Question: How did Superman get his powers back? I don't understand what that green crystal did.
Answer: In the theatrical cut, nobody really knows why the green crystal restored his powers. However if you watch the Richard Donner cut, it is explained that the green crystal is a communication device that helps Superman talks to the residual essence/spirit/ghost of his father Jor-El. Before he died, Jor-El gave the crystal to his son. Jor-El anticipated that Kal-El might give up his powers, and he also anticipated that Zod might eventually escape the Phantom Zone, so Jor-El lets his son absorb the leftover energy of his spirit, thus restoring all his Kryptonian powers.
Question: At the end of the movie when Clark and Lois are talking to each other at the Daily Planet, Clark kisses Lois and she forgets that Clark is really Superman. How could that happen and why would Clark make Lois forget that he is Superman, since she promised not to tell anyone?
Answer: Superman was be able to kiss Lois in such a way that the heightened emotion wiped out her memory of his identity. To answer your second question, even though Lois promised not to tell anyone, Superman decided he does not want even her to know his secret identity.
Answer: I don't agree that he didn't even want her to know because he struggled in the beginning of the first movie with telling her on the first date. He was about to tell her from the beginning who he was. I don't understand why he was breaking it off with her at the end of the second movie and erased her memory to help her get over him. This confusion continues when he develops a relationship with another woman in the third or fourth movie.
At the end of the movie, he realises her love for him is torturing her, so he decided to remove the memories to end her suffering. It works, too, because as soon as she forgets, she's back to her old, happy self.
Question: In relation to "Superman Returns",since it's supposed to take place after "Superman II," which version is considered canon? The Lester cut or the Donner cut?
Answer: There's been no categorical statement, but given that the theatrically released Lester cut is the one that everybody knows, with the Donner cut being a relatively unknown curiosity, it would seem much more logical to consider that the Lester cut to be the canonical version of the story.
Answer: Bryan Singer has a great relationship with Richard Donner and his wife, whose production company has produced all of the X Men movies, 4 of which Singer directed. Singer would have also directed X-Men: The Last Stand, but decided to do Superman Returns instead. He absolutely made Superman Returns building from Donner's cut of Superman 2. Superman Returns spoiler ahead: in Superman Returns, Lois Lane has a child. We see that the child has superhuman strength, and that it is Superman's son with Lois. In Lester's version, Superman and Lois consummate their relationship after he loses his Kryptonian powers, when he is an ordinary man. This would have made an ordinary child. But in Donner's version, Superman and Lois sleep together when he is still Superman, before he chooses to become an ordinary man, explaining why the child we see in Superman Returns has superhuman strength.
Question: I don't understand the opening. What was the object that Zod broke in half, and why was it so important (considering it had a guard standing near it)?
Chosen answer: We're never told.
Question: Can someone explain to me what exactly was the explanation for the Superman logo projectile that he throws off his chest towards the end? that just seemed like an incredible plot hole and totally unexplainable as Superman's suit is never shown to have any powers in this film series.
Chosen answer: It's not a plot hole. It's just a power we've never seen before or since. However, in the history of Superman (like in the old TV show and such) it's a common thing for Superman to suddenly have a power we'd never been told about then never see again. It's weak story telling, but it's not a plot hole.
Answer: The cellophane S is not a power of Superman's. It was created by the technology in the fortress of solitude. The same goes for the holograms.
Question: Why does Non never speak?
Answer: Jor-El calls him a "mindless aberration" and "without thought or voice." So it's either some sort of mental or physical defect.
Question: This was in the Richard Donner cut: Why does Lois want to expose Superman's identity? That and why doesn't she think it through? She's risking the safety of his family after all.
Question: For the Richard Donner version, how were they able to re-shoot certain scenes? For example, I noticed in one scene that after Lois lands in the fruit stand, she looks up to see Clark looking out the window. It's clear this isn't Christopher Reeve because he sounds different but, what about scenes that required to go back and re-shoot other scenes that have never been in Lester's version?
Answer: Much of the footage used was filmed with the original actors at the same time as the first film. It simply wasn't used for the Lester version. The scene in the apartment where Lois attempts to prove Clark is Superman, however, was actually the original screen test (note the drastically different hairstyles, as well as Christopher Reeve's thinner build).
Question: In the Richard Donner version, after Superman reverses time so that the events of the movie never happened, why would he go back to the diner and get even with the guy who beat him up, when earlier he chose to remove his powers?
Question: 1. Did Luthor kill Miss Tessmacher after going to the North Pole? 2. How do Clark and Lois get back from the North Pole without freezing to death? 3. Why does he go back to that diner since Superman should be above petty revenge? 4. If the villains have Superman's powers then how could Ursa be affected by the snake bite? She shows irritation from being bitten.
Answer: 1. No. 2. It's unclear, but can assume Clark had that part planned. 3. Agreed, this is out of character, but Clark isn't perfect. 4. Exactly, she shows irritation. There's no indication the bite actually hurt her or broke her skin. But as someone who is only now realizing the extent of her powers, she reacted as though she thought it might have.
Answer: Superman was well educated regarding his home planet's history. All this information was left for him by his parents at the secret installation at the North Pole.
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