With more images of Batman’s armor, the question has been raised as to how it might be able to contend with Superman and the idea that it grants Batman increased strength is a reasonable theory. The idea of armor or exo-skeletal strength enhancement is prevalent in real-world R&D and extensible from Kryptonian technology (but perhaps not in the way many assume).
There are many justifications on how Batman might, under contrived circumstances, stand a chance against Superman and increasing Batman’s strength is just part of it. However, this has re-raised the question as to whether Kryptonians in the Battle of Smallville had armor which granted them the abilities seen then. I don’t think so.
The topic has been raised before and it took me a while to crystallize my own thinking about what was actually happening, so my previous efforts tended to be more rebuttals of other theories than affirmative statement of what I think the final theory on powers actually is, but let me take one more crack at it. I’ll start with a quick rebuttal, a short statement of the rules, then a justification and support for what those rules are.
I respectfully request that you clear your mind of preconceptions and assumptions and try to operate under the theories to be set forth.
Issues With Strength
It’s never explicitly said in the film that the armor grants strength, so the only way you get there is by inference. However, inferring super-strength in the armor causes all sorts of consistency issues elsewhere, so it doesn’t solve or streamline the film any better than the traditional explanation.
If Kryptonian armor gives you powers like Faora’s speed or Zod’s truck-throwing strength:
Why wasn’t Car-Vex able to stop Lois? How did a door stop her and how was Lois able to wrestle with her? How were any of the guards stopped by the doors Jor-El closed?
Why didn’t anyone use these powers on Krypton during a military coup? Even if you say their armor on Krypton was different than the scavenged armor from the Era of Exploration, why would Kryptonian armor technology regress and lose powers that would be useful during a coup d’etat?
Now we certainly could create a theory to reconcile all of that, but it seems like creating a theory to justify a theory that was never spoken of or explicitly shown in the film.
The Four Rules of Kryptonian Powers
To reconcile everything you see in the film, you only need four rules:
- Kryptonians get access to ALL powers from radiation while exposed or stored.
- Kryptonians need training to USE all powers.
- Kryptonian helmets block sensory overload.
- Kryptonians lose access to energy stores while breathing Kryptonian atmosphere.
Each one of those rules are backed up by a scene and line of dialog, require no additional assumptions, and used together can justify every single scene in the film. Additionally, all of the rules are traditional except Rule 4, unique to Man of Steel but still not much different than other traditional weaknesses.
Rule 1 – Access To All Powers From Radiation
Superman gaining his powers from the Sun isn’t exactly new. This idea is reinforced by the film several times over. Jor-El says of the “main sequence yellow star” that, “His cells will drink its radiation.” Later, Jor-El says, “Your cells have drunken its radiation strengthening your muscles, your skin, your senses.” Then, Jax-Ur says, “The strength you derived from exposure to the Earth’s sun has been neutralized aboard our ship.” So Superman gets his powers from the Sun, unsurprisingly. Note that Jor-El does not ask about the atmospheric composition of the planet circling the star or explain Kal’s sensory powers as tied to atmosphere. Jax-Ur doesn’t mention Earth’s atmosphere when explaining Kal’s strength, but instead ties it to Earth’s sun. When Jor-El tells Kal to “Strike that panel” and expose himself to the vacuum of space, he doesn’t warn him to first take a deep breath because he’s empowered by Earth’s atmosphere. There’s no such warning because it’s not a condition of his powers.
The only line of dialog mentioning the benefits of Earth’s environment are when Jor-El says, “Earth’s gravity is weaker, yet its atmosphere is more nourishing.” However, he is not tying, restricting, or basing Kal’s powers in Earth’s gravity or atmosphere. Jor-El is merely explain how an alien could live in the environment of another world, which sets up the weakness when Kal-El collapses on the Black Zero. Note that Jor-El mentions these qualities of Earth together and in the same sentence, therefore any reliance on this line of dialog as an explanation for the powers should rely on both atmosphere AND gravity. Yet, we’ve seen Superman demonstrate powers both in the vacuum of space and under the World Engine’s gravity beam, so these do not appear to be constraints or sources of his power. Nor does gravity appear to be a significant factor between Krypton or Earth at all since Lois is able to freely move about the Black Zero and we can observe their relative gravities to be similar (as acknowledged by WETA).
