Maintaining your secret identity

[bloodtide]

Yeah I suppose I should have clarified as the question becomes too broad if we make it a composite of every version of Superman ever. I guess for the purposes of this thread, the power set in the most recent movie makes sense to use. So flight, super toughness, speed, heat vision, x ray vision, super hearing, and super strength? I think that covers it. Nothing too wacky!

This Superman is in trouble. He can't hide. So he will be discovered quickly.

In the most general sense the government can't really "stop" this Superman, but they sure could make any 'normal life' he wants to have very bad.

 

[Zardnaar]

I've joked about how many places looked exactly like that same area. It's uncanny.

Actors guild requirements. Once your xyz miles outside LA it costs more to film.

 

[Morrus]

Depends on which Superman power level we’re contemplating as our baseline. Merely impervious to bullets? Maybe.

The guy who can fly through stars? Nope.

Well the current movie version certainly gets knocked about a bit.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Right, and for storytelling purposes, it works well enough. The show did a good job of making it right next to Clark's objectives without someone necessarily knowing that it was his weakness. So that's still a toggle we can explore.

A central conceit of that show is that the "meteor rocks" (Kryptonite) are a major cause of all the superpowered chaos that shows up every week to challenge Clark's ability to do good and maintain his secret identity. That's fine of course, I just want to point out that it's an iteration of the Superman story specifically constructed to both make Kryptonite an even bigger foil for Superman than normal and keep him grounded such that a high school student who can suck the fat out of her classmates (for example) is a credible challenge for Superman.

Yup. Worked put pretty well for the most part. And to be fair, if a bunch of material comprised of a new to Earth compound landed anywhere on the planet, it wouldn't be difficult for a person of means to acquire some.

 

[Zardnaar]

I
Easy. I woukd do big pucture stuff wouldnt bother with street crime.

. Basically youre an assassin. Cover your face and do your thing removing certain high profile people from the planet.

Thin out the worst offenders only need to fo it a handful of times. Rest will get the message to behave better.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Well the current movie version certainly gets knocked about a bit.

Didn’t see it, but isn’t he fighting opponents of essentially the same power level?

 

[Morrus]

Didn’t see it, but isn’t he fighting opponents of essentially the same power level?

I don't know what all their power levels are, but basically everybody in the film is able to kick his ass. He is basically the Rocky determination thing--he just keeps getting back up.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I don't know what all their power levels are, but basically everybody in the film is able to kick his ass. He is basically the Rocky determination thing--he just keeps getting back up.

Looked it up:

By my reading, the Engineer is kind of a stretch, power wise, versus most versions of Superman. But Ultraman (a literal Superman clone), Metamotpho and a kaiju absolutely could give Superman a serious challenge.

But most mundane* earthly materials, situations and forces are almost definitionally incapable of harming Superman. At least post John Byrne era incarnations.




* IOW, not something that exists only in comics

 

[MarkB]

Looked it up:

By my reading, the Engineer is kind of a stretch, power wise, versus most versions of Superman. But Ultraman (a literal Superman clone), Metamotpho and a kaiju absolutely could give Superman a serious challenge.

But most mundane* earthly materials, situations and forces are almost definitionally incapable of harming Superman. At least post John Byrne era incarnations.




* IOW, not something that exists only in comics

It's worth noting that Superman does seem to take serious damage from being thrown into the ground by Ultraman, and seemingly not even at supersonic velocity - it's how the Ultraman fight finishes, leaving Superman struggling to get to his feet.

So yeah, this Superman can come to harm from running into things too hard.

 

[Morrus]

It's worth noting that Superman does seem to take serious damage from being thrown into the ground by Ultraman, and seemingly not even at supersonic velocity - it's how the Ultraman fight finishes, leaving Superman struggling to get to his feet.

So yeah, this Superman can come to harm from running into things too hard.

Yeah, he's definitely less powerful than the Henry Cavill or Christopher Reeve Supermen.