing more radiation than he is used to. It's quite possible that if Superman had the desire, that he could see and hone the energy and in a way become one with it. Whether voluntarily or involuntarily, Superman can absorb infinite energy and increase his strength to nearly unlimited levels.

To me, this is cool on a few different levels, the first being that it makes total sense. The sun is an awesomely powerful thing to behold, and someone that can harness it's power should be unbelievably powerful. The second of which, this keeps Superman Superman without him having to be irritating. It's a nice middle-ground from pre-crisis Superman who just did everything and a toned down Superman that is beatable. Call me a fanboy if you will, but I don't think Superman should be beat, and it's not at all because he's my favorite. It's because the character works far better when he doesn't lose, but it's also unecessary for him to do everything with no problem. Instead of being limited by his powers, Superman is limited by the situation, so there's still going to be a struggle. I know some people don't like the idea of an unlimitedly powerful Superman, but this is not saying that he ever will be that strong. Only under the perfect circumstances could Superman become unlimitedly powerful such as battling an army of Darkseid's, which will never happen. However, I do think, from a comic perspective, or maybe even a movie perspective, it'd be the COOLEST THING EVER to see Superman exude infinite power over a foe or task that lookes seamingly impossible to overcome. Imagine how they would draw something like Superman moving faster than the speed of light, and to see how he would react to the realization of what he was actually doing. To me, that would just be the most awesome thing I'd ever see. This also touches on one of the basic elements of Superman's appeal, which is, 'What is a man that could do anything going to do'. What are your thoughts on this?

NPC
My thoughts were, "thats what im pretty sure is gonna be in Superman returns, an its gonna be awesome"
Reality=Singer sucks cause he doesnt know any of the rich superman mythology proly doesnt even know about mental blocks an such, proly doesnt even know who darksied is, an thats why he has to die . . .

superman41082
Originally posted by NPC
My thoughts were, "thats what im pretty sure is gonna be in Superman returns, an its gonna be awesome"
Reality=Singer sucks cause he doesnt know any of the rich superman mythology proly doesnt even know about mental blocks an such, proly doesnt even know who darksied is, an thats why he has to die . . .

LOL..... Personally, I think Singer did ok, but it's obvious that he doesn't have the comic knowledge that any normal fan would. I like the movie, and I think that the next movie will be even better....... Here's hoping.

P.S. I do understand how you feel about Singer and why you would not like him.

Mindship
While the Sun is an enormous power source: 1) only so much solar energy falls on a given surface area; and 2) the human form only has so much skin surface area. I won't repeat all the math here (some members have already seen it posted in different threads several times), but I once worked out that Superman would have to absorb solar energy for 500,000 years to survive the explosive power of a single 1-megaton bomb.

This thread's opening statement also implies that Superman can control his rate of absorption. While that might be true in limiting what comes down from the Sun, he can't pull in more than what the Sun is already sending down, not unless he first flies toward the Sun to get this extra energy...and you regularly don't see him doing this before he engages an opponent. Even so, if he could absorb (I'll be very generous) 100,000x more energy, he would still need (noting the example above) 5 years to absorb the energy-equivalent of a nuclear weapon.

I'm not Supes-bashing (heck, he's my #2 fave), and to an extent I even agree with the thread's premise...I just always find it a bit of an eye-opener when you start to translate superpower into real-world power numbers.

Superboy Prime
Thank god logic is not a necessity in comics.

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