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According to the latest incarnation of Superman (I may be wrong here), he gets his powers from his Kryptonian heritage, and we've seen that he lives up to the 853rd century (if not more), so, are we to assume that he's the only Kryptonian that's lived so long?

Before Krypton was destroyed, didn't any other Kryptonian realized they're inmortal and could live potentially forever?

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You are talking about two different versions of the character. As to the lifespan of the New 52 Kryptonians, no information currently exists. Each continuity has different rules and potentials for the Superman character.

See Also: As of 2012, how many different canon versions of the Superman character exist?

DCnU or the New 52 is the current version of Superman in 2013. He can be identified by his lack of red briefs and his technological costume.

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  • DCnU - New 52 - Earth-0, Superman: Also known as Armored Superman (Superman) or Blue-Jean Superman (Action Comics). This is the latest version of Superman since DC has started their latest reboot of the DC new Universe called the DCnU or the New 52, denoting 52 separate universes that survived their previous reboot.

  • Much of what we know about Superman has been retained with the obvious exceptions of his involvement with Lois Lane (she has, at least temporarily) been supplanted with his interest in Wonder Woman and his costume losing its briefs and becoming a suit of nano-technological armor.

Superman Prime

  • The Immortal Superman you are talking about is Superman Prime, a character from the previous DC Universe, a continuity which no longer exists and was erased in the last Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline. Superman Prime is the identity taken in the future by Superman in the DC One Million storyline. It distinguishes him from all the other supermen, who, all descended from him, have protected Earth in his absence.

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    It's also important to note that Superman Prime was the "Immortal until killed" kind of functional immortal. AS long as he could continue to absorb solar radiation from a yellow star, and not be killed by his weaknesses (magic and kryptonite)he would continue to live indefinitely.
    – Monty129
    May 23, 2013 at 9:48
  • Regarding New 52 continuity, Superman Unchained includes a theme which strongly implies that continuity's Superman will be as ageless as Wraith. Sep 17, 2015 at 19:17
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Since I'm not aware of a clear answer to this from any official source, I'm going to just use some logic.

We know that Kryptonians drew their energy from their sun, which was a red giant. Under the light of that star, they had only the abilities of normal humans. This would tend to suggest they were not immortal while on Krypton, but just in case I'll break it down:

  1. We know Kryptonians age and reproduce. The ruling council is portrayed as elders, and the obviously have babies.
  2. Aging GENERALLY means increase of entropy, aka breakdown of bodily functions and eventual death.
  3. If Kryptonians were in fact immortal, then they would have a MAJOR population problem if they continued to have children. We have no reason to believe this is the case.

So I'm going to say that no, I don't believe Kryptonians were immortal on Krypton. And since they were highly xenophobic, they did not in their latter days leave the planet. If they had, they might have discovered that their life spans suddenly increased. We know that at least Jor-El realized the vast powers a Kryptonian would have under the light of a different sun. But we also know that Jor-El did not have a good reputation among his peers. How many Kryptonians would have believed him?

Therefore I conclude that Kryptons were not immortal on their own planet, and were unaware that if they left their planet, they would become immortal or at least have very long lifespans.

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  • There are canon sources available. While your suppositions are interesting and certainly true, the DC Universe's writers have chosen to interpret Superman and Kryptonians in a variety of ways depending on what era the character was written in and what editorial mandates are available at the time. On some versions of Krypton, birth was strictly regulated and required artificial assistance. May 23, 2013 at 14:43
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In nearly all mainstream continuities, it is understood that Superman's aging is slowed down by an extreme factor. I don't have references, but there have been a few occasions where Superman avoided a romance with Lois precisely because he would remain young while she grew old & died. References to this were made in non-mainstream comics as well, such as Kingdom Come (spoiler-ish description of the scene below):

When Diana first contacts a retired Superman, he is living in self-exile up at the Fortress of Solitude. A bitter Kal-El has severed all ties with humanity, apparently following the death of his wife (Lois). When Diana expresses her sympathy, Kal responds with the detached sentiment humans die, they grow old. The context insinuates "They grow old, WE do not." However, it should also be noted that Kal-El has minor gray streaks in his hair at the temples, generally a sign of aging.

Also, in Superman: Red Son, there are references to Superman's aging:

Near the end of the book, after Superman's "death", hundreds of years have passed and Kal-El's narrative notes that he's starting to feel the passage of time. His powers are duller and he's not as strong or fast as he used to be. Of course, this may also have to do with the fact that the Earth's sun is slowly turning red due to its own age.

The reduction in aging is directly tied to his abilities under a yellow sun, so it is presumed that Kryptonians under their native sun would age & die naturally. Also, Kal-El's aging is likely unique since he is the only Kryptonian who has absorbed the rays of a yellow sun since childhood. He aged normally (by human standards) until around 30, so obviously the aging factor didn't kick in until then. A mature Kryptonian who later moved to a yellow sun - say, at age 30 - would likely have to absorb the radiation for decades before their aging would slow, but they could potentially be a 60-year-old for a few centuries (IF the radiation affects adult physiology the way it affected Kal-El during youth).

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No, Kryptonians are not immortal, because of the sun which they call the yellow star. The sun allows them to have supernatural powers, but also makes them mortal. Without it they are immortal.

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  • Do you have some sort of source of that information?
    – Deleteman
    Jul 11, 2013 at 12:38
  • So, by your logic, Kryptonians are immortal under their own sun. So, yes, Kryptonians are normally immortal.
    – phantom42
    Jul 11, 2013 at 12:58
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I realize this post is old, but I want to clarify this. A delay in the aging process along with being vulnerable to just about nothing, in no way makes one immortal. Immortality is the ability to live forever, only dying in the case of outside intervention. Contrary to an earlier comment, the yellow son doesn't make him sacrifice Immortality for superhuman powers. Sunlight i.e., vitamin D, is essential for human life as much as his. Difference is apparently his metabolism is vitamin D based and very, very sensitive. Our metabolism is vitamin b based and for us, we may feel a slight boost after taking vitamin b, but it certainly doesn't allow us to fly, shoot lasers out of our eyes.

Furthermore, I'd like to explore the reasoning behind 4 of his abilities. His powers are based on the fact that krypton has a much higher gravity force. How does decresed gravity allow laser eyes, living in the vacuum of space, flying, specifically in cases where his speed increased without the help of an outside force, and impenetrable cell make up(i.e., skin.)

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  • Does this answer the question? Is your answer “There are no immortal Kryptonians”?
    – Adamant
    Mar 28, 2017 at 5:50

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