The idea that Kryptonians get all their powers from the Sun isn’t confrontational or new. It’s only a problem if you make assumptions about atmosphere and try to parse the powers when the film didn’t say you had to do that. If you think about all the Kryptonians who have ever come to Earth throughout Superman lore, the vast majority gain the full suite of powers upon immediate exposure to the Sun. In a handful of cases, they need more time to store-up energy to gain all powers, but that tends to be the exception rather than the rule.
In the few instances where the visitors don’t have all their powers are accounted for under Rule 2.
Rule 2 – Use Of Powers Needs Training
Question: Why didn’t Clark fly in the oil rig rescue? Answer: Clark hadn’t learned how to yet.
Much of the struggle to parse the powers with technology, environment, or theories stems from trying to resolve or reconcile why not all the powers are used from the outset. The unspoken assumption is that if they had access to such powers certainly they would use such powers, right? Except the film gives us an explicit example of that not being the case: Superman learning to fly.
Superman always had access to flight, the capacity to do so, but his actual use of the power demanded he learn to do it. There was no change in technology or environment, only Superman’s training.
In fact, we get several examples like this: 9 year-old Clark learning to focus. Superman learning to fly. Zod learning to focus in the arctic. Zod discovering heat vision in a fit of rage. Zod learning to fly. In dialog, every one of these scenes are tied to training! Focus, testing your limits, mastering your senses, training on a farm, etc. The film explicitly provides an explanation for limited use of powers despite full access to powers.
So there is no need to imply, infer, or create a theory tied to technology or environmental limitations which training or experience is a sufficient explanation. The rule is already given to us, so why create a new one?
This is quite a traditional idea. In other stories, Kryptonians who come to Earth almost always have a short training sequence to show their discovery and exploration of their powers. We get this idea with Kal learning to fly and Zod learning to focus in the Arctic. Anytime a Kryptonian doesn’t use a power they should otherwise have access to can be explained by a lack of training or experience.
Rule 3 – Kryptonian Helmets Block Sensory Overload
Okay, so here’s the crux of a lot of the confusion. When the helmet goes down, new powers seem to kick in, therefore there is a rush to tie the powers to different radiation levels, atmospheric exposure, and other similar theories. It is, perhaps, one of the weak points of the film that this isn’t clearly explained leading to many competing theories (although I’d argue if you follow them all only a tiny handful are free from contradiction). So what makes my explanation any better than the other theories out there?
It’s what Superman says!
Zod asks, “What have you done to me?”
Superman responds, “My parents taught me to hone my senses, Zod. Focus on just what I wanted to see. Without your helmet you’re getting everything. And it hurts doesn’t it?”
Superman explicitly says this to Zod. Superman was just taught that part of the apparatus is called a “breather”, but he didn’t say to Zod that he was suffering because of atmospheric exposure or a compromised “breather.” Superman doesn’t talk about Zod gaining access to new or more powers. Rather, Superman correctly assesses the issue as a lack of focus (training and experience) compensating for the failure of Zod’s helmet over a power Zod already had. The sentence only makes sense if Superman assumes Zod has the power and that the issue is focus. If the issue was the atmosphere, Zod could hold his breath (Superman has already proven he can survive in a vacuum) or some such and the issue would leave him.
How would Superman even know that exposure to Earth’s atmosphere is the trigger for gaining sensory powers and subsequent sensory overload? We’re generally not shown Clark intentionally depriving himself of Earth’s atmosphere to make such a discovery and it would be a dangerous sort of experiment to test considering the consequences of the test failing. “Whoops, looks like you needed to breath to live. Sorry, you’re dead.” Moreover, how would Superman even know, conclusively and for certain, what Zod was breathing? Conversely, the film established that focus was a cure to the sensory powers. The issue was never access but training. Superman would have an intuition that clasping your hands over your ears (like he did as a child) or that a helmet might provide protection from sensory overload better than any atmospheric-based explanation.
I’ve explained in my videos why or how a helmet might serve to act as a crutch that provides an artificial band of focus for the Kryptonians who haven’t yet learned to focus, but the most persuasive proof is simply that Superman says the issue is the lack of a helmet rather than exposure to Earth’s atmosphere.
I admit you can attempt alternate theories on this, the question is whether this matrix of rules creates any contradictions when compared to other theories?
Rule 4 – Kryptonians Lose Access To Their Power Stores While Breathing Kryptonian Atmosphere
We understand that exposure to Kryptonian atmosphere aboard the Black Zero makes Superman weak.
“I feel strange. Weak.”
“Here in this environment you are as weak as a human.”
“If that thing is making Earth more like Krypton won’t you be weaker around it?”
