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** In universe answer: it was apparent from the reactions to the trucker's arrival in the earlier scene, the trucker was obviously bullying the customers for some time prior to Lois and Clark's arrival. Remembering that, Clark returned after he regained his powers to (admittedly in a slight out of character moment) help the people in the diner by kicking out the trucker. In the end, he was doing what he usually does: saving people.
** Out of universe answer: Richard Donner (if he directed the "return to diner" scene instead of Lester) probably had an explanation in his original script for Superman's return, but due to the fact the Richard Donner cut was cobbled together as well as they could with existing footage, he couldn't film an appropriate reason for Clark's return, but wanted to put it in there to show the trucker ended up getting punished for his attitude. If Lester directed the footage, then Donner probably just put it in there for the same reason as I stated plus just trying to pad out the run time of the movie.
** So what if that guy didn't recall beating up Clark? If I commit a crime, then develop amnesia and forget that I did, does that absolve me? No it doesn't. He was still the same dick as in the original timeline, and would still have beaten up Clark if given the opportunity again. Would you complain if in the first movie, Superman had gone back in time to before Luthor set his plans in motion and had him arrested?
** Clark was (to the people of the diner) a newcomer at the diner. He saw a trucker rudely demanding food and insulting their cuisine. Clark, in the staff's defence, throws a cannibalism insult at the trucker. The trucker, though never seeing this supposed wimp with glasses before, doesn't take the insult lightly, and, thinking Clark as easy prey, eggs him on. As for the owner's protests, he was probably talking about an [[NoodleIncident earlier unseen fight]] the trucker got into.
** Out of universe answer: Richard Donner (if he directed the "return to diner" scene instead of Lester) probably had an explanation in his original script for Superman's return, but due to the fact the Richard Donner cut was cobbled together as well as they could with existing footage, he couldn't film an appropriate reason for Clark's return, but wanted to put it in there to show the trucker ended up getting punished for his attitude. If Lester directed the footage, then Donner probably just put it in there for the same reason as I stated plus just trying to pad out the run time of the movie.
** So what if that guy didn't recall beating up Clark? If I commit a crime, then develop amnesia and forget that I did, does that absolve me? No it doesn't. He was still the same dick as in the original timeline, and would still have beaten up Clark if given the opportunity again. Would you complain if in the first movie, Superman had gone back in time to before Luthor set his plans in motion and had him arrested?
** Clark was (to the people of the diner) a newcomer at the diner. He saw a trucker rudely demanding food and insulting their cuisine. Clark, in the staff's defence, throws a cannibalism insult at the trucker. The trucker, though never seeing this supposed wimp with glasses before, doesn't take the insult lightly, and, thinking Clark as easy prey, eggs him on. As for the owner's protests, he was probably talking about an [[NoodleIncident earlier unseen fight]] the trucker got into.
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** In universe In-universe answer: it was apparent apparent, from the reactions to the trucker's arrival in the earlier scene, that the trucker was obviously a local petty tyrant bullying the customers for some time prior to Lois and Clark's arrival. arrival - and he quite possibly exhibited similar behavior in other diners that he frequented along his route. Remembering that, Clark returned after he regained regaining his powers to (admittedly in a slight out of character out-of-character moment) help the people in the diner by kicking out putting the trucker.trucker in his place. In the end, he was doing what he usually does: saving people.
**Out of universe Out-of-universe answer: Richard Donner (if he directed the "return to diner" scene instead of Lester) probably had an explanation in his original script for Superman's return, but but, due to the fact the Richard Donner cut was cobbled together as well as they could with existing footage, he couldn't film an appropriate reason for Clark's return, but wanted to put it in there to show the trucker ended up getting punished for his attitude. If Lester directed the footage, then Donner probably just put it in there for the same reason as I stated plus just trying to pad out the run time of the movie.
** So what if that guy didn't recall beating up Clark? If I commit a crime, then develop amnesia and forget that I did, does that absolve me?No No, it doesn't. He was still the same dick as in the original timeline, and would still have beaten up Clark if given the opportunity again. Would you complain if in the first movie, Superman had gone back in time to before Luthor set his plans in motion and had him arrested?
