What's the explanation that Kryptonians speak English?

[bhayes]

I've heard of English-speaking countries; but English-speaking planet?

my russian friends having been asking me this question all day.

Suspension of disbelief is one thing , but are we supposed to believe that another planet, millions of miles away, just happens to speak american english? I don't remember there being an explanation for this, am I wrong?

we could say that Krypton was at one point more than likely very similar to Earth.

But even if we were to acknowledge that convergent evolution would lead to another humanoid species, the idea that superman (a kryptonian) would look like a standard handsome white dude is alittle absurd. Just look at the difference between native Africans and native East Asians. Now consider that those two groups of people are on the same planet and have for the most part the same DNA compared to other species. Even if he looked human (which itself is incredibly unlikely without some sort of external genetic intervention) he would look like some nationality or race we had never seen before. Not some white dude you would expect to model for Abercrombie and Fitch.

Also, why do all kryptonians appear to be white too? in the film Thor, atleast Asgard has alot of diversity and different accents.

Don't get me wrong, i loved the film. it was a great movie, i just hope they think of a cool explanation for this in MOS 2.

now, the real reason is, it would not be entertaining if they spoke kryptonian in first 30 mins. i recall in the batman/superman animated movie - supergirl speaks kryptonian when batman wakes her up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJjNDrSb4QY

so i just hope in the next film, they'll think of a creative way to explain why kryptonians spoke american english.

if they can explain it in a way that makes sense - i'll buy it.

 

[Bruce Malone]

It's not a film issue but more a superman wide issue. I've wondered myself why kryptonians look exactly like humans?

Is there an actual comic explanation?

Interestingly enough if the Kyprtonians didn't look like humans, MoS would probably be seen as much or more as an alien invasion flick than a superhero movie.

 

[the last son]

It's not that big of deal.

 

[redhawk23]

The same that everyone in War Horse speaks English even when overcoming language barriers is the source of major dramatic plot points.

 

[C. Lee]

Did you ask the same of the original Chris Reeve Superman movies? The Kryptoniams spoke English in it too.....as they did in the Kirk Alyn movie serial....as they did in the Grorge Reeves TV series.....

Most likely..... it was easier to have the actors speak English (which will probably be dubbed into German in Germany, Italian in Italy, Japanese in Japan....) than to make up an entire new language, teach all the actors to speak it, and then put subtitles over it all.

 

[Motown Marvel]

It's not a film issue but more a superman wide issue. I've wondered myself why kryptonians look exactly like humans?

Is there an actual comic explanation?

Interestingly enough if Kyprtonians didn't look like humans MoS would arguably be seen as much or more as an alien invasion flick than a superhero movie.

Because having them look otherwise wouldn't be as attractive to an audience.

But if you require some sort of scientific explanation: for life to exist on a planet requires a specific set of necessities. Any planet that provides those necessities for life to exist would like find that life evolving similarly to other similar planets. Meaning, most intelligent life would be humanoid in some way, some more so than others. I.e. if krypton is similar enough to earth, then it's likely to have inhabitants that are similar enough as well.

 

[storyteller]

Look you know why. People don't want to read subtitles, especially during action scenes. Actors also don't need to figure out how to convey emotion during a made up language.

 

[Bruce Malone]

Because having them look otherwise wouldn't be as attractive to an audience.

But if you require some sort of scientific explanation: for life to exist on a planet requires a specific set of necessities. Any planet that provides those necessities for life to exist would like find that life evolving similarly to other similar planets. Meaning, most intelligent life would be humanoid in some way, some more so than others. I.e. if krypton is similar enough to earth, then it's likely to have inhabitants that are similar enough as well.

Humanoid maybe but not to look 100% exactly like Humans. I mean did they descend from ape like creatures as well and all those other aspects that made us into who we are?

I actually think the star trek idea they came up with would be a better explanation. In that there was some ancient race of humanoids that "pollinated" many different planets with life and that explains why their descendants look so similar on different planets?

 

[ArmsHeldOut]

Considering that the creative team behind MOS came up with an actual Kryptonian language, I think the idea is for audiences to suspend their belief and imagine that, amongst themselves, the Kryptonians are, in fact, conversing in their own native tongue.

Why was it done that way? Probably out of concern that the general public (outside of fandom) wouldn't respond particularly well to hearing a bunch of gibberish at the start of the film -- especially when the footage leading up to baby Clark's departure goes on for quite a bit. One could assume that Jor-El chooses to speak to Clark in English, however. My thoughts.

 

[Motown Marvel]

Humanoid maybe but not to look 100% exactly like Humans. I mean did they descend from ape like creatures as well and all those other aspects that made us into who we are?

I actually think the star trek idea they came up with would be a better explanation. In that there was some ancient race of humanoids that "pollinated" many different planets with life and that explains why their descendants look so similar on different planets?

Okay, then use the Star Trek excuse. It doesn't matter. They look like humans because its necessary to the source material for them to look like humans. If you require some other excuse, then make up whatever reason you want.

 

[bhayes]

Humanoid maybe but not to look 100% exactly like Humans. I mean did they descend from ape like creatures as well and all those other aspects that made us into who we are?

