Man of Steel: Learning About Krypton

[Back in the Kryptonian spaceship, which has moved locations, Clark is wandering about.]

SHIP A.I.: Recursive diagnostics complete. Guiding presence authenticated. All systems operational.

[A door opens and reveals the man who Clark had seen earlier, Jor-El.]

JOR-EL: To see you standing there having grown into an adult... If only Lara could have witnessed this.

CLARK KENT: Who are you?

JOR-EL: I am your father, Kal, or at least a shadow of him. His consciousness. My name was Jor-El.

CLARK KENT: And Kal? That's my name.

JOR-EL: It is.

CLARK KENT: I have so many questions. Where do I come from? Why did you send me here?

[As Jor-El gives his son the answers of a lifetime, grey grain-like holographic images shape behind them, illustrating everything Jor-El explains.]

JOR-EL: You came from Krypton, a world with a much harsher environment than Earth's. Long ago, in an era of expansion, our race spread out through the stars seeking new worlds to settle upon. This scout ship was one of thousands launched into the void. We built outposts on other planets, musing great machines to reshape environments to our needs. For 100,000 years, our civilization flourished, accomplishing wonders.

CLARK KENT: What happened?

JOR-EL: Artificial population control was established. The outposts on space exploration were abandoned. We exhausted our natural resources. As a result, our planet's core became unstable. Eventually, our military leader, General Zod, attempted a coup, but by then it was too late. Your mother and I foresaw the coming calamity and we took certain steps to ensure your survival.

[They walk to another part of the ship, the same algae-like area in which Jor-El stole the codex, albeit in a much smaller scale.]

JOR-EL: This is a genesis chamber. All Kryptonians were conceived in chambers such as this. Every child was designed to fulfill a predetermined role in our society, as a worker, a warrior, a leader and so on. Your mother and I believed Krypton lost something precious: the element of choice, of chance. What if a child dreamed of becoming something other than what society had intended for him or her? What if a child aspired to something greater? You were the embodiment of that belief, Kal. Krypton's first natural birth in centuries. That's why we risked so much to save you.

CLARK KENT: Why didn't you come with me?

JOR-EL: We couldn't, Kal. No matter how much we wanted to. No matter how much we loved you. Your mother, Lara, and I were a product of the failures of our world as much as Zod was tied to its fate.

CLARK KENT: So I'm alone.

JOR-EL: No. You're as much a child of Earth now as you are of Krypton. You can embody the best of both worlds. A dream your mother and I dedicated our lives to preserve.

[A small door opens, revealing a suit with the crest of the House of El, which would end up being the suit Superman would wear.]

The people of Earth are different from us, it's true, but, ultimately, I believe that's a good thing. They won't necessarily make the same mistakes we did. Not if you guide them, Kal. Not if you give them hope. That's what this symbol means. The symbol of the house of El means "hope". Embodied within that hope is the fundamental belief in the potential of every person to be a force for good. That's what you can bring them.

[Clark dons the costume as a door opens to the cold outside of Antartica. He walks out.]

CLARK KENT: [voice over] Why am I so different from them?

JOR-EL: [voice over] Earth's sun is younger and brighter than Krypton's was. Your cells have drunken its radiation, strengthening your muscles, your skin, your senses. Earth's gravity is weaker, yet its atmosphere is more nourishing. You've grown stronger here than I ever could have imagined. The only way to know how strong is to keep testing your limits.

[Clark starts jumping very high and far, high enough to leap tall buildings in a single bound. After several jumps, he starts flying in ascension, but after a few moments he loses control and falls back on the ground, creating quite a crater.]

JOR-EL: [voice over] You will give the people of Earth an ideal to strive towards. They'll race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall, but in time... they will join you in the sun, Kal. In time... you will help them accomplish wonders.

[Clark gets up and looks in the direction of the Sun, absorbing as much of its rays. He bows down, focuses his power and leaps ferociously, breaking the ice beneath him in the process. He starts flying around the world, at high speed, breaking the sound barrier three times, before flying in space.]