| Superman employs this scheme to drain the Kryptonian supervillians of their power. He lures them into the Fortress of Solitude after the beating he suffers in Metropolis. He rewires the power draining chamber so that the draining affects the people outside of it. And, after a bit of fighting (which includes the insanity of phasing all over the damn place), Lois Lane is threatened with her life.
So he has Lex Luthor know about the chamber, only telling him the normal effects of it. Luthor, being the poisonous snake that he is, blathers about it to General Zod. So they force Superman into the chamber, and think that they've drained him of all his power.
And Zod wants Superman to do the kneeling bit, and Superman responds by breaking his hands. And all the other villians are easily dispatched of, and order is once again restored to the world. | 
