Expert: Justin Case - 1/16/2009

Question
If the Hulk hit Superman as hard as he could, would Superman fall to the ground?

Has Superman ever been shown having difficulty (or not being able) to lift a very heavy object?

Is Superman strong enough to pick up a weight equivalent to the entire Solar System combined (including the Sun)?

Would the Kelvan "dice machine" work on Superman? Would their nerve paralyzer work on him? Could Flint shrink Superman?

Answer
Hi John -

It depends on how much energy Supes had absorbed prior to the fight.  At his normal 'default' level of power he could stagger the Man-Of-Steel, but not knock him to the ground.

Yes, on several occasions Supes has been shown having difficulty lifting heavy objects because he either had diminished his powers to a lower level, or because his powers were acted on by an outside force and lowered.  

In the famous fight he had with Doomsday (wherein Supes was killed!) by the end of the conflict he couldn't even muster the energy to sit up and Lois Lane had to cradle his battered body in her arms as he lacked the strength to even raise his head!

Picking up the equivalent weight of several planets would be beyond Superman's strength.  Now, if he were able to absorb the energy of several yellow (or hotter) suns, its entirely possible he could do that.

I think the Kelvan dice maker would work on Superman.  It seemed to distill down the component elements within the target's physiology (brain, bone, muscle etc.) so don't see any reason it shouldn't be able to work against his molecular structure as well.

Ditto for the Nerve Paralyzer.  What it did was interfere with the electrical signals the brain sends to respective muscles.  We know it worked on Spock and the rest of the landing party so, as long as it could interfere with electrical signals, it should be able to affect Superman's Kryptonian body.

Flint's abilities worked by altering the molecular structure as well, so, if he could shrink something like the Enterprise and somehow not interfere with the anti-matter/matter reactions taking place in the ship's Warp Core, I bet he could shrink Superman as well.

Hope that helps

Deran