You'd think that a character who's as famous as Superman wouldn't have any mysteries left, yet here we are. By now, even babies born yesterday would probably be able to list all of Supes' powers on their little sausage fingers. But as simple and straight forward as Big Blue's kit is, there still seems to be plenty of confusion surrounding Clark's power set.
As diehard Superman fans and folks who work for a site called the Comic Book Resource, we feel it's our job to clear the air. Today, we're going to analyze ten of the most prevalent myths surrounding the Man of Steel and separate fact from fiction.
10 Supes Can't Shave His Hair (Myth)
Ah, June 2013 - what a time to be alive. Man of Steel was on the horizon, all set to kick off the DCEU! To help generate hype, Gilette teamed up with DC and Warner Bros to run an ad campaign about Superman's hair - and how he regularly grooms himself.
No, Supes doesn't order a special razor from Gilette. He also doesn't use his fingers nails to groom himself, a la Hancock. Rather, the Man of Steel uses heat vision and a reflective piece of Kryptonian metal to get the job done! Of course, this begs the question as to how he trimmed himself after the oil rig scene in MoS?
9 Big Blue Couldn't Fly In the Early Comics (True)
Flying is such an integral part of Superman's character that most couldn't imagine a time when he lacked that ability. Every film, game, and TV show (animated or live-action) features at least two scenes of Superman flying around and saving people. And we've done the math - it's seriously no less than two scenes!
But in reality, the gift of flight was only added to his repertoire in the 1940s. We can thank the radios, teleplays, and early animations for adding flight into Supes' powerset - animators found it easier to draw him flying rather than jumping from building to building like Spiderman (or Sideways.)
8 Clark Hypnotizes People To Hide (Myth)
Okay, this fan theory is way out there! Most people have mixed feelings about how Clark Kents Supes' disguise would probably work on a passersby, but many can't believe that his long-time coworkers wouldn't eventually connect the dots.
Hence the theory that Clark Kent hypnotizes people to keep his identity a secret. After all, we saw him erase Lois Lane's memory with a kiss in the Richard Donner films! But aside from changing his posture and throwing his voice, Clark doesn't do anything extravagant to disguise himself. There are also plenty of scientific studies that suggest Clark Kenting can work if done correctly.
7 Kryptonians Have Telekinetic Potential (True)
We've seen multiple Kryptonians move things with their minds over the years. Hell, Superboy and H'el both possessed telekinetic powers - and Superboy's a clone of Clark Kent and Lex Luthor! There have also been plenty of comics that cite TK as the source of Superman's more exotic powers, like flight and heat vision.
In fairness, there are also plenty of comics that shoot this theory down. For the most part, DC's writers seem to be against including telekinesis in Clark's kit for the time being. However, they aren't against suggesting that all Kryptonians possess telekinetic potential. This ties into another unique fact about Kryptonians that we'll hit on later.
6 The "Superman Pose" Makes Supes Stronger (Myth)
Arms akimbo, the "Superman" pose - whatever you want to call it, this stance is an iconic part of pop culture and American history! Naturally, people have concocted numerous theories as to why Superman assumes this pose.
Did Jon Kent stand like this whenever he needed to discipline a young Clark Kent? Does Superman become completely invincible and immovable when he takes this pose? Does it amplify his already incredible strength? Clark likely learned this pose from Jon Kent, but it doesn't give him any additional power. At best, this pose makes the Man of Steel's arms look bigger.
5 The Man of Steel Can't See Through Lead (True)
Superman's X-ray vision works on almost any material, that you can think of; steel, titanium, keratin, the whole nine yards! Supes can even use his x-ray vision on foreign materials and alien creatures - helping him understand the structure or anatomy of things from other solar systems!
However, there's one material that Superman can't see through; lead. You've probably heard someone mention this in a film or TV show, but didn't take them seriously. But this myth is 100% true - Superman can't use his x-ray vision on anything that's made of, or even lined with, lead. Which probably means he wouldn't be able to see through most sewers, come to think of it.
4 The Man Of Tomorrow Can Reverse Time (Myth)
This myth comes directly from the Richard Donner films - specifically, the first movie from 1978. At the end of that film, Lois Lane suffers an injury and dies. Angsty as all Hell, Superman yells at the sky, flies away, and circles the Earth like a friggin satellite on Speed!
Somehow, Supes changes the direction of Earth's orbit (without killing everyone and everything,) and reverses time! Superman: The Movie had four screenwriters. We don't know which of them came up with this idea, but we would like to know what the Hell they were smoking when they wrote this movie?! Case in point, Supes can't reverse time by flying extremely fast.
3 A Forcefield Surrounds Superman's Body (True)
After watching Supes fly around at Mach speeds, trade blows with demons, and catch meteors like footballs, you're probably wondering how his clothes don't tear apart? A lot of older stories chalked it up to Superman wearing special Kryptonian clothing. But this idea didn't' explain how anyone could fix his suit when it got ripped, so a new theory came into play.
What if Superman's body was covered in a forcefield that protected himself and his clothes? Moreover, Supes could extend this forcefield around anyone or anything that he physically touched - protecting them from the forces of gravity and gale-force winds. In our opinion, this force field sounds a lot like tactile telekinesis to us, but the mob rules in the end.
2 Kryptonite Bullets Will Kill The Last Son Of Krypton (Myth)
There are a few problems with Kyrponite bullets as a concept; not only would Kryptonite bullets probably not be very aerodynamic, but they also wouldn't kill Supes outright. Remember, Kryptonite's effects are gradual - growing worse over time but not being fatal outright. Supes is also faster than a speeding bullet, even one made of Kryptonite.
1 Supes Made Up New Powers On The Fly (True)
Supes' Golden and Silver Age counterparts loved creating crazy new powers whenever they felt like it. Initially, that was the driving idea behind Superman as a character - that he could do anything without any regard for silly concepts like logic, reason, or casualty. That's what made those older comics so fun to read - anything and everything could happen within the pages of Action Comics!
Superman can still manifest new powers on the fly; he recently developed the Super Flare ability in 2015 - something we can see DC's writers whipping out when the time's right.