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Superman Now Has the Power of “Flare”


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Whooooo! No, wait, not that kind of Flair. Think more like a solar flare, though Geoff Johns isn’t specifying how it works until tomorrow’s comic reveals it in full.

“It’s definitely the most destructive power Superman has. And he’s not exactly excited about it because it is so dangerous and there are consequences.

“It’s not going to be suddenly he can levitate things,” he adds. “It’s something that is going to be very unstable and something that Superman’s going to have to deal with for quite a while.”

“Suddenly he can levitate things” would seem to be a shot at Superman IV, in which the character developed “Reconstruct the Great Wall of China”-vision somehow. Which reminds us – the infographic above (slightly modified) lists all the times Superman got new powers, yet it totally leaves out every movie-based invention, like time travel, giant magic S-shield, and the ability to fistfight oneself in a junkyard. Seriously, NONE of those Christopher Reeve movies would get a pass with today’s comic-book fans if they were brand new.

But on none of those occasions did his costume get a makeover with new fingerless gloves added, which seems like one of the most pointless upgrades since whatever the last one was. Much like the whole concept of Superman needing armor, the idea that he’d need any kinds of gloves for hands that are tougher than most materials seems more like a Kryptonian fashion faux pas than anything. Maybe for him that is the equivalent of the Office Space kind of “flair.”