It drains him of his powers because when Kryptons' red sun exploded, it covered the debris of Krypton in the red suns' radiation. Remember, under the light of a red sun Krytonians are mortal. If we got near a rock that was covered in radiation from our sun, we would get pretty sick too.
it wasn't his will, beacause he was also walking around on the island until he was pushed onto the floor where he touched kryptonite with his hands. WTF was up with that. Also, can Superman drown. I don't think so, right?
What are you talking about? It was his will, which has been described by many writers to be his greatest strength, that kept him pushing the giant mass of kryptonite into space.
Notice when the job was done he was spent due to the Kryptonite draining him and being in space without his powers.
His will keeps him going when his body wants to give up, willpower plays a huge factor in most of what he does. What good is all the power in the world when you dont have the will to do anything?
its not a matter of if he had the will to do it, if kryptonite drains his strength then he would have been screwed.
That's like me covering my body in a butter an oil mixture, and then trying to pic up a 100 pound metallic barrel. I may have the will to do it, but It still isn't gonna happen.
Superman has mental blocks that prevent him from using is true, full power. When he is pushed beyond his limits sometimes those mental blocks disappear an he is more resistant to kryptonite, becomes faster, stronger, you name it. I think one comic suggested even his kryptonite weakness was merely a mental block an he couldnt handle being that powerful an unstoppable so he unconsciously gave himself a weakness.
Even with those mental blocks limiting his power, he still consciously pulls his punches when fighting most enemies.
I wasnt even truely aware of that until a recent Justice League episode, where he said something to the effect. He feels like he lives a world made of cardboard, an is always afraid of losing control even for second, cause someone could die. Then he said to Darksied, " This is a rare occasion I can cut lose an show you just how powerful I really am." Then he punches a powered up Darksied-fused-with-Brainiac so hard he makes a sonic boom an knocks Darksied thru about a dozen skyscrapers.
A nice clip; unfortunately, they don't think much of Darkseid in the cartoon series - just like the comic these days(sigh).
Superman did go for a quick sun bath before going to push that island into space, which helped him handle the kryptonite exposure for as long as he did. I would have liked if they went further and he took a quick sun dip, returning to earth blazing with energy - that would have looked even better. This theory he can get around kryptonite like it's a mental block, I don't buy it. It's totally biological. Maybe when he's old enough he can get more immune - like the events in Kingdom Come show.
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"I'm not smart so much as I am not dumb." - Harlan Ellison
ok, then that is confusing to everyone who doesn't follow it really closely. The movie didn't explain that at all. Why didn't he use his willpower in the first superman when the kryptonite necklace was on him?
Also, the sun's rays would have been blocked out for most of the trip because the island was miles long and he was in the center underneath.
Because like I said, it's not psychological. That's why he couldn't lift the necklace.
He soaked up a lot of sunlight in the upper atmosphere before going to lift the island. But as I said, it would have looked better to me if he took an actual sun-dip, to handle that much Kryptonite up close.
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"I'm not smart so much as I am not dumb." - Harlan Ellison
I agree and actually made the same comment to my friends after the movie.
Supes could have taken a quick dip to regen and really let lose. Although remember he was weak and who knows if he had time to fly to the sun and back in his condition. I mean if he wasnt hurt at all he could have made the trip in a few minutes im sure.
The quick coles notes on Kryptonite, going back to John Byrne's reboot:
Exposure to it drives the yellow solar energy out of Superman's cells, replacing it with a green, glowing death. This 'green death' was spreading all over Krypton at the time he was sent away, because Krypton was falling slowly into it's red sun - the land mass was becoming poisoned.
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"I'm not smart so much as I am not dumb." - Harlan Ellison