77 years after it first hit screens, the first ever display of Superman‘s powers in the film world is still undeniably fascinating, and almost impossible to forget – albeit for some different reasons nowadays. Superman’s almost 90-year-long history is matched with close to the same amount of DC movie history, making this side of the franchise all the more interesting.

Over the years, Superman’s movie history has seen him appear in over 50 films featuring him in some capacity, which has also naturally included a wide range of solo films centered on the hero himself. Unsurprisingly, this has also meant Superman’s powers have been shown off in countless different ways, though the first-ever film example still remains one of the most interesting.

Superman’s Powers Have Been Demonstrated In Some Huge Ways In His Movie History

Superman Has Managed Some Staggering Things With His Powers In DC’s Movie Roster

As one of DC’s biggest and strongest heroes, Superman movies have had no shortage of major examples of the hero’s powers and strength. Across his movie appearances, Superman has turned back time with his super speed, lifted huge chunks of earth in Superman Returns and Superman, and fought the Justice League by himself, in the case of the DCEU’s Kal-El.

It’s hard to overstate the Man of Steel’s powers in many ways, and his cinematic history certainly underlines this. Indeed, this is especially true if Superman’s animated movie history is factored in alongside his live-action releases, since they include many other mind-boggling feats of strength that underline how ridiculously powerful almost every version of Superman is.

However, just because Superman is capable of 200 quintillion tons or single-handedly repairing a fault-line made in the Earth doesn’t mean his movies have always leaned into the spectacular when it comes to demonstrating his abilities. In fact, the first time we saw Superman’s powers was very different, which is all the more entertaining to note now.

Superman’s First-Ever Film Demonstration Of His Powers Is A Lot More Humble

The 1948 Serial Starts Off Its Depiction Of Superman’s Powers With Some Lighter Examples Of What Clark Kent Is Capable Of

The original Superman film serial – which was initially released in 15 different segments rather than as one collective movie – unsurprisingly starts off via showing the Man of Steel’s backstory, before delving into Clark Kent’s upbringing and the development of his own superpowers. As such, almost the entire first “episode” of the film takes place before we see Clark’s powers.

However, 12 minutes into this first 20-minute-long look at Superman’s film story, the voiceover begins to delve into the matter of Clark’s powers, explaining that the baby Clark “developed rapidly, and it soon became clear that he was no ordinary infant.” This is accompanied by some demonstrations of a young child Clark’s powers.

The very first of these is a seemingly toddler-aged Superman pulling a full wagon of hay, and then a slightly older Clark using his x-ray vision to find a watch that had gotten lost in a huge pile of hay. Given just how intense demonstrations of Superman’s powers generally are on-screen today, it’s hard not to find this more toned-down initial display of Superman’s “unbelievable feats” endearing.

Why Superman’s First Film Demonstration Of His Powers Is So Toned-Down

There Appear To Be A Few Reasons The 1948 Serial Takes This Approach

Obviously, this decision makes a lot of sense firstly because we’re seeing a young Clark developing his powers, which naturally would involve lighter uses of his abilities. Without having yet honed them, it stands to reason that Superman’s skillset would be less evolved, and also that he would test it on lighter fare to start out with.

There’s also something to be said for what these moments suggest about this young Clark. The idea of a little Superman using his incredible superpowers from a very young age to essentially ᴀssist with chores sets up his desire to help others early on, and shows he’s always thought about them as a means with which to help others.

Additionally, it’s worth noting the 1947 Superman serial had a trickier task of selling the hero to an audience not as familiar with him yet. With Superman being over a decade old at this point, it’s easier to see how the decision may have been made to start out with as grounded a demonstration as possible of his powers.

Given his place in pop culture now, it seems this may have been the right move – or at least a move that makes the first power demonstrations of other movie versions of Superman seem more dramatic in comparison. Indeed, with almost a century of hindsight, seeing how Superman has grown on-screen since this time feels all the more special.