** Clark was (to the people of the diner) a newcomer at the diner. He saw a trucker rudely demanding food and insulting their cuisine. Clark, in the staff's defence, throws a cannibalism insult at the trucker. The trucker, though never seeing this supposed wimp with glasses before, doesn't take the insult lightly, and, thinking Clark as easy prey, eggs him on. As for the owner's protests, he was probably talking about an [[NoodleIncident earlier unseen fight]] the trucker gotinto.
into; Clark would be far from the first person the trucker had attacked.
**
** So what if that guy didn't recall beating up Clark? If I commit a crime, then develop amnesia and forget that I did, does that absolve me?
** Clark was (to the people of the diner) a newcomer at the diner. He saw a trucker rudely demanding food and insulting their cuisine. Clark, in the staff's defence, throws a cannibalism insult at the trucker. The trucker, though never seeing this supposed wimp with glasses before, doesn't take the insult lightly, and, thinking Clark as easy prey, eggs him on. As for the owner's protests, he was probably talking about an [[NoodleIncident earlier unseen fight]] the trucker got
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[[WMG: Why didn't Jor-El or Lara's hologram inform Superman that Lex Luthor was snooping around in the Fortress of Solitude?]]
* This seems like a serious security breach adding to the fact that Lex Luthor was able to even find it at all.
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[[WMG: Superman's apology to the President for "letting him down" in the Richard Donner version?]]
* In Richard Donner's version, Superman turns back time thus sending Zod and his goons back into the Phantom Zone as if none of this ever happened. When Superman plants a new flag on the White House that is under repair, he apologizes that he's been away so long. In fact, why is the White House still damaged if time was turned back?
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** Does Superman ever articulate a no-kill rule like Batman? Sure, he generally avoids killing and aims instead to get criminals sent to prison. But I don't think it's some absolute with him.
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** Zod and his gang being powerless didn't stop them from doing whatever it was on Krypton that got them banished to the Phantom Zone in the first place. Powers or not, they're still unrepentant, murderous thugs who probably would have exploited any clemency that Superman showed them; best to take get them out of the picture while he still had the chance.
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** Zod and his gang being powerless didn't stop them from doing whatever it was on Krypton that got them banished to the Phantom Zone in the first place. Powers or not, they're still unrepentant, murderous thugs who probably would have exploited any clemency that Superman showed them; best to take get them out of the picture while he still had the chance.
chance, lethally or not.
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** Zod and his gang being powerless didn't stop them from doing whatever it was on Krypton that got them banished to the Phantom Zone in the first place. Powers or not, they're still unrepentant, murderous thugs who probably would have exploited any clemency that Superman showed them; best to take get them out of the picture while he still had the chance.
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* Presumably the name Lois Lane is fairly well-known to anyone who follows the Daily Planet or Metropolis media in general.
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[[WMG: How did Lex know about Lois? He's never met her.]]
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[[WMG: Lois motivations?]]
* Why didn't Lois help Clark get back to the Fortress? They had a car and could certainly have driven much of the way, considering Clark was trying to hitchhike.
* Why didn't Lois help Clark get back to the Fortress? They had a car and could certainly have driven much of the way, considering Clark was trying to hitchhike.
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* So when Luthor and Ms. Teschmacher get to the Fortress of Solitude, they look around the place and realize it has everything but a bathroom. He gripes that she should have gone before the left, and she says, "That was two days ago." Which...raises a lot more questions...
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* The same scene has Kryptonians suddenly teleporting/generating illusions and shooting lasers from their fingers, things they've never done before or since in any continuity, so "wacky new power" is more consistent explanation than anything else (though that's not saying much).
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** I still don't understand why everyone has so much trouble with this. The Fortress wasn't built over a chasm; it was built on solid ground, at ground level. There's no bottomless pit for anyone to fall into. The crystal cliffs have some peaks and valleys, but it's perfectly reasonable to assume they only fell five, six feet. Enough to bang them up and maybe even break a bone or two, but certainly not enough to kill them.
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[[WMG: Why don't the owners of the diner bar Rocky?]]
* Obviously, Rocky is a regular customer, but he is also abusive and aggresive. The owners don't like him much. So why don't they just bar him.
* Obviously, Rocky is a regular customer, but he is also abusive and aggresive. The owners don't like him much. So why don't they just bar him.
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[[WMG: Why don't the owners of the diner bar help Rocky?]]
* Obviously, Rocky is a regular customer, but he is also abusive andaggresive.aggressive. The owners don't like him much. So why don't they just bar him.
