Kal-El - Immortal or not?

[ManSinha]

Lobo has a regeneration factor that in some instances allows him to heal from otherwise very severe injury.
Should Superman have the same kind of healing factor? I know he has one - but it has been portrayed inconsistently
Also - while I am sure the topic has been posted and debated before - is he or should he be, immortal - I am not talking (very) long lived - I am talking true immortal like Diana or Vandal Savage - and why?

[dangleo61288]

Lobo has a regeneration factor that in some instances allows him to heal from otherwise very severe injury.
Should Superman have the same kind of healing factor? I know he has one - but it has been portrayed inconsistently
Also - while I am sure the topic has been posted and debated before - is he or should he be, immortal - I am not talking (very) long lived - I am talking true immortal like Diana or Vandal Savage - and why?

No, immortality is kind of overdone with powerhouses. I think that a better story can be told if the opposite was true. That Superman's powers come at the cost of a shorten lifespan. That normal humans like Lois or Bruce or Lana would actually out live him. He would literally live like he was dying.

[MosSuperman]

No, immortality is kind of overdone with powerhouses. I think that a better story can be told if the opposite was true. That Superman's powers come at the cost of a shorten lifespan. That normal humans like Lois or Bruce or Lana would actually out live him. He would literally live like he was dying.

Shorter lifespan? No

[Lax]

Lobo has a regeneration factor that in some instances allows him to heal from otherwise very severe injury.
Should Superman have the same kind of healing factor? I know he has one - but it has been portrayed inconsistently

I'd rather they play up the durability more so than any healing factor. Make him similar to classic Juggernaut from marvel.

Also - while I am sure the topic has been posted and debated before - is he or should he be, immortal - I am not talking (very) long lived - I am talking true immortal like Diana or Vandal Savage - and why?

I prefer a Superman who doesn't age.

[Zero Hunter]

I like a Superman that ages but slowly. I think one of my favorite portrayals of him in the future was in the JSA story line Thy Kingdom Come where in the end it shows Superman still alive in the 31st century watching the Legion of Superheroes fly over head while Clark is a very old man smiling at the legacy he helped create.

[Tayswift]

superman isn't immortal period

[Sacred Knight]

Not immortal. But I like that he physically ages really slow.

[manduck37]

I don't think he needs to be immortal. I like the idea that his powers give him a long or very long lifespan though. Having those powers that preserve and keep him durable also keep him young. Or take the Morrison approach and like a myth he disappears to return in a higher form in the distant future. One of the things I always liked about Superman is his impact on the future and how he inspires future generations. You can't really have that inspiration if Superman is still around.

[Jon Clark]

I'd go with having the potential to be immortal, but probably not achieving it. In a perfect world where Kal got unlimited supplies of yellow sun and material to keep his cells renewed there might be no reason for him to ever die; but being Superman where he is regularly exposed to kryptonite, robbed of solar fuel, suffers injuries, etc; Kal has already damaged his body enough to eventually have it fail and on top of that in most futures he encounters something that kills him (Doomsday, Virus X, ...) before his natural lifespan ends.

[Robotman]

definitely not immortal, he just ages slowly. though i did like how it was handled in All Star where he became a being of total solar energy and would return to earth every so often to save the planet. i just wouldn't want that to be the in-continuity way of handling his longevity.

i have a little problem with how Superman ages. it's said that he gets stronger as he ages because his body has absorbed more solar rays. in some cases he even becomes immune to kryptonite. my issue is that his appearance kind of contradicts that. older Supes has graying hair and wrinkles which means that his cells aren't dividing like they used to. doesn't that mean he should be getting weaker like a regular aging creature? i know his strength doesn't come from his muscles but if he's aging that should mean his vital organs and joints should be getting weaker. he shouldn't be able to overexert himself like he used to. so maybe he's stronger but just doesn't have the stamina he once had.

[Johnny Thunders!]

I think of aging as a weakness, if he's invulnerable, he can survive indefinitely. 10 billion years in the future, the not immortal Superman looks like he's hit his late 40s. Maybe he's not immortal, but immortals are use to having him around.

[Agent Z]

I think of aging as a weakness, if he's invulnerable, he can survive indefinitely. 10 billion years in the future, the not immortal Superman looks like he's hit his late 40s. Maybe he's not immortal, but immortals are use to having him around.

He already ages. He goes from baby to adult just like a regular human.

[Johnny Thunders!]

He already ages. He goes from baby to adult just like a regular human.

True, for the Internet, " I think of the frailty associated with old age..."

[Ascended]

I dont think I'd want to see him have a Wolverine style healing factor. The guy is already hard to hurt, allowing him to heal within seconds from those wounds isnt really necessary. Plus, I adore the idea of a Superman who is always busted up. He should always have bruises, cuts, scrapes, the occasional broken bone, and some scars to remind him (and everyone else) that just because he's bulletproof he's not completely immune to injury.

As for the immortality thing.....I dont think he needs to be "properly" immortal like Vandal Savage (unable to die at all), nor immune to aging like Wonder Woman (will never die of old age but could still die from a severe injury). But he should age very slowly. John Bryne's Generations series introduced a fun idea where the older Clark got the slower he aged. So he'd still die from old age eventually, but the older he gets the slower it happens. That's a fun dynamic to toy around with. I dunno if it's the "definitive" version of his aging process that I'd like to see, but its a fun idea. However I typically support the All-Star/DC 1 Million idea; at some point Clark becomes too powerful for his body to contain it all, and Clark "ascends" to a higher state of being, beyond the confines of physical space and time. In my mind, that's the start of the Fifth World, and heralds the end of Darkseid and the Fourth.

Superman doesnt die, he just moves on.

[ManSinha]

As for the immortality thing.....I dont think he needs to be "properly" immortal like Vandal Savage (unable to die at all), nor immune to aging like Wonder Woman (will never die of old age but could still die from a severe injury). But he should age very slowly. John Bryne's Generations series introduced a fun idea where the older Clark got the slower he aged. So he'd still die from old age eventually, but the older he gets the slower it happens. That's a fun dynamic to toy around with. I dunno if it's the "definitive" version of his aging process that I'd like to see, but its a fun idea. However I typically support the All-Star/DC 1 Million idea; at some point Clark becomes too powerful for his body to contain it all, and Clark "ascends" to a higher state of being, beyond the confines of physical space and time. In my mind, that's the start of the Fifth World, and heralds the end of Darkseid and the Fourth.

Superman doesnt die, he just moves on.

That is indeed a very lovely way to put it