Which is really all you need to understand the vast majority of the movie and largely consistent with some portrayals of traditional weaknesses like Kryptonite or Red Solar Radiation (which have an array of nuance with respect to their specific mechanics in any given story in tradition). If you understand this much, you can navigate Man of Steel without contradiction for most of the film.
I offer only two nuances which are by no means necessary but streamline a lot of collateral explanation.
First, that Kryptonian atmosphere removes access to, but not power from, Kryptonian energy stores. I conclude this primarily because of how quickly the powers return with no time or ability to recharge. We know that Kryptonians store their energy like batteries because Jor-El uses the analogy of drinking or hydration twice (a function that relies on stores within the body), this view is consistent with the film, and this view is consistent with modern tradition.
Second, I propose that while Kryptonian atmosphere removes access to power stores, it does not in and of itself remove power access if the Kryptonian is exposed to radiation. By way of analogy, even if Kryptonian atmosphere removes the battery, it doesn’t unplug them from the wall. This is by no means an explicit or necessary inference, however, it greatly simplifies the Battle of Smallville.
While you can come up with rationales for what Zod is breathing in Smallville, why, and build an entire theory around it, if this second proposition is true, then it doesn’t matter and we don’t need to speculate and build theories on top of theories for things unspoken in the film. My preference is to not use two rules where one will do, so fewer rules that still present a consistent picture is my preference.
Behind-The-Scenes Creative Justification
Although the scene was cut from the film and never produced, we know that at one point the Krypton scene included a Kryptonian Warsuit which Jor-El could don or allow one of the robots to take over and fight alongside him. This means that modern Kryptonians did have armor that granted strength, but it was larger and worn over the armor they already wore, which presumably didn’t grant strength like the Warsuit.
While not in the film, it wouldn’t be a stretch for such designs to be available to humanity by way of Zod’s abandoned Arctic drop ship and act as the inspiration for powered armor in the DC Cinematic Universe. This would also give those designs the traditional bulk we expect from such suits when compared to the more form-fitting normal Kryptonian armor.
While Batman’s armor may have received some upgrades inspired by Kryptonian technology, careful inspection of high resolution images of its patina suggest a weathered suit that has seen use and abuse before its cinematic debut. It may have its origins elsewhere.
Conclusion
To review, my proposal is that you only need these four rules to reconcile every demonstration of power (or lack thereof) in the film:
- Kryptonians get access to ALL powers from radiation while exposed or stored.
- Kryptonians need training to USE all powers.
- Kryptonian helmets block sensory overload.
- Kryptonians lose access to energy stores while breathing Kryptonian atmosphere.
If there are issues or contradictions that arise because of these rules, let me know, but more importantly, let me know if there is an alternative with the same or fewer rules. We can always create special-case rules to accommodate any and every situation, but that becomes increasingly less elegant and less intuitive… it may strictly work as an explanation, but the value of an explanation where every answer is a special case is questionable.
The easier your rules, the closer they’re tied to dialog or a scene, the stronger your presentation or argument for their justification is going to be.
I left this question on the YouTube channel, but as it appears you are addressing comments here directly, I’m going to repost it here. I apologize if it seems like I’m bugging you!
This has to do with the whole notion of Kryptonian atmosphere blocking access to their solar reserves, their “battery” as you put it. Again, this is an amazing catch, as I have seen the movie several times and didn’t quite put that together. Everything you outline fits the events and the logic of the film perfectly. I have no doubt you are correct and that this was intended by the filmmakers.
I was just wondering if you had a theory as to WHY this would be the case, going back to Krypton and the evolution of Kryptonian “hominids.” Considering the fact that Kryptonians clearly evolved to store sunlight as a resource, why would their atmosphere block access to these stores? The only thing I could think was that the atmosphere changed relatively recently, perhaps “man”-made, and their metabolisms hadn’t become adapted to it yet? Maybe their technology was advanced enough at that point to compensate (say, solar storage devices in the home, “resolarators” as opposed to refridgerators) but not yet advanced enough to actuality change the atmosphere?
Anyway, just wondering if you’ve given this any thought on a purely hypothetical level – obviously it doesn’t affect the logic of the film or the application of your theory. Thanks!
Creatively, sometimes tradition trumps science. Superman didn’t start out as a solar battery in the 30s and 40s… although radiation- in the form of Kryptonite- was relevant to him in ’43 (radio) and ’49 (comics). In the 60s and for the next half-century plus, Superman was tied to solar radiation. In a certain sense, as a science fiction hero who continues with the times, it behooves Superman to stay one step ahead of popular science without necessarily adhering strictly to science… that’s the fiction part of “science fiction” after all.