* Obviously, Rocky is a regular customer, but he is also abusive and
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* Whoever asked this question has never lived in New York. When some shit is going down, you mind your own business and hope they don't notice you.
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grammar (this one I'm sure)
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*** The Directors Cut had a slightly better ending. Superman saw the scars of his battle and decided to undo the whole thing with Time Travel, effective putting the Zod and Gang back in the Phantom Zone and making sure the bomb from the beginning didn't detonate in it's vicinity. Granted, its the ResetButton and thus a copout but at least he doesn't kill (of course, he goes back far enough to undo his encounter with Lois, so it doesn't mesh with ''Superman Returns'' but decanonizing that movie would be good for the franchise.)
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*** The Directors Cut had a slightly better ending. Superman saw the scars of his battle and decided to undo the whole thing with Time Travel, effective putting the Zod and Gang back in the Phantom Zone and making sure the bomb from the beginning didn't detonate in it's its vicinity. Granted, its the ResetButton and thus a copout but at least he doesn't kill (of course, he goes back far enough to undo his encounter with Lois, so it doesn't mesh with ''Superman Returns'' but decanonizing that movie would be good for the franchise.)
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grammar (not actually sure about this one but it sounds so much better)
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*** The Directors Cut had a slightly better ending. Superman saw the scars of his battle and decided to undo the whole thing with Time Travel, effective putting the Zod and Gang back in the Phantom Zone and making sure the bomb from the beginning didn't detonate it's vicinity. Granted, its the ResetButton and thus a copout but at least he doesn't kill (of course, he goes back far enough to undo his encounter with Lois, so it doesn't mesh with ''Superman Returns'' but decanonizing that movie would be good for the franchise.)
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*** The Directors Cut had a slightly better ending. Superman saw the scars of his battle and decided to undo the whole thing with Time Travel, effective putting the Zod and Gang back in the Phantom Zone and making sure the bomb from the beginning didn't detonate in it's vicinity. Granted, its the ResetButton and thus a copout but at least he doesn't kill (of course, he goes back far enough to undo his encounter with Lois, so it doesn't mesh with ''Superman Returns'' but decanonizing that movie would be good for the franchise.)
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** Until 2016, when they got re-rebooted, bringing them back together; with a son!
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*** So a crazy woman pulls a gun on you and you'd have the presence of mind to be like "gee whizz, better try and peer down into the chambers and make sure it's got real bullets in it because I totally know the difference?" Suuuure.
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*** So a crazy woman pulls a gun on you and you'd have the presence of mind to be like "gee whizz, better try and peer down into the chambers and make sure it's got real bullets in it and not blanks because I totally know the difference?" Suuuure.
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****So a crazy woman pulls a gun on you and you'd have the presence of mind to be like "gee whizz, better try and peer down into the chambers and make sure it's got real bullets in it because I totally know the difference?" Suuuure.
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** Dude, there's three of them, all super powered up to the eyeballs. One of them is a military genius, one is a sadistic harpy and the other is built like Sasquatch. Plus, they don't give a shit who gets hurt in the battle. Superman on the other hand is one guy, has Pa Kent in his ear reminding him not just go "fuck it" and blow up the entire city block with a superfart or something *and* also has to make sure no civilians get wiped out while Zod and co. throw buses into pre-schools and shit.
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*** Lex isn't really all that brilliant in these movies though. He's neither the mad scientist of the Golden Age nor the supremely powerful businessman of later stories - he's an arrogant and vain guy who's pulled a couple of real estate scams. Regardless, he definitely wouldn't be in general population making license plates, but I'm not sure he'd be in an inescapable supermax cell since Loki or Hannibal Lector either.
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*** Lex isn't really all that brilliant in these movies though. He's neither the mad scientist of the Golden Age nor the supremely powerful businessman of later stories - he's an arrogant and vain guy who's pulled worst crime up till the events of the first movie was pulling a couple of real estate scams. Regardless, he definitely wouldn't be in general population making license plates, but I'm not sure he'd be in an inescapable supermax cell since Loki or Hannibal Lector either.
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***Lex isn't really all that brilliant in these movies though. He's neither the mad scientist of the Golden Age nor the supremely powerful businessman of later stories - he's an arrogant and vain guy who's pulled a couple of real estate scams. Regardless, he definitely wouldn't be in general population making license plates, but I'm not sure he'd be in an inescapable supermax cell since Loki or Hannibal Lector either.
