This Superman Character May Be Too Powerful To Join The DCEU

It's a well-worn sentiment at this point that, even by superhero standards, Superman is a bit high-octane. He's strong enough to rotate planet Earth, immune to all but Kryptonian attacks, fly, has X-ray and laser vision, can keep up with The Flash in a race, and much more. This holds true even in the DC Extended Universe, aka the DCEU, where Ben Affleck's Batman is so worried about how devastating it would be if Superman (Henry Cavill) were evil that he builds special suits and weapons to fight him. Just look at the finale of "Zack Snyder's Justice League," where the physical embodiment of "truth, justice, and the American way" does more damage to Steppenwolf than The Flash, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Cyborg combined.

That said, there are versions of Superman from DC comics where he's even more powerful, to the point where it's a bit absurd. That absurdity is perfect for the hyper-imaginative pages of a graphic novel, but in a live-action movie that must at least pretend to be playing by the rules of reality, those versions of the character would ruin the sense of immersion. One such character is definitely too powerful to join the DCEU and makes even Cavill's Superman look weak by comparison.

If there is one Superman character from the who is probably way too overpowered for the DCEU, it's Superman Prime (via DC Database). The best way to understand how overpowered Superman Prime would be for the DCEU is to state one simple fact about him: He isn't just powered by the sun — he's a physical extension of it.

The Superman Prime version of Kal-El has a familiar origin story. He is the presumed sole survivor of his home planet's destruction, is raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent, and becomes the hero known as Superman. Superman Prime remains immortal and, after everyone he loves dies, he passes on the mantle of Superman and leaves Earth toward the end of the 21st century, after which he traveled across the universe for nearly 70,000 years. He returns briefly to Earth and passes on a small portion of his powers to his descendants on the condition they continue to fight for justice. After that, he decides to — brace yourselves — live inside the Sun for another 15,000 years, becoming almost infinitely powerful.

The Superman we know charges to full strength from even a short amount of exposure to the Sun while on Earth, so you can imagine how powerful Superman Prime is after being at the Sun's core for 15 millennia. Or maybe you can't imagine it. That's kind of the point. Superman Prime is stronger than any other version of an already impossibly strong superhero. He could take down the DCEU Superman without breaking a sweat, which means sadly, there's almost no chance we'll ever see him in the DCEU. It wouldn't make sense chronologically, either, since the DCEU films take place more or less around the same time they're released, whereas Superman Prime exists in the 853rd century. Then again, who knows what the future holds. It would be every DC superfan's dream to see all the wild versions of Superman brought to the big screen.