To me, Superman was tied to radiation in the 60s as a reflection of pop-culture and pop-science of the 40s and 50s and the so-called “Atomic Age” and is it any wonder than Marvel’s heroes at the time were tied to cosmic rays, radioactive bite, radioactive waste, gamma bombs, and mutant children of the atom?
Questions of evolution, eugenics, genetic manipulation, etc. are definitely themes of Man of Steel, but only just reaching universal awareness in the United States. Which is to say, MOS is perhaps a bit ahead of its time as is your theory. When people completely accept that mechanism as intuitive and grade-schoolers take it for granted, then Superman will likely have the science fiction to address it… but we’re not quite there yet. If we’re honest, the mythos as a whole doesn’t hold up under strict scientific scrutiny and theories can only go so far in trying to increase plausibility… which is why the ultimate evolution of these characters may be anti-scientific in the end. For example, Flash tapping into a quasi-mystical force or Morrison essentially proposing Superman as the embodiment of fictional heroism diegetically as an excuse for it all.
Put another way, whatever point you pick along Superman’s timeline there’s going to be something inexplicable if held up to the light of science, but what people pick as the lens will evolve with popular science… going from Newtonian physics, to radiation, to evolution, to quantum mechanics, etc. Some theories or justifications work under a certain lens, but not others… for example, the traditional gravity explanation was an attempt to apply a lens of mathematical proportionality and pointing to a biological parallel in insects (ants and grasshoppers to begin with)… which all makes sense (superficially with the scientific sophistication of 10-year-olds in the 40s), but under other lenses or with greater scientific scrutiny it has issues.
In that sense, you’re trying to address one aspect of the evolutionary lens, but I think if you apply evolution with rigor or other scientific lenses you’ll probably run into issues. So, generally in a “literary” analytical approach, we’re looking more for self-consistency rather than scientific consistency. We don’t need to necessarily assume, for example, that it’s a “fact that Kryptonians clearly evolved to store sunlight” since that’s never expressly stated or shown and the ultimate reconciliation may be easier found in essentially magic. For all we know, their god, Rao, made them like that intentionally and their similarity with other humanoids is because Rao consulted with the pantheon of cosmics overseeing Earth’s development as well… probably not, but basically the level of speculation is too rampant and unconstrained for me personally to find interesting, especially with that X-Factor of Kryptonians looking exactly like humans on Earth… whatever your apologetics are for that probably have a greater outcome on any framework you develop than explanations for the solar battery ability.
Basically, we often figure out the rules of what happens and what will reliably happen before we figure out why it happens… if we ever do. Humanity has charted the movement of the stars, mathematically described the laws of gravity, etc. long before understanding the mechanisms… this video basically presents a theory to describe and predict such behavior with consistency, before we understand the mechanism (which will never happen because, ultimately, it’s fiction… soaking in sun doesn’t give or grant these powers). A decade or so from now quantum mechanics might be an intrinsic part of how we describe Superman’s powers or we may shrug and acknowledge he’s magic.
I always assumed the atmosphere/ship, contained trace amounts of kryptonite… It’s what powers there tech? Minute exposure seems to block powers and leave stored energy(BvS)… Maybe being a charged Kryptonian is a prerequisite of a kryptonite reaction… Maybe jorel shutdown/shielded the K reactor? An advanced ships “atmosphere” might well be a general term that includes things like radiation, maybe limited k radiation is needed for healthy kryptonians?
Hi Art, as the article and surrounding theories were written in 2013-2015- years before BvS came out- they constrained themselves to the evidence available in MOS, which did not explicitly exhibit Kryptonite. I think most people take Kryptonite in BvS to be a byproduct of terraforming (since samples were found both in Metropolis and by the World Engine in the Indian Ocean… but the Black Zero didn’t crash land like the World Engine did).
I haven’t run a logic matrix on all the circumstances and cases with Kryptonite entering the mix to see if this would shift my theories, but intuitively, I think there might be some superficial differences… I think the central one is that continual exposure to Kryptonite seems capable of killing, whereas unlimited exposure to Kryptonian Atmosphere seems harmless. You use charging to distinguish these two cases so you’d have to work through the matrix of case studies and theories to test if it hold up in all cases. Interesting thought experiment.