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** Considering the three of them undoubtedly killed numerous civilians in their rampage, it's pretty hard to argue they didn't deserve to die.
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** Considering the three of them undoubtedly killed numerous civilians in their rampage, rampage (which was pretty much done just ForTheEvulz), it's pretty hard to argue they didn't deserve to die.
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** Considering the three of them undoubtedly killed numerous civilians in their rampage, it's pretty hard to argue they didn't deserve to die.
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* Lois tricks Supes into dropping the mask by firing a blank at him. Wouldn't he at least have felt a bullet tap him?
** Might have been too shocked by Lois' [[RefugeInAudacity outrageous act]] to try to notice.
** But shouldn't he have been able to see through the gun and know it's a blank?
*** He has to consciously use X-Ray vision, it's not always on.
*** Except she's using a ''revolver'' and blanks don't look like normal bullets. He should easily be able to see the difference by looking at the chambers, hell, you can see for yourself the damn thing isn't loaded if you watch carefully.
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* On a side note, exactly how were Lois and Clark planning to get back from the Fortress of Solitude? It's in the freaking arctic!!
*** The Fortress/Jor-El.
*** Similarly, how did de-powered Clark Kent manage to make it back there, on foot, with no specialist equipment, arctic clothing, or even food supplies?
*** By being in a movie based off of the Silver Age where no one thought particularly hard about the logic of what they were writing. Think of Spider-Man and consider that Stan Lee seriously thought his powers, including danger sense, were powers spiders had. That sort of thinking was basically across the board among comic writers at the time.
* Did General Zod actually have a plan? He busts into the White House and demands that the President kneel before him, which he does. Later on, we see him and his goons lounging around in the Oval Office, bored out of their minds. Governing takes work, and Zod was just sitting around. Did the governments of the rest of the world submit? If so, would anybody actually obey them?
** If I recall correctly, the President announced that he was submitting on behalf of all governments, after conference with all heads of state.
** Zod a bad leader? This surprises you why, exactly?
** Well, the Kryptonians judged him and his henchmen to be ''so'' dangerous that only exile to the Phantom Zone would be suitable punishment. ''These'' are the idiots that posed a danger to the very fabric of Kryptonian society? Come on.
*** Same group of super-advanced aliens that died because of an easily predicted earthquake on one planet.
*** Their planet ''exploded''. Earthquakes were a mere sideeffect.
*** More to the point, Zod and his cronies ''caused'' the explosion. ''That'' is why they were sentenced to the Phantom Zone.
*** Nowhere does it say Zod and co had anything to do with Krypton exploding. It's implied they attempted some sort of hostile coup d'etat.
*** It's a lot easier to wreck a society than to run one. Zod & Co. could have easily had the capacity to do the former on Krypton and lacked the ability (or inclination) to do the latter on Earth.
** When you have yourself and two more evil Kryptonians vs. a normal planet Earth and one depowered Superman, do you really ''need'' clever plans?
*** No, but you do need them when you have yourself and two non-powered Kryptonians against a whole bunch of other non-powered Kryptonians. As above, how exactly did they threaten Krypton again? Or plan to run it afterward?
*** So far as we know, Zod might've been a brilliant leader and military tactician. He just never needed to use any of those skills on Earth, since he could wipe out any threat apart from Superman by just scowling at it.
** I would have loved to see what would really happen with Zod after he "takes over" Earth. Next scene: "Supreme Leader, what do you want to do about the price of gasoline? Or our health care system? Or the roads? Or inflation? Or the fact that riots have broken out in every major city as people refuse to recognize your leadership? The newspapers are calling you a tyrant, and the military is refusing to submit to you. What do we do?"
*** Ignore the complaints and single-handedly put down any insurrections? The idea of people's voice in government relies on the supreme leader not being able to personally beat up all of his subjects combined.
*** Of course, he can only beat up a few people at a time. Nobody, not even a superhuman can single-handedly bully six billion people into compliance. At least, not for long. It just can't happen.
