Random Questions About Superman (Possible unboxed Returns spoilers)

[Kamino_Neko]

@thwartme

I know I’ve seen him wear a breathing mask in something… probably not a comic, maybe a cartoon?

If you’ve watched the Dini/Timm version Justice League and he went into space, you’ve definitely seen him wearing a breathing mask. I’m not 100% sure if he needs it to breathe, or if he just uses it to communicate.

The comics…you may, or may not have.

Pre-Crisis, at least from the 50s, on, he routinely did so if he was going into space with the Justice League or the Legion of Superheroes, so he could communicate wth the others. He canonically did not need them to breathe, however, because of his invulnerability. Eventually the Legion bought in the telepathic earplugs, so he stopped using helmets or air masks when with the Legion, since they weren’t needed.

Post-Crisis, they never seem to have decided whether he needed to breathe or not. Some stories, his invulnerability grants him the same non-need to breathe as it does pre-Crisis. Others he specifically notes taking a breath as he makes a short jaunt through space. I’d say the bulk leans towards ‘No need to breathe’, though.

[Mister_Rik]

He can hold his breath for an extremely long time. So for short jaunts into near space, he needs no breathing apparatus, though he may need something to communicate with others if he’s not alone. With the Justice League, communication is usually handled telepathically courtesy of J’onn J’onnz.

In the late 1980s, there was the “Gangbuster” story arc, in which Superman was dressing up in a different costume (complete with helmet and visor/mask), calling himself Gangbuster and basically beating the living crap out of ordinary hoodlums. He was pretty much doing this in his sleep. Superman, becoming extremely annoyed with the fact that he couldn’t catch Gangbuster (because he definitely didn’t approve of his methods), eventually realized that he was Gangbuster himself. His subconscious mind had apparently become frustrated with having to hold back all the time when dealing with ordinary criminals and the fact that they seemed to get out of jail as fast as he could put them in. So something in his mind snapped, and he took on the Gangbuster persona.

I said all that to say this:

Realizing he was a danger to everybody else, Supes exiled himself from Earth. He set off into space, alone, intending to get as far as possible from other people so that he didn’t hurt anybody. He took along a breathing apparatus for the trip, because he didn’t know how long he would be in space, but he knew it would be way longer than he could hold his breath.
On another note re: the movie -

(I actually posted this last night, apparently at exactly the same time as the hardware malfunction, so it never showed up.)

I find myself wondering if the casting of James Marsden was intended to make a point. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I spent the entire first half of the movie asking myself, “Who is that guy, and where have I seen him before?”

Much debate has been made over the years regarding Superman’s Clark Kent disguise. Just how effective a disguise is a pair of glasses? General consensus: Not Much. And yet, it was Richard White’s lack of glasses that kept me from realizing right away, “Oh, it’s Cyclops!”

But it also occurs to me that the Clark Kent disguise isn’t just the glasses. It’s the whole demeanor. Clark Kent doesn’t carry himself like Superman. And Richard White didn’t carry himself like Scott Summers/Cyclops. So I was fooled, at least until halfway through the movie.

[mobo85]

@Phase42

Clark Kent doesn’t carry himself like Superman.

Of course not- if Superman acted like a bumbling nerd (as Kent does), he would kill more people that he’d save. That’d turn a lot of people off of him. And if Clark Kent acted like a Boy Scout helping people left and right with everyday tasks, people might get suspicious (as Lois did in Superman II after she realized she never saw Clark and Superman together).

[cmkeller]

Peter Morris:

No, I’ve definitely seen a “possible future” story where Lois is kicked to death by SuperFetus. I think it was the same story where Superman becomes President. One of the same series, at least.

They were from two different “Armageddon 2001” Annuals. The President one was Action Comic Annual, and the “Lois Death by SuperFetus” was the Adventures of Superman Annual. Superman’s subsequent romance with Maxima after Lois’s death was a beautifully-written story, I should add.

For the sake of completeness, the Superman Annual from that set was one in which Superman goes semi-nuts after some terrorists destroy Metropolis, and Batman takes him down with Kryptonite.

[Miller]

@Phase42

I find myself wondering if the casting of James Marsden was intended to make a point. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I spent the entire first half of the movie asking myself, “Who is that guy, and where have I seen him before?”

I had the same reaction, but I don’t think it was the lack of glasses in this role that confused me, so much as the addition of character and personality. I liked Marsden’s character a lot in this film, but his Cyclops was blander than unflavored Jello. (Which, I suppose, is accurate to the source material.)

[borschevsky]

@mobo85

This is actually from the first Superman. Although in Superman II, Superman did have sex with Lois, after he decided to give up his superpowers and spend the rest of his life with her (a decision he later changed). This, I presume, could be how Jason was concieved.

Right, except at the end of Superman II he makes Lois forget the whole business. So how would she know that Supes might be the father?

[Love_Rhombus]

And apparently in Returns everyone knows that they had made luuuuv, since they snicker when she states that “I’ve done Superman!” (Clark laughs too, which was odd.)

My question, which was created by this thread: did Jor-El intend Superman to mate and possibly have children with powers?

[Charger]

@mobo85

But if Jason was concieved when Superman was just Ordinaryman (that is, devoid of superpowers), how come Jason has superpowers?

Because only Kal El became an ordinary man. It says nothing of the residual sperm stored within the confines of his temporarily human scrotum. This, of course, may spark a “Sperm of Steel, Scrotum of Kleenex” discussion, to which I am not opposed.

[Omniscient]

@Ludovic

I have a random superman question:

In the scene where Lex is looking through the ship library while his girl is drinking, am I mistaken, or is that Belvedere Vodka? I caught the frosted glass tree on the front and the cork stopper with the white-blue sealing paper strip, but I didn’t see it too closely and I’m not sure how many other brands also have this.

Yup, Lex definitely stocks Belvedere on his yacht.

[Chef_Troy]

Here’s a point I’ve always wanted to raise regarding “Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex.”

If, as has been said above, the clothing next to his skin is protected by an “aura of invulnerability,” then… wouldn’t it be the case that he could prevent a lot of problems simply by wearing a condom?

[Bryan_Ekers]

@Omniscient

Yup, Lex definitely stocks Belvedere on his yacht.

It’s the vodka that comes when you call it.
(obscure ref to other Warner property)

[Steve_MB]

@MLS

When asked his age in the first movie, he says “Over 21,” which is true.

I have this mental image of a checkout clerk asking Superman for ID so he can legally ring up his six-pack of beer and copy of Playboy.

[WotNot]

@Chef Troy

Here’s a point I’ve always wanted to raise regarding “Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex.”

If, as has been said above, the clothing next to his skin is protected by an “aura of invulnerability,” then… wouldn’t it be the case that he could prevent a lot of problems simply by wearing a condom?

Possibly, but “Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex” was written in 1971, and the “aura of invulnerability” was only introduced in 1986.

There again… okay, so the condom wouldn’t tear, but what’s keeping it attached to the super-member?

[Bites_When_Provoked]

@WotNot

There again… okay, so the condom wouldn’t tear, but what’s keeping it attached to the super-member?

Super glue?