Thanks to Neil deGrasse Tyson,Superman’siconic origin got a much more realistic take to that completely changed his more formative experience. Everyone knows how the Man of Steel came to Earth, but very rarely was the science ever elaborated on.
During theearly days of the New 52, DC Comics was all about overhauling various facets of its characters. In Superman’s case, he was younger and started to yearn for more knowledge about who he was and where he came from. So when it finally came time todig into Superman’s past, DC Comics consulted with a popular scientist to put a more realistic take on Clark’s famous origin story.
Neil deGrasse Tyson Added a Wormhole to Superman’s Classic Origin
Superman Saw the Destruction of Krypton With His Own Eyes
In December 2012, Neil deGrasse Tyson was interviewed byNPR’sDavid Greene to discuss Tyson’s collaboration with DC Comics. Tyson discussed how the story involved him meeting and discussing Krypton with Superman and Tyson dived into how he worked with the publisher to figure out where Krypton would theoretically be. Tyson helped the creative team with the data and estimated Krypton would have needed to be roughly 27 light years away. Tyson also suggested that, as a baby,Superman either needed to travel faster than the speed of light to Earth or travel through a wormhole for instantaneous transportation.
Once it became clear that the story would involveSuperman witnessing the destruction of Krypton, Tyson and the creative team settled on Superman traveling through a wormhole. Tyson also noted that because Krypton orbited a red star, he found one about 27 light years away, LHS 2520,allowing DC Comics to approximate where Superman’s home planet theoretically would have been. Tyson explains a few more elements that cleared up the why and how the story would shake out, which was seen inAction Comics #14.
…Tyson and the creative team settled on Superman traveling through a wormhole.
In “Star Light, Star Bright…” by Sholly Fisch, Chris Sprouse, Karl Story, Jordie Bellaire, and Steve Wands, Superman arrives at the Hayden Planetarium and works with the astrophysicists to compile data from a hundred telescopes all over the world. It’s a success and not only does Superman find Krypton’s location, but because the light from krypton is still reaching Earth, Superman sees the destruction of his home planet firsthand. Tyson even makes a cameo in the story and notes thateven though Krypton may have exploded years ago, for Superman, it died tonight.
Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Additions Are Wonderful, Poignant Twists on Superman’s Canon
Real Life Science Can Actually Enhance Stories
Comic books are full of artistic liberties when it comes to science. Radioactive spider bites and gamma bombs won’t give anyone superpowers and chances are, there won’t be any spaceships carrying the last child of a dead race anytime soon. But incorporating elements of real-life laws and theories can put an interesting twist on these classic, Space Age approaches to science. Whilesome fans might not have ever questioned how long Superman was a baby as he rocketed from Krypton, his ship going through a wormhole makes sense as to how he got to Earth so fast.
Of course, the incorporation of real science didn’t just add fun to Superman’s lore, it allowed for quite a touching story to be told. Because Superman’s planet was so far away when it exploded, then it’s logical that the light hadn’t reached Earth yet, meaning at any point until the light crossed the universe, he could still look to the stars and see his home planet. Instead, DC went for the real gut punchand had Superman see the last bits of light in Krypton’s final moments.
…Tyson added onto the character, giving this obviously fantastical story an element of realism.
With a character that’s been around as long as Superman has, it’s hard to find new ways of making his story new without completely overhauling his origin or taking away things that make Clark who he is. But Tyson’s additions didn’t do either. Instead, Tyson added onto the character, giving this obviously fantastical story an element of realism.Not only did it give Superman a chance to have a connection, however brief or tragic, with his home planet, but it made it feel like the hero was a bit more connected to the real world.
Tyson’s Changes Were an Innovative Thought Experiment for Superman
It Doesn’t Necessarily Need to Be Canon, But It’s Still Cool
While this particular moment might just be connected to the New 52 Superman (and thus, not canon), it was still cool to see DC Comics reach out to someone like Neil deGrasse Tyson to help create a story that injected a little bit of realism into such a godlike hero. Granted, it’s hard to rationalize a lot aboutSuperman, but this story and Tyson’s spin on the origin were an interesting way of re-contextualizing such an iconic hero’s beginnings.
