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Superman's heat vision is a cool tool that allows him to project rays of energy (IR, X-Ray,or whatever the writers come up with) over an undefined range. He has used it for many great (and not so great) feats, including melting glaciers, shaving and leaving writings on walls.

There is one more use one can think of for such a versatile power: cooking! Has Superman ever used his heat vision to cook (not his enemies!) food?

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    In the Everyday Heroes webcomic, Summer tries to defrost a chicken in a few seconds with her heat vision, with disastrous results. eheroes.smackjeeves.com/comics/1891177/chain-of-events
    – b_jonas
    Feb 19, 2017 at 14:20
  • “There is one more use one can think of for such a versatile power” — just one? Feb 19, 2017 at 16:04
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    @PaulD.Waite well, there's also this. Feb 19, 2017 at 16:06
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    Forget Heat Vision... Meat Vision is my superhero power of choice.
    – CakeDragon
    Feb 20, 2017 at 10:53
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    In my youth I had a superman comic from the 1960s or 1970s where Superman travels in time to ancient Rome and invents popcorn, which is cooked with his heat vision. Feb 20, 2017 at 16:04

4 Answers 4

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There are two examples that I know of:

  • In the epilogue of Kingdom Come, the Trinity meets in a cafe. Bruce orders "Steak. Well-done.", but the steak he's brought is not even "a shade over medium". Instead of calling for a waiter, Clark decides to make himself useful for once:

    Bruce prepares to call the waitress; Clark uses his heat vision to cook the steak thoroughly

  • In a deleted scene from Superman II (1980), with Christopher Reeve, titular hero uses his heat vision to cook a soufflé in his Fortress of Solitude:

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    I didn't even realize that was a deleted scene. They must've added it back to some other cut that I watched.
    – Hack-R
    Feb 20, 2017 at 2:38
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    Doesn't Dean Cain do it in Lois and Clark at one point too?
    – Chris
    Feb 20, 2017 at 15:42
  • @Chris no idea what you're talking about, since I haven't seen this film Feb 20, 2017 at 17:00
  • Clark should have zapped blasted Bruce for ordering his steak well done and put him out of his misery. Feb 20, 2017 at 17:32
  • That's not a deleted scene. It was in the original release of Superman II. Not sure if it's also in the Richard Donner recut version.
    – Kyralessa
    Jun 25, 2021 at 12:19
31

In the (rightfully) maligned Superman IV, Superman and Clark Kent somehow end up on a sort of double date with Lois Lane and Lacy Warfied (played by Mariel Hemingway), at the latter's apartment. He has to distract the two women so he can change back and forth, and one way he does this is using his heat vision on the roast in the oven. It starts smoking, and Lacy runs to deal with it, finding it perfectly cooked when she pulls it out.

enter image description here

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    wouldnt he burn the door first?
    – lois6b
    Feb 20, 2017 at 12:02
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    @lois6b must be something between x-rays and heat vision... I'd call it microwave vision!
    – Theraot
    Feb 20, 2017 at 12:07
  • @Graipher: The oven in the gif is a regular oven, not a microwave oven.
    – raznagul
    Feb 20, 2017 at 14:08
  • @raznagul Ah, you are right. Somehow it looked very small, which my brain immediately associated with it being a microwave oven.
    – Graipher
    Feb 20, 2017 at 14:09
  • @lois6b If it was focussed from a large area to a small one, it would only heat the door up a bit. Perhaps Superman can warp the path that light travels in some way... (Gravity manipulation, anyone?)
    – wizzwizz4
    Feb 20, 2017 at 20:09
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Early 1960s Here's a comic cover from the early 1960s. Another cover featured a one-shot character, Superman Junior, who roasted hot dogs with his xray vison as Superman (Sr.) chilled lemonade with his super-breath.

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  • Haha :D Brilliant! Aug 1, 2017 at 20:52
8

In Smallville episode 207 ("Lineage"), Clark uses heat vision to toast a slice of bread

enter image description here

In Smallville episode 420 ("Ageless"), Clark uses heat vision to warm a bottle of baby formula

enter image description here

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