Computer programmer Gus Gorman is hired by financial tycoon Ross Webster to seize control of a weather satellite and annihilate Colombia's coffee crop. When Superman manages to thwart the plan, Webster commands Gorman to use the satellite to locate kryptonite, the Man of Steel's mortal weakness. But a missing unknown element in the kryptonite, replaced by Gorman with tar, causes an unintended side effect when presented to Superman.