*** And, as soon as he realizes that, he'll just reduce the human population to something more manageable.
*** "Kill all those who oppose Zod" would probably work sufficiently well. He might not be able to kill everyone, but he can make examples of enough people at a time to make people think twice about organising that protest march or writing that snide article about his lack of effective economic policy. Totalitarian dictators without solid ideas for social management have been able to quell resistance and opposing voices ''without'' be able to reduce entire protest marches to ash with a single look or knock down entire armies single-handedly. And he also has Ursa and Non right next to him, and between them they could probably destroy an entire city, possibly more.
*** You're forgetting heat-vision. [[NightmareFuel He could just burn everyone who protests against him into ashes.]]
*** Zod seemed so uninterested in humans that, so long as everyone's paying tribute to him, he most likely wouldn't even bother with ruling the world himself. Lex was already lined up for Australia, so Zod probably would've just set up similarly loyal autocrats all around the world and just let them handle things while he sits around eating grapes and getting fanned.
*** Of course, if Kryptonite was nearly as common in the movie universe as it was in the comic-book universe of the day, all it would take was an underground military working in secret making a few hundred Green-K-radiation bombs to bring Zod's reign to an end.
** This issue doesn't strike me as particularly problematic. 1) Power-hungry egotistical villains land on a planet and discover they now have super powers that render them invulnerable and able to [[CurbStompBattle curb stomp]] any and all military forces sent against them. 2) Having demonstrated their power and threatened to exterminate any cities belonging to anyone who resists them, they whole world capitulates. 3) [[WantingIsBetterThanHaving They then discover that ruling the world is actualy rather boring]], especially conquering it (and putting down any potential rebellion) isn't actually a challenge, and when you don't actually care about the world enough to want to do anything with it.
** Exactly right. Zod's InformedAbility is that he's a military genius, right? Once he's on Earth, he wins any fight merely by showing up. Ruling the world can't possibly be interesting for him, which is why he's screaming for Superman to fight him. Without Superman, there's no threat to him. Even if there's a lot of Krptonite on the planet, no one except Lex and his minions seem to know that it could harm Zod - and it's apparently hard to find even for Lex Luthor, since he knew about it but didn't try to get it in Superman II as trump card to contain Zod. The one sample known to exist was probably confiscated from L's lair by the FBI after Luthor's arrest in the first movie, and neither Luthor nor Superman would be eager to explain exactly what was going on with the big green necklace. Long story short: Without Superman, Zod can do anything he wants on earth. No rebellion could succeed, since those 3 had all the same powers, meaning that they could hurl continents into space and travel back in time. Only Superman (or similarly powerful hero) could stop them.
** Who says Zod even had any intention of ''staying'' on Earth, in the first place? Zod grew up on Krypton. So far as he's concerned, Earth is like some primitive tribal village in the middle of the jungle. He only bothers bullying the natives long enough to play out his petty revenge fantasies with Jor-El's kid; most likely, if they'd defeated Clark, he'd have let his thugs trash the planet for kicks, then headed back into space to conquer a more-civilized planet or ten.
* So Superman renders Zod and his minions powerless in the Fortress of Solitude. Then he and Lois throw the powerless enemies into bottomless pits. I can't remember if they survive or not, but either way, Supes tried to kill them and then everyone laughed about it. Helpless enemies much? What happened to ThouShaltNotKill?
** I believe there is a deleted scene of Zod and the others being led away in handcuffs by police, so they just fell down some shafts and were defeated but alive.
** And that's not even counting his going back and humiliating the diner bully. The end of Superman II was a bit of a wall banger for many viewers.
*** People complain about him humiliating the same diner bully who completely beat the crap out of Clark? The guy who was a complete jerk and had it coming?
*** Yes the bully was a jerk, and yes he deserved it, but that's beside the point. This is a case of the Man of Steel taking petty personal revenge on somebody weaker, i.e. being a bully.
*** Not really; there's a bit of a difference between 'taking revenge' (petty and personal or otherwise) and 'being a bully'. If Clark ''routinely'' went to the diner to pick on the same guy, or if he routinely went around picking on people who were weaker than him just to enjoy being able to beat them up (and oh, guess who that description actually fits better? Hint: between Clark and the guy in the diner, it's not Clark), you'd have a point about him being a bully. It's fairly clear he's ''not'' doing this, however, but is taking the opportunity to settle a score -- which, considering the guy very seriously beat the crap out of Clark on very-flimsy-to-no-pretext-at-all the first time they met, isn't ''that'' petty -- and maybe teach him a lesson or two, which he certainly had coming. Teaching a bully a lesson they won't soon forget is a valid reason to do what Clark did, and despite having superstrength Clark still leaves the other man in a ''much'' better condition than the guy left Clark in the first time they met.