Hello, I did like the explanation you gave for the suits not giving them powers but I had a separate question regarding the Kryptonians themselves. Since Krypton had a gravitational force thirty-three times more powerful than Earth’s, would they not by nature, already be stronger and faster than humans before the boost in powers from solar radiation? And on the topic of senses, because of the harsh nature of Krypton wouldn’t their senses be more acute than humans? Also, I know Jax-Ur told Clark that while aboard the Black Zero he was as weak as a human, but do you think he meant that relativistically? When I say that I mean is he saying that Clark is as weak to other Kryptonians as humans are as weak to themselves? Please let me know your thoughts on these questions.
Other frameworks are possible, but I think the underlying premise of this one might not work. I agree that the film indicates Krypton has higher gravity, is a harsher environment, and Kryptonians- as a whole- are probably stronger and more adaptable than human Earthlings. However, I disagree that the gravity is that different or that their strength is that different.
Would you be able to tell me where you got the “33 times more powerful” figure from? It’s not in the movie and on the disc there’s a “Planet Krypton” feature which shows Krypton’s relative size to Earth (about 4 minutes in). Without going too deep into the science, 33 times gravity for a rocky planet is basically impossible… it’s too dense for naturally occurring materials (Earth is the most dense planet in our solar system) but even if a planet of heavy-elements somehow formed to create a planet with 33g gravity, the problem is that level of gravity would start gathering all the light elements around it and turn into a gas giant (ceasing to be a rocky planet)… go higher in gravity and you start heading towards star territory. So it’s not really possible to have a planet with surface gravity of that level to begin with. Certainly not with the specs we see (only slightly larger than Earth, rocky not-gas, habitable by organic beings, etc).
Even if you doubt that, we can plainly SEE that Krypton doesn’t have 33 times Earth’s gravity because we were on Krypton during the prologue during which we got to see many things fall (Jor leaping from the sky, H’Raka wounded, ships crashing, debris from explosions, etc.) and they all fall at- mostly- 9.8m/s^2 Earth-magnitude gravity… certainly not even twice the rate, much less an order-of-magnitude (times 10) greater!
Instead, it seems that their gravity is- at best- fractionally harsher (which is consistent with a compatible atmosphere… too low and you can be like Mars with air too thin for anything… too high and you become a gas giant). I agree that Kryptonians are generally stronger too, but mostly because of their eugenic policies, less so gravitational base-strength. If Car-Vex was 30x times stronger than Lois just normally, how could Lois possibly have succeeded in struggling with her and kicking her off? If Car-Vex is only fractionally stronger then it’s plausible that Lois could give her trouble and get away in a physical struggle we see in the film. Basically, a super-high gravity planet would cause more inconsistencies than it would fix.
Hello Doc, thank you answering my first question. I had read it in a comic on two occasions(I can’t remember the exact issue) and I already know that it is geologically impossible for a planet with life to have that type of gravity(I am studying geology, astronomy, and engineering in college). But given from what we saw in the movie with the World Engine and how it uses gravity to terraform planets, could it then be reasonable to believe that they would use Krypton’s gravity to make it like Krypton?
Here me out on this one for a moment.
Let’s look back to Martha said she would stay up at night as she listened to an infant Clark struggle to breathe. That would run in line with Clark coming from a planet with a higher gravity, given that molecules are not being pulled down as hard on Earth as it was on Krypton. Another thing is that when the World Engine is terraforming Metropolis, that any building that was not 10-stories or higher were almost crushed instantly when hit by the gravity field. This would lead me to believe that they are using Krypton’s gravity to make the Earth heavier and this works within reason when watching the film. What I mean is, look at when Clark is standing at the epicenter of the gravity beam but the most difficulty he is having is standing upright(which makes sense since because instead of the gravity the world all at once it is focused to one point) but when humans are in the gravity field, they are crushed and die almost instanteously. A recent paper was written by three physicists saying that the highest gravitational force a human being could survive is approximately four and a half times Earth’s gravity but they would to be as muscular as a Hafthor Björrnson to make it feasible. So while scientifically, Krypton could not have had a gravity thirty-three times greater than Earth’s, it seems that gravity of four to five times is more likely and would work within the movie’s reality. It’s not as insane as thirty-three times but significant enough that the average human would not survive it.
Also I have two tangents.
Tangent 1:
Since Kryptonians come from a planet with a higher gravity, wouldn’t it logically follow that their skin would be a lot harder to penetrate even before the solar radiation? I don’t really like to invoke future movies but in BvS it is shown that the first they were able to actually cause harm to Zod’s dead body is when a Kryptonite scalpel was used and keep in mind, they had that body for nearly two years but was completely undamaged until Luthor got his hands on it. Would like to know thoughts on this.
