In order to understand Kryptonian powers and weaknesses, we determine whether the powers demonstrated in the Battle of Smallville were the product of Kryptonian armor. Contrasting the strength demonstrated in Smallville against the strength of Kryptonians on the Black Zero or back on Krypton, it is evident that the armor does not give super strength.
If Kryptonian armor provided super strength, Jor-El and Zod might have decapitated each other with their strikes to the head, mere doors would not block the guards attempting to stop Lois, and Lois would not have been able to kick Car-Vex off to escape. The Kryptonians on the Black Zero aren’t powered at all. They are downed by Lois firing small-arms fire and Jax-Ur explicitly tells Kal-El his strength is neutralized aboard the ship.
We can explain Car-Vex damaging the pod’s molding simply because an armored gauntlet is still a viable weapon capable of causing that kind of damage without super strength.
How do we explain the Phantom Zone criminals’ strength in Smallville? One possibility is that they’re not breathing Kryptonian atmosphere to begin with… when their helmets are compromised, neither Zod nor Faora experience respiratory distress in transitioning from whatever they were breathing before to Earth atmosphere. However, being in direct sunlight as a source of powers suggests it is irrelevant whatever they were breathing.
For more support on this watch the other videos.
The prevalence of armor, substantiates the idea that Krypton was a martial or warrior culture where even its foremost scientist had to be versed in combat.
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Man Of Steel Answers Insight Commentary (MOSAIC) Podcast covers these kinds of questions and more in depth for fans of Man of Steel and those excited by the DC Cinematic Universe.
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MOSAIC Episode 1 – Kryptonian Tech!
MOSAIC Episode 4 – Powers Part 2 – Heat Vision, Super Strength, Invulnerability
MOSAIC Episode 7 – Weaknesses Part 2 – Observed, Speculated & Interests
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“If Kryptonian armor provided super strength, Jor-El and Zod might have decapitated each other with their strikes to the head, mere doors would not block the guards attempting to stop Lois, and Lois would not have been able to kick Car-Vex off to escape.”
But what suggests that all of those armors would possess the same characteristics? They even looked different.
The armor that Zod and ZOr were wearing or Car-Vex was wearing could very easily be different than the one Faora, the big dude and Zod was wearing when they went to earth to fight Superman.
As for the kryptonians that got blocked by the doors of the ship might just not have wanted to risk breaking any part of the ship, may be they could have pounded through the doors, but they did not because this could have compromised the ship’s functionality or might have damaged the ship.
Sorry, I’m not persuaded.
The armor is the same or inferior because of continuity of technological progression. While they are different in appearance they come from the Age of Exploration rather than Jor-El’s era of Phantom Drive technology. Zod’s armor during the coup would be the peak of armor technology either temporally (using the latest if the greatest) or selection (using the greatest even if not the latest).
Zod is participating in a military coup which he wants to succeed. If technology exists (and is so ubiquitous that all of Zod’s crew can armor up after their incarceration; thus easy to obtain) to allow you to behave like Faora in Smallville (super speed, strength, etc) why wouldn’t you use it on Krypton during a coup?
Also, the armor worn by Car-Vex is identical to Faora’s. It’s harder to tell in the movie without pausing frame by frame, but in production stills, concept art, and the making-of footage, it’s clear that Car-Vex has armor just like Faora’s. Moreover, Faora’s armor has gaps in it where there can be no transmission of power, further disassembling the super-powered armor theory.
That’s not really how ships work. You can take a ton of damage, inside-and-out, and still operate. If the breach of a single door could compromise the ship there would never be such thing as warships of any kind. Moreover, if that’s all it took to disable the Black Zero, Jor-El would have told Kal-El not to “Strike that panel.” but “Break a few doors, they’ll be hopelessly compromised.”
The powered armor theory doesn’t hold up. You have to start to make dozens of little tiny rules and exceptions to explain all these glitches when it’s far easier to discard the theory.
Under the film’s theory, you just need 4 rules to explain all instances of Kryptonian powers throughout the entire film.
https://www.manofsteelanswers.com/kryptonian-armor-doesnt-grant-super-strength-how-kryptonian-powers-work-take-two/
Under super-strength armor theory (never spoken or said in the film), you need special-case rules to explain:
1) Why didn’t Zod use the best armor for a military coup?
2) How does the armor transmit strength through the gaps?
3) Why don’t the guards wearing the same armor have the same strength?
4) Why is the armor’s level of strength so close to Kryptonian under sunlight strength?
etc, etc.
You can, of course, make up explanations to excuse all of this, but you’re rapidly leaving the realm of Occam’s Razor. It is far more elegant and logical to say super-strength arises from the one thing the film says gives rise to super-strength, than it is to create a separate reason never spoken of, then have to come up with dozens of explanations for why that makes parallel sense. If you hear hoof beats off-screen and a character in the movie says, “A horse!” It makes far more sense to accept the sound comes from a horse than to say the witness was nearsighted and it was a zebra painted all-white. The latter case can be true, but there’s no reason to prefer the latter theory over the former. I don’t think it’s a radical idea to say super-strength in the film comes from the place the characters in the film say it comes from.