*** And it's not just petty personal revenge, either; if that diner bully is willing to pick on and severely beat up Clark Kent just because the guy happens to cross his path and looks like a bit of an easy target, then he's willing to do the same to any innocent bystander who happens to cross his path and who he thinks he'll get away with picking on, and he'll keep on doing it. Unless, of course, someone -- say, a prior victim -- goes back, stands up to him, hands him his ass in turn and shows him that picking on people and throwing your weight around might backfire unpleasantly on you. Clark's teaching him that no, you really ''won't'' get away with pulling that kind of shit on innocent people while he's around. Who would expect anything less of Superman?
*** The very idea that some people seem to think ''Clark'' is the bully in that situation is the real headscratcher here.
*** If memory serves, didn't the diner bully also make some very off-color remarks to and about Lois? It was sanitized for a "kids" film, but still, the guy was easily a sexual assault charge waiting happen.
** And something of a wasted opportunity. Though the writers probably just didn't want to deal with the WeWillMeetAgain potential of leaving them alive, how much more humiliating a defeat would it have been for Zod and his gang to be brought to justice by Superman, to face a trial and find themselves powerless and now at the mercy of the puny humans they'd brushed aside like gnats? And how much more appropriate would it have been for Superman to reaffirm that nobody, not even his fellow Kryptonians, is above truth, justice and [[strike: all that stuff]] the American way?
*** Not to mention that he could have, using the crystals containing Kryptonian knowledge, re-create the PhantomZone and re-imprison Zod & Co. for eternity. It would have been a great conclusion to the "father and son" theme of the movie.
*** The Directors Cut had a slightly better ending. Superman saw the scars of his battle and decided to undo the whole thing with Time Travel, effective putting the Zod and Gang back in the Phantom Zone and making sure the bomb from the beginning didn't detonate it's vicinity. Granted, its the ResetButton and thus a copout but at least he doesn't kill (of course, he goes back far enough to undo his encounter with Lois, so it doesn't mesh with ''Superman Returns'' but decanonizing that movie would be good for the franchise.)
* We find Lex Luthor in prison making license plates after the crime he attempted in Superman I. All well and good except for one little problem: '''HE THREATENED THE STATES OF CALIFORNIA AND NEW JERSEY WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS!!!!''' At the risk of understating the matter, being threatened with nuclear annihilation isn't something people will easily forgive or forget, so I'm rather baffled that no one in either state was screaming at the feds to sit Lex down in Old Sparky and give him the juice.
** It's not clear how long it's been since I, but II could still have Luthor in the midst of his criminal trial. This makes particularly good sense after ''Film/SupermanReturns'', where we learn that Luthor is free because, without Superman's testimony, he was acquitted of his crimes. So in II, Lex is probably just in prison while the government tackles the insanely difficult problem of building a case against a guy whose crime was at least partially undone by time travel.
** Forget the state criminal courts: if ''Returns'' was supposed to have retooled the storyline to take place in recent times, why wasn't his ass tossed into Guantanamo as a freakin' ''nuclear terrorist''? Even if Superman erased the damage, he still stole those nukes and set up the means to launch them.
*** Because you can't send a US citizen to Guantanamo, even if he ''is'' a terrorist. Even Jose Padilla never actually made it there, the court system put in an injunction to keep him in custody within the continental US while his case spent all those years being argued back and forth. Of course, there's still several plot holes in this sequence - a prisoner who committed nuclear terrorism on the scale that Lex did would be in the single worst cell in the entire US prioson system even if he had the IQ of a carrot. Given the escape risk posed by someone as brilliant as ''Lex Luthor'', they should have had him in isolation 24-7, in a "supermax" facility like Marion or Leavenworth, and quite possibly surrounded by half a battalion of Marines.
*** Also, the retcon of 'without Superman's testimony, he walks' makes no sense. If the events of Superman 1 are still canon, then there's at least half a dozen US soldiers who can pick Lex out of a police line-up as the guy who helped steal their nuclear missile truck; Lex wasn't wearing any kind of facial disguise during that one scene, just a silly truck driver's hat. Also, Lex Luthor is on record as the guy who bought all that 'useless desert' property, so even his motive is traceable. And lastly, ''Miss Tessmacher face turned to help Superman'' -- what, she wouldn't turn state's evidence too?