Tangent 2:
With the information that I provided, do you believe an average Kryptonian would have to be at least as strong and fast as Captain America before exposure to a yellow star? Again, not one to invoke future movies, but it would make sense why Bruce would wear the heavily-armored exoskeleton during the fight in BvS. While yes, without the armor Clark would definitely have been gentler, but I’m talking about after being hit with the Kryptonite gas. If Clark had swung and Bruce tried to block without the armor(and assuming the Clark would be as strong as Captain America depowered), Clark would have snapped Bruce’s left radius and ulna bones in half. What do you think?
Please let me know your thoughts to all my questions.
Congrats on your STEM studies. I agree the World Engine’s effect seems to affect gravity while operating, I don’t know whether it intends to or is capable of permanently altering the gravity of a planet (Professor Hamilton claims it’s increasing the planet’s mass- thus gravity- and atmosphere, but to what degree?). I don’t really agree with any of the other theories because you’re still using the premise of Krypton as a high gravity planet… but as I mentioned before, that’s not what we observe- the very CORE of scientific and logical thinking is to go by measurement and observation- NOT an imposition of a theory you WANT to be true OVER what you can SEE!
If Krypton was even a 2x gravity planet, you would SEE that when things fall on Krypton… falling at 20m/s^2 is dramatically and visibly different than a normal 1-g Earth fall. Since this is a clear observation and measurement we make with our eyes- not our thoughts or ideas- any subsequent theory has to be consistent with the visual observation OVER what we might want or like to imagine. Since we don’t even see a 2x / double speed fall, we can’t start using that as a premise, much less multiplying it again to a 4g world. In our solar system ONLY Jupiter has significantly higher gravity… and at ONLY 2.3gs… it’s already a gas giant (as predicted above) not a rocky planet. Instead, if Krypton is like- say- Neptune… at 1.1gs… everything Jor-El says is still true “higher gravity, harsher environment” but a ~10% difference is not something you could ordinarily perceive with your eyes alone and measurement using tools… making Krypton’s falling scenes plausible.
As far as the impacts, I think you’ve fallen for the Heavyworlder Trope which is certainly something in scifi, but not something seriously scientifically supported. There’s no reason to believe a 2x or even 4x change in gravity would affect your density, durability, or strength. It’s based in the wrong-headed belief that if you’re forced to carry around 4x the weight (your mass stays the same) then, of course, you have to be stronger… but we can already prove that isn’t true on THIS planet!
Deep sea marine life survive at depths where they aren’t just experience a measly 4x their own weight… no, these fleshy creatures are experiencing the equivalent water-press of 1,600 elephants standing on their heads! And yet the fleshy parts of these fish are no more durable or dense than what we see at sea level… they can withstand all that pressure and still are easily cut by a knife and dissected for study… plus their muscles and strength are nothing special and basically no different than sea-level creatures. So it does not follow that a carbon-based life form experiencing a mere 4x gravity should suddenly be more durable, denser, or stronger… and we’ve got literally thousands of deep sea creatures to the contrary.
Whether Kryptonians are “peak humans” or not is more a product of eugenics than anything else. In any case, remember that the goal of a logical theory isn’t to espouse what you WANT… it’s to cover all the holes of everything you SEE. Since Krypton doesn’t present at high gravity visually, we can’t impose that theory on the film just because we like it, we have to search for another theory that accommodates what we actually observe. A comprehensive theory works even for “inconvenient truths” that don’t fit WITHOUT hand-waving or ignoring them.
As one last counter-point; consider the fact that the Black Zero is set to be comfortable for Kryptonians NOT humans… and that artificial gravity is clearly a part of that comfort (they aren’t weightless or floating around on the ship). So isn’t it probable that the gravity is attuned to their planet and physiology? After all, a low gravity environment causes all sorts of problems, wastage, and deterioration right? So if their native gravity is 2x or 4x… how is it that Lois can freely walk around the ship without problems? If you suddenly double her weight that would be quite a strain! If you say, “They lowered the gravity just for her” well if they’re willing to change the entire ship’s environment for her, why did she have to wear a breather? You just start piling additional problems and holes. The far more elegant explanation is that Krypton and Earth’s gravity are relatively similar even if Krypton’s is slightly heavier.
If you want to understand my theory of powers you can listen to the podcast, thanks!