In the long and turbulent history of DC Comics‘ publishing, one of the many constants of the superhero-centric empire has been Kryptonite as a weakness for signature character Superman. It often lessens his powers, but, over the decades there have been other varieties, too and, depending on what continuity you look at, what is available has certainly led to some bizarre and odd storylines.
To begin with, the official wiki for DC Comics lists 32 different types of the rock which once made up Superman’s homeworld. In the pre-Crisis times, some Earths had different forms and shades while others had only one, and, since the DC Universe was rewritten by the first Crisis event, there is now only one natural form of Kryptonite (green) while others are artificially produced.
One of the most well-known subsets is Red Kryptonite. It first appeared in 1958 and in the beginning would cause random things to happen to Kryptonians who were exposed to it. No two pieces cause the same thing and incidents which have actually happened to characters include turning into a dragon (again, comics can get very silly), experiencing excessive hair growth and experiencing a personality shift from good to evil and vice-versa. This version of the rock has been used in other media and most famously popped up on TV’s Smallville — although, with network rules, the harshest Clark could get was to wear some leather.
Other types which have made the jump from the page to live-action or animation include Black (splits a Kryptonian in two), Orange (affects animals not people), Silver (induces hallucinations), Blue (temporarily removes a Kryptonian’s powers), and even Gold Kryptonite (can permanently remove a Kryptonian’s powers). Pink Kryptonite also exists, which — sigh — is implied to have the ability to turn characters gay when they are exposed to it, though in other appearances it will switch one’s gender.
Kryptonite has long been established as Superman’s primary weakness, but a number of creatives have disdained the concept over the years. No less than icon Jack Kirby outright eradicated Kryptonite from continuity during his time working for DC and DCEU founder Zack Snyder made 2013’s Man of Steel the first Superman movie to avoid Kryptonite (but it found its way into Batman v Superman instead).
Whether it will show up in James Gunn’s upcoming DCU reboot Superman: Legacy is anyone’s guess. For now, all we can do is wait and see, although a surreptitious mention of the substance in Gunn’s The Suicide Squad may indicate Kal-El hasn’t seen the last of Kryponite yet.