* When other Kryptonians show up on Earth why are they instantly a threat to Superman in physical combat? Here's the thing they get equal strength, sure I get that. But they don't get equal experience and skills, or rather they shouldn't. Zod's a good example of someone who should have gotten curb stomped because of his military experience. The vast majority of martial arts in the real world and presumably on Krypton where they were more or less ordinary humans is based on the idea of gravity and "solid" opponents. Learning a punching combination loses a lot of it's usefulness when your second punch launches the guy three hundred feet and you gotta catch up. Likewise a wrist lock doesn't work if you can fly. Superman (and other similarly powerful characters) should be destroying these guys in curb stomp battles until they at least acclimate to the difference for the same reason why a martial artist is more than capable of beating opponents physically on par or even superior to them. I suspect that boxing would be a vastly different sport if everybody could shoot lasers from their eyes, move close to the speed of light, and use buses as weapons. So different in fact that any experience you had going in would work against you for all the reasons just listed.
** The fact that he's trying to avoid collateral damage and civilian casualties likely limits what he can do. In a fair fight, he probably could wipe the floor with other Kryptonians but in a typical, mid-Metropolis super-fight, they can distract him by flinging a bus full of orphans at a puppy dog factory or lasering away the support cables on a nearby bridge. Also, they're usually trying to kill him, using the full extent of their powers to do so, whereas Clark will have to pull some punches.
** Plus, he's just plain outnumbered. Three against one is bad odds. And while he's had more experience using his powers himself, confronting those same powers ''in other people'' is just as new of an experience to Clark as it is to the villains. If anything, they might have a major edge in experience at super-vs-super combat, if the trio'd spent part of their off-camera time tussling ''each other'' to test what they can do.
** While it's true that the talented amateur who doesn't know what he's doing can be the greatest threat to someone skilled in specific style, the point remains that, in a fight, knowing how to fight is better than not knowing how to fight. Superman's just never needed to bother to learn how to fight, since if he threw even a starter boxing punch properly, he'd turn someone's head into red mist. Superman definitely gets a leg up in the massive fight in Metropolis because he knows the limits and uses of his powers better than Zod and company, but Zod and Co. know how to fight and are used to working together as a unit. The real deciding factor in that battle is that none of them can actually hurt each other, and meanwhile they're wrecking the city, so Superman decides to move the fight elsewhere. Superman's greater facility with his powers couldn't mop the floor with Zod, and Zod's superior military experience couldn't mop the floor with Superman, because they're all ''completely invulnerable''.
* In the Richard Donner cut, Superman does the whole spin the Earth backwards thing --- BUT! He goes back to that diner to beat the bully up! If he reset history, then the diner fight doesn't happen in the first place! So how does the bully (and the diner owner) remember Clark from a fight that never happened? And by that point, Zod, Ursa and Non had done MonumentalDamage, including knocking down the Washington Monument and knocking down most of the White House -- so did Superman only undo the stuff that happened to Metropolis? But then, Lois no longer remembers that Clark is Superrman, so he would have had to undo EVERYTHING. So, again, how does the diner bully remember Clark?
** What must have happened in the "final" timeline is that first Clark did everything he did originally, and towards the end of his "original" actions his time-travelling self shows up elsewhere and saves Lois. Then the first Clark leaves to go back in time, leaving only time-traveller Clark.
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*** "Such a fall." All we see of the fall is them falling about five feet into mist. For all we know, the floor of the crevice is only a few feet lower than the mist.
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****But in the original theatrical cut they fall to their death. There is no possibility they survived such a fall. They had no powers left. No human would survive that. Also if they survived they would have teamed up with Luthor again.
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* For what it's worth, Superman and Lois married in the comics in 1996 'til reboot did them part in 20011.
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* For what it's worth, Superman and Lois married in the comics in 1996 'til reboot did them part in 20011.
2011.
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** Simple capatalistic pragmatism, maybe. I once worked in a retail facility which had customers behaving badly, and I tried to throw them out only for my supervisor to tell me I couldn't really do that. Presumably because whatever their very real and evident faults, they're still paying customers.
