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Yes, I'm messing with the powerset of an extremely long-lived character. I'm not suggesting that future iterations of Superman dramatically alter his powers; he's too iconic and well-known. I'm thinking of what sort of powers could be given to someone fitting Superman's character type and image.
What is Superman? I think nearly all interpretations have some basic general properties. He's amazingly more powerful than the average person. He always tries to save people, is a fundamentally good person, maintains a secret identity that makes him still feel down to earth. People look up to him as a symbol that good always triumphs. Other small features might include that he's always holding back his immense power.
So our general goal is to find a set of powers that makes Superman:
Good at saving people, but not SO good that he trivializes possible civilian damage (A mass teleportation power or the power to quickly revive people from the dead would not fit, for example)
Makes him seem extremely powerful (Something quiet and in the background like long-range probability manipulation doesn't fit)
Makes him stand out and improve his PR (So not something that temporarily slices people apart into immobile flesh cubes)
Doesn't make it impossible for him to maintain a secret identity (A power that makes Superman a living black hole permanently wouldn't work)
Hopefully makes sense under the context of someone who lived on a red star planet and moved to Earth
I think the following powerset fits:
Contact based gravity manipulation: This explains Superman's ability to fly quickly to the dangerous area and how he's useful for clearing out rubble and saving civilians. It's also versatile enough for Superman to use his current fighting style, which frequently involves pummeling people into the ground (gravity manipulation makes that simple).
The ability to transfer force and kinetic energy across wires that he controls: A wire manipulation ability lets Superman still be capable of incapacitating enemies. It also provides some measure of defense by allowing him to conduct harmful forces away from him, making him able to dramatically block attacks. It's also visually impressive and augments his gravitational manipulation.
High Speed Regeneration: Superman still needs to seem nigh invincible to bystanders. High speed regeneration lets that happen, while still not being as plot difficult to write around as mere extreme durability. He still needs to use his other powers to stop attacks that would kill him instantly before regeneration kicks in.
The power to store and reemit light: What better way to be a beacon of justice than to be a literal beacon? Shining brighter than everyone else is a fast way to get attention and distract enemies. He can also quickly vacuum up all the light in the region to let him get a quick getaway and conceal his identity.
Optional addition: Enhanced reflexes and brief superspeed equivalent to fast things in the field of view.
These powers are also explainable as part of Superman's heritage as a Kryptonian. The ability to manipulate gravity is important, since planets orbiting red dwarf stars often are "Super-Earths" with enhanced gravity. Without altering your own personal gravity and things you touch, Kryptonians would never be able to stand as tall as they do in such heavy conditions, or construct such elaborate buildings (yes, they have super-technology but the gravity manipulation could be a part of it). It also explains why Clark didn't atrophy any of his muscles on his spaceflight to Earth; he simply created his own gravity. High speed regeneration comes from the fact that Superman can absorb more energy from the sun to charge his body's natural regeneration. The power to store light much more effectively on earth can be explained by how Kryptonians can naturally convert low wavelength light into energy which they rerelease to power themselves and glow when venturing to the dark side of their planet (to be in the habitable zone, their planet would be tidally locked to the sun). This is much more effective under a yellow sun. Finally, he gets a burst of superspeed and enhanced reflexes when things in his field of view move rapidly. On Krypton, a subtle change in illumination level would mean that a deadly solar flare was approaching, which would mean to get shelter fast. On Earth, changes in illumination are more dramatic, and thus trigger his super-speed in a more extreme way.
So essentially, the new Superman would essentially fail to charge their light under a red sun, wouldn't be able to heal as rapidly, and would lose their ability to control wires (this is the only power that's hard to explain). But they'd still have gravity manipulation.
Changing a Superman type character's powers to be less in line with the original is something that I've enjoyed seeing in the Reckoners Trilogy. Steelheart, their Superman expy, has thepower to turn non-living things to steel and absolute invincibility against anyone who is scared of him, instead of the power of ice breath and heat vision.
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