You don't get a name like Superman without being anything less than extraordinary -- and the world's most famous superhero certainly earns his stripes. While Clark Kent may seem like a typical Midwestern Kansas boy (though maybe more square-jawed and chiseled), what's going on under his cape and blue tights is far from the results of simple farm work. He's called the Last Son of Krypton because he's a one-of-a-kind alien and nowhere is that clearer than in his anatomy.
There's a whole lot of weirdness going on with any character who has so many decades under his belt, but CBR narrowed the following list down to the five absolute weirdest aspects of Superman's anatomy. You may think you know every inch of Superman, but do you know the back of his hand like the back of your hand?
His Muscles
One of the most important things to understand about Superman is just how much he's changed over the years. When he first debuted in 1938, he didn't fly like and he didn't have heat vision -- but what was true then and remains true now is that he's one of the strongest beings in the universe.
The original explanation for Superman's astonishing strength and durability came couched in his alien origins, with the gravity of Krypton supposedly several times that of Earth. Whereas modern adaptations of the character fall back on explanations of how he absorbs energy from the Sun, in those early days he simply had denser bones and muscles after millenia of evolution in a harsher environment made him that way. No wonder he turned out so super -- a simple game of hopscotch on Krypton becomes leaping tall buildings in a single bound on Earth.
His Cells
After writer John Byrne brought his own sweeping changes to the character in the late 1980s, the gravity explanation for the Man of Steel's powers started to fall to the wayside. Over the years Superman had developed far too many powers that a different gravity or atmosphere just couldn't explain. So, an alternative explanation was born: Superman gets his powers from the sun.
Superman's cells absorb their energy passively from Earth's yellow sun. Since Krypton had a red sun, none of the inhabitants there experienced such phenomenal powers throughout the doomed planet's existence. The reservoir of power allows Superman to perform all of his greatest feats. Writers like Grant Morrison in All-Star Superman clung onto the detail to enhance Superman's mythological aspect. Far from a powered human, such depictions portray him as a modern day sun god.
His Eyes
All the energy stored in Superman's cells doesn't go to waste. Although it most often manifests itself in his strength or his flight, there is a much deadlier ability lurking just beneath the surface of his lovely baby blues. The Blue Boy Scout can release solar energy directly from his eyes with his famous heat vision, which is the result of a photonucleic effect with deadly consequences.
The lenses of Superman's eyes allow him to adjust the aperture of the blast to widen or focus the beam more acutely. Interestingly, his heat vision is actually tied in with his X-Ray vision: Both release different forms of radiation. They manifest as different powers because Superman has so much control over his abilities.
His Immune System
It's probably impossible for a character like Superman to exist so many years without there being at least one Fantastic Voyage-style adventure where other heroes venture into his body. That time came during a moment of crisis when the world's greatest hero stood on the brink of death. Superman took on a green hue after suffering from severe kryptonite poisoning from an unknown source. So, the shrinking hero Atom, Superboy and Steel endeavored to investigate the matter as closely as possible by taking a trip inside Superman's body to discover just how freaking his inner workings got.
Not only is Superman's super immune system a threat to the heroes -- which helps explain why Superman so rarely gets sick -- but there are entire nuclear processes taking place within his body. Superman's body is like one giant, self-perpetuating battery and maintaining the whole system requires a super immune system no one would want to cross.
His Lungs
Similar to his eyes, Superman's lungs actually help explain how seemingly disparate powers all originate from the same source. Superman's ability to hold his breath for unbelievable amounts of time, his ability to breath it back out in massive gales of wind and his ability to freeze the breath to cocoon his foes in ice all seem disconnected. However, it all ties together on the inside.
Superman's super strong muscles explain his ability to expel the air from his lungs with such force, whereas their hyper density explains their ability to withstand to the punishment they take holding his breath for so long during intergalactic trips. While he still needs the oxygen, his body is extremely efficient at processing it and expelling carbon-dioxide because of the nuclear processes taking place within his cells. The sun's fuel also gives his body something to work with besides oxygen. Lastly, the same control he shows with his heat vision is present in his lungs -- he holds super cooled air in a specific portion of his lungs and exhales it at his leisure as ice.