It takes a lot to hurt Superman (not counting green, glowing rocks). Knives and bullets cannot pierce his skin, he can withstand heat from molten rock and cold that could crack metal, as well as impacts from objects that can level mountains. Unfortunately, as pointed out in the last example, any enemies from Krypton would have this invulnerability as well and be a real challenge for Superman to stop. Superman II and the more recent Man of Steel gave Superman such a problem with the arrival of General Zod. In both films, Superman and the villains from Krypton trade punches without ever really inflicting permanent damage on the other. The final clash in Man of Steel had Superman and Zod going toe-to-toe, punching and kicking each other through the sky and occasional buildings without a scratch to show for it. It looked like the fighting could never end - until Superman snapped Zod's neck like a chicken's. Putting aside the controversy of whether or not Superman would kill an enemy, it's hard to believe someone even as strong as the Man of Steel could break any part of Zod's body after surviving the punishment dealt between the two that saw Zod bouncing back every time like the world's most annoying flea. Sure, the filmmakers put in a sonic boom waveform when the neck snapping occurred to try and show just how much force he had to use. But any being that can survive being punched in the chest hard enough to knock him a mile away without his ribs shattering has to have a more resiliant spine than that.
Daniel is a writer/artist/filmmaker currently overseeing post-production on his film Avenging Disco Vampires. He is also the co-creator of the all-ages comic book series The Adventures of Nightclaw & Prowler published by Old World Comics.