I actually think the star trek idea they came up with would be a better explanation. In that there was some ancient race of humanoids that "pollinated" many different planets with life and that explains why their descendants look so similar on different planets?

yeah. when they introduce the whole concept of darksied, apokolips and the white-martians and other cosmic characters. will they speak english too?

in MOS 2 - they should have a point where clark talks to his father- about krypton and it's history and he explains that that kryptonians speak multitudes of languages and that there is a connection between/shared history between earth and krypton. english was the prefered choice for some unexplained reason.

but will all the cosmic alien characters be speaking straight english too?

i recall en episode of young justice where the justice league is on trial and the alien court judges were speaking some weird language.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isn7bB38I7c

so it will be interesting how they handle alien races.

 

[UrNuts2]

Even on Asgard they've adopted planet Earth's international language .. Odin & Jor-EL knew we were gonna film their stories eventually so they agreed with Nixon that it would be best to adopt Earth's best known native tongue .. in that they've established their future intergalactic trading partner relations so that it would come as less of a surprise to us earthlings when we all realize "aah, see what u did there" .. this from a reliable source. seriously

 

[Boy Scout]

They downloaded the language into their brains after the American military (somehow) contacted them to tell them they had Superman in captivity.

 

[Rocketman]

First of all, for all intents and purposes, Kryptonians are humans. They don't have superhuman powers on Krypton; they have superhuman powers on Earth because their biology gets altered in Earth's environment. If anything, Earth makes them alien.

This would be like Perry White going to Krypton and discovering that he can fly. Perry White's a human, yet Krypton's environment alters his DNA. Perry White is now an alien.

If I had to make a series of ridiculous assumptions, I would say that Krypton takes place in a parallel reality (one out of an infinite number of parallel realities), where they are human and speak English just like on Earth. Kal-El's ship is sent through a rip in the fabric of space-time, sending him to an alternate universe where Earth is.

18,000 years ago, when a group of Kryptonians crash landed in the Canadian Arctic, Krypton retrieved data gathered from the ship on Earth, and learned over time through research that the humans of Earth spoke many languages including English and emulated it (along with all other languages) for their own communications.

Hell, I can go all day.

Kryptonians are humans in the deep future. After Earth's resources are used up, humans are sent to Krypton to inhabit the planet and to continue the human species. Once Krypton is discovered to also be doomed like Earth (their former planet) was, Jor-El sends Kal-El back in time in a time-machine to the planet where the Kryptonian species (human beings) originated: Earth. So Superman is a human being. Bam.

See? Plenty of ideas. Choose your own adventure.

 

[Eddie Dean]

Because movie.

 

[Thundercrack85]

There is actually a simple reason why Superman looks like a white dude. He was originally conceived as a man from the future who traveled back in time (hence the title Man of Tomorrow) way back in the day. They changed most of his backstory, but him being a white dude never changed.

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

Same reasons the Asgardians in Thor and the Germans in Captain America speak English.

Because blockbusters aren't ideal for subtitles.

I imagine they speak Kryptonian. But that it was translated for ease of human viewing.

 

[InJustice]

Or you could just consider that perhaps the English dialogue spoken in the Kryptonian portion of the film is the translated dialogue. So we as the audience are hearing the English, whereas it's their own spoken language in their world. If that makes any sense...

EDIT: Pyrotoxin beat me to it lol

 

[Thundercrack85]

I notice that in animes, aliens always seem to speak perfect Japanese. What the hell is up with that?

 

[Asgard]

It's not a film issue but more a superman wide issue. I've wondered myself why kryptonians look exactly like humans?

Is there an actual comic explanation?

Interestingly enough if the Kyprtonians didn't look like humans, MoS would probably be seen as much or more as an alien invasion flick than a superhero movie.

If you read the Red Son comics we learn that Kryptonians [blackout]descended from humans.[/blackout]

 

[Heretic]

This is something I really like about the movie...

The idea is that thousands of years ago, Kryptonians spread out across the universe setting up new societies, and it is reasonable to assume, trading with other societies...teaching more primitive cultures the language (as well having advanced societies learn it to better trade etc). One of those planets was earth (as at least one person DID survive the ship crashing). This is why English is not only spoken on earth, but will likely be spoken on pretty much every planet the DC cinematic universe visits.

 

[ares834]

If you read the Red Son comics we learn that Kryptonians [blackout]descended from humans.[/blackout]

Only for that particular comic. Only in Red Son do they send Kal back in time.

 

[Boy Scout]

Or you could just consider that perhaps the English dialogue spoken in the Kryptonian portion of the film is the translated dialogue. So we as the audience are hearing the English, whereas it's their own spoken language in their world. If that makes any sense...

It doesn't, because they effortlessly communicate with humans and Superman.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Which is a homage to the scrapped origin story I mentioned.

A nice throwback, really.

 

[StarvingArtist]

Did you ask the same of the original Chris Reeve Superman movies? The Kryptoniams spoke English in it too.....as they did in the Kirk Alyn movie serial....as they did in the Grorge Reeves TV series.....

Most likely..... it was easier to have the actors speak English (which will probably be dubbed into German in Germany, Italian in Italy, Japanese in Japan....) than to make up an entire new language, teach all the actors to speak it, and then put subtitles over it all.

They should have done that.