DC Extended Universe Wiki

We've split

By community choice, all content related to the DCU has been split to its own wiki.

More info

READ MORE

DC Extended Universe Wiki
Advertisement
DC Extended Universe Wiki

"The Kryptonian archive contains knowledge from 100,000 different worlds."
―The ship's interface to Lex Luthor[src]

Scout Ship 0344, also known as the Fortress of Solitude[citation needed] and The Superman Ship is a Kryptonian scout ship and the base of operations of Superman. It is an ancient Kryptonian colonial vessel originally commissioned for Explorer Guild teams to scout out planets during the Great Age of Exploration. Its former commander, Kara Zor-El, presumably abandoned the ship after arriving on Earth, where it remained for thousands of years before its discovery and eventual commandeering by her distant decendant, Kal-El in 2013. During his invasion, General Dru-Zod commandeered the vessel in an attempt to use its Genesis Chamber to revive the Kryptonian race, but Superman forced the ship to crash in Metropolis, destroying the chamber and most of the ship's functions.

The ship has a few robotic servants which appear like small oblong drones that hover about the vessel performing maintenance. These robotic servants are the reason the ship has remained functional after nearly twenty thousand years of neglect.

The ship was breached again in 2015 by Lex Luthor, who re-purposed the damaged Genesis Chamber to create the ancient Kryptonian mutant Doomsday using Zod's corpse, overloading and depleting the power reserves in the process. After being placed in the possession of S.T.A.R. Labs, the ship was infiltrated by the Justice League, who used the chamber's biomatrices and a Mother Box to revive Superman.[1]

History[]

Kryptonian Expansion[]

Development[]

"Long ago, in an era of expansion, our race spread throughout the stars seeking new worlds to settle upon."
Jor-El[src]

During the height of Krypton's power, a campaign was launched to journey beyond their world and explore the universe. Scientists from the Thinker Guild began developing thousands of scout ships that would allow deep-space voyages to be conducted, and the Explorer Guild was established to train citizens for colonization missions.[2]

Kara Zor-El graduated at the top of her class and was promoted to the rank of captain. After capturing the murderer Dev-Em, Kara was assigned as the designated commander for Scout Ship 0344. Soon after they disembarked from Krypton on their scouting mission, Kara's crew placed themselves into a 10-year stasis.[3]

Marooned on Earth[]

While in stasis, Dev-Em, having escaped custody and hidden within the vessel, murdered the crew save for Kara. Ten years later, Kara awoke, coming across Dev-Em, who had diverted the ship's course to the Sol system.

Scout ship open pod

The ship's open pod.

During the ensuing confrontation, the two discovered they possessed newfound powers due to yellow sun radiation, eventually destroying integral parts of the ship as they fought. Because of this, they were forced to crash land on a prehistoric Earth. Afterward, a single individual was seen leaving the ship, leaving the ship to stay and gradually be surrounded by ice over the following millenia.[3]

Discovery[]

Clark finds the Fortress

Clark finds the ship frozen in ice.

"Our satellites pinged the anomaly first. The ice shelf plays hell on the echo soundings, but there's definitely something down there."
"A submarine, maybe Soviet-era?"
"Doubtful. That's 300 meters; considerably larger than anything we know they built back then."
"But here's the spooky part: the ice surrounding the object, it's nearly 20,000 years old."
Sekowsky, Lois Lane and Nathan Hardy[src]

After the expansion's campaign was abandoned, Scout Ship 0344 remained dormant on Earth for eighteen thousand years[4] until a mysterious signal began to emanate from beneath the ice of Ellesmere Island, which was detected by a NASA satellite.[3] NASA's satellites then picked out an anomaly within the ice shelves. During his travels in Canada, Clark Kent learned of the craft's existence when he overheard two Canadian airmen talking about it, and so journeyed to Ellesmere Island to investigate. Once the opportunity presented itself he forged a path through the ice with his heat vision and entered the ship.[2]

