superman was way too weak on the show - Justice League (2001) Discussion

Did you not see Destroyer and his "World of Cardboard" speech?

Straightedge means I'm better than you.

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I came to this site to have the same discussion about Superman always getting laid up by something. I am familiar with this speech, but it still doesn't explain why he is constantly getting knocked out of commission. I understand he has to hold back, but holding back and getting beat up are two different things.

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[–] PreachCaleb 11 years ago

That was answered in Secret Society. Every hit he takes, is one his teammates don't have to take.

Straightedge means I'm better than you.

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[–] hannigca 11 years ago

Again, I understand him taking extra hits for the team, but he's getting knocked around too easily. In "The Enemy Below" he is taken out by an electrified manhole cover. I understand that if they make him too indestructible it makes the conflict of the stories less exciting, but he's entirely too uneven in his strength levels.

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[–] hadialam 10 years ago

Yeah, nut besides that. For example, in the pilot episodes, he just waits around whilst he is held down by that clay stuff for ages instead of just using his heat vision to cut himself out. He used his heat vision to scaresly, almost never. He struggles listing a tank, is hurt when is shot by a single bullet...

This show certainly does not explore the full extent of his powers and abilities

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[–] iroquoisjoe 10 years ago

This show certainly does not explore the full extent of his powers and abilities

That's what the Superman Animated cartoon was for. This is an ensemble cast. I am glad they made him weaker. It made it much more enjoyable.

On November 6, 2012...God blessed America

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[–] michaellou26 11 years ago

I really enjoyed the esp in later season 2 when he gave up on the team and said he thought about leaving and they were holding him back

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[–] Mchl496 11 years ago

Yea superman was pretty weak and slow in this series. I mean every little ray gun hurt him. When he was on war world and presumably under a yellow sun he had his chest cut by a knife... not even a kryptonite knife...

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[–] Reaperdude68 11 years ago

He's not actually invulnerable, essentially he's just really "dense". Mongol is as strong as superman so he could hut Superman with a regular blade because he could penetrate Superman's thick skin.

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[–] Kuato_and_George 11 years ago

I disagree. This show made it much more realistic. I hate when characters are "too strong". It only works every once and a while, which makes it more threatening when it does.

Hades and Amazo were pretty much the only characters none of them could beat 1-on-1, and that was all the more frightening because the characters were vulunerable.

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[–] manofsteel4455 11 years ago

Kuato,But I bet you don't mind Batman being"too perfect"do you?

You want to play the game, you'd better know the rules, love.
-Harry Callahan

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[–] iroquoisjoe 11 years ago

But I bet you don't mind Batman being"too perfect"do you?...

...I know I definitely mind.

Yes,both Superman and Batman being depreciated in their "perfections" and potencies was an enjoyable part of Justice League. Making them more "human" made them more relatable and "fun"...for me, anyhow.

On November 6, 2012...God blessed America

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[–] Kuato_and_George 11 years ago

Batman got his ass beat in this show. Superman saved him in the very first episode.

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[–] Jimmy-128 11 years ago

And even more importantly, Superman told him flat out, "Bruce...you're not always right."

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[–] John_Dee_007 11 years ago

I disagree. This show made it much more realistic.

Haha! Yeah, realistic. A cartoon. Superheroes. Superpowers. Realism. Yeah OK.

EDSKRPHW

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[–] ForTheNonce 10 years ago

http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/14/146504/2870675-precris issupermanid8.jpg
^Superman destroys a solar system. By sneezing.

Consider that utterly ridiculous power level vs. the show's, and then tell me cartoons can't be more or less realistic.

somebody says something that you think is wrong or incredibly stupid.
-VD outlines the IMDb boards.

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[–] ForTheNonce 10 years ago

^This. What's the fun in watching someone who ALWAYS wins?

somebody says something that you think is wrong or incredibly stupid.
-VD outlines the IMDb boards.

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[–] Geek_XX 8 years ago

This I agree with.

I remember the old Superfriends series and Superman always doing the grunt work while everyone just stands behind and watches him.

The only episode where Supes couldn't be the strong guy was when a Kryponite asteroid was hovering the Earth and Wonder Woman had to step in to save the day.

It made the show seem like no one was allowed to save the day because Supes wouldn't let them.

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[–] iroquoisjoe 11 years ago

what makes the Justice League audience dummies?

On November 6, 2012...God blessed America

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[–] fazaljuman 11 years ago

The producers answered this questions in the dvd extras.

They intentionally created situations for Superman to be preoccupied or taken out of the action because he was so powerful. There is hardly a situation he wouldn't be able to deal with as good as or better than his teammates. So in order to develop and show more of the other characters they used to take him out by things like kryptonite (but they wanted to limit the obvious use of this),electrical shocks, magic, dealing with a major natural disaster, etc.

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[–] stingingtail 10 years ago

I liked that the invincible man of steel wasn't always so invincible, and not just because of kryptonite.

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[–] iroquoisjoe 10 years ago

Well put, stingingtail. It's enough to just be a superhuman. Invulnerability is not interesting after middle school.

On November 6, 2012...God blessed America

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[–] thatguymicah 10 years ago

I've been watching the show on Netflix over the past few days. I'm on episode 18 right now, and I was wondering if anybody else thought Superman was being depicted as too weak. Apparently so. It's not that I think he should've been written as all-powerful, but so far it seems he is the weakest member of the team. He's either taken out too easily, outmatched by another member of the League, or doesn't use his heat vision when it's the obvious thing to do. Although I will say that I've noticed multiple instances of several members not using certain abilities when they should, e.g., GL not generating a force field, J'onn not phasing, and Batman not using his gadgets. I suppose problems like this were bound to arise when juggling so many characters with a multitude of powers, so I can't judge the writers too harshly, but I also feel like a lot of this could've been avoided.

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[–] iroquoisjoe 10 years ago

Exhibiting the vulnerabilities of the characters was not something they wanted to "avoid". They were deliberately playing that particular aspect UP.

On November 6, 2012...God blessed America

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[–] thatguymicah 10 years ago

Well they played Superman's vulnerabilities too far up, because he's the weakest member of the team.

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[–] iroquoisjoe 10 years ago

Christ. you're such an idiot

...or are you trolling?

On November 6, 2012...God blessed America

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[–] OmegaWolf747 10 years ago

They probably wrote him down a bit so he'd have to rely on the team.

---
House. My room. Can't walk. My medal. My father. Father, don't!

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[–] jon_combo 10 years ago

Could always put it down to he never gets a chance to rest. He might never be at full strength.

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[–] iroquoisjoe 10 years ago

Could always put it down to he never gets a chance to rest. He might never be at full strength.

...yep. Or maybe an undeclared injury.

On November 6, 2012...God blessed America

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[–] bbockatmacdotcom 10 years ago

Yes, I thought they should have weakened him in the pilot. Maybe he'd get some kind of Kryptonite poisoning that he couldn't fully clear and it wasn't enough to kill him, but it did weaken him. But DC isn't very good at continuity. For example Solomon Grundy, Shade, Copperhead, and Star Sapphire are in an episode working for the adopted Amazon, then they show up several episodes later working for Luthor and apparently have never met.

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[–] Jimmy-128 10 years ago

That was actually a production issue. The Luthor two-parter was shot first, but then had to back into post-production for some reason.

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[–] alpha128 10 years ago

That was actually a production issue. The Luthor two-parter was shot first, but then had to back into post-production for some reason. - Jimmy-128

Thankfully they corrected the issue by putting the episodes back into production order on the first season DVDs. "Injustice For All" now appears before "Fury" as originally intended.

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[–] 10 years ago

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