DC Comics has been actively streamlining its canon timeline in recent years, using various works to correct long-standing continuity errors. The latest subject to be clarified is one of Superman's most iconic and exaggerated past abilities: reversing time through super speed.
The most famous instance of this power comes from the 1978 film "Superman," starring Christopher Reeve, where Clark flies around the Earth at incredible speeds, causing the planet to spin backward and thus reversing time. Similar abilities also appeared sporadically in Silver Age comics, granting Superman not only flight, strength, and heat vision but, at one point, even the ability to time travel through speed.
Notably, this classic sequence was later paid homage in the Arrowverse. In the 2018 crossover event "Elseworlds," The Flash (Barry Allen) and Supergirl (Kara Danvers) moved at super speed around the Earth, attempting to slow its rotation and thereby slow down time, all to prevent reality from being rewritten. This scene was widely regarded by various foreign media outlets as a direct tribute or variation of the 1978 "Superman" film's ending where the Earth's rotation alters time.
However, in the recently released "Batman/Superman: World's Finest Annual #1," DC has all but officially negated this ability. In the story, Batman, Superman, and The Flash are trapped in a cage. To escape, Barry suggests that Clark spin rapidly in place, attempting to turn back time.
Batman immediately responds that he'll pretend not to have heard the suggestion, and Superman directly counters, "How would that even work?" This dialogue effectively confirms that in current DC canon, Superman cannot reverse time simply by using his speed, nor should this ability be considered a fixed part of the Man of Steel's powerset.
Reports indicate that writer Mark Waid has been instrumental in helping DC establish a more unified official history in recent years through works like "The New History of the DC Universe," with the "World's Finest" series also contributing to this streamlining effort on a smaller scale.
In other words, this extraordinary ability of Superman, originating from classic films and older comics, has now been excluded from modern DC canon.
via： ScreenRant