Was Superman struggling a little?

[Grissom]

When he's putting down the satellite it seems like he struggles a bit. I'm sure that thing is heavy but his arms and legs seem to be slightly buckling. Could he already be suffering ssome effects of whatever will occur in the film to weaken him. Remember in the TDKR novel, lack of sunlight weakened Supes a bit. Seems to be rather overcast throughout the film in certain scenes, doesn't it?

Just my silly little observation.

[The Laughing Fish]

I don't think this is anything new. When we see Clark fully grown up for the first time in Man of Steel, he was struggling to hold up the collapsing oil rig until all the workers had escaped safely by helicopter.

I'd say that this version of Superman's powers are drastically toned down compared to the Christopher Reeve era. Which it makes sense because it avoids possible criticisms i.e. "Superman is overpowered", and the audience can believe that he can co-exist with other superheroes like the Flash and Wonder Woman.  I guess you could compare it to John Byrne toning down the character to try something different to the Pre-Crisis era.

[The Joker]

I guess you could compare it to John Byrne toning down the character to try something different to the Pre-Crisis era.

Yeah, good analogy. Pre-Crisis Superman was immensely powerful, and I think, still to this day, would be considered one of the most powerful characters to have appeared in DC Comics of any era. Reeve's Superman spinning the earth backwards and turning back time, would be something emulating Pre-Crisis Superman rather than what we saw in Man of Steel, which come across as closer to how his power levels were in the Post-Crisis era.

[thecolorsblend]

Satellites (or whatever that thing is) are made from a bunch of different components screwed or bolted together. Same thing with oil rigs, ultimately.

I don't think it's necessarily a case of him struggle to lift something that heavy so much as to balance it in a way that it doesn't shatter in his hands under its own weight. Realism seems to be the watchword these days so this is a pretty honest handling of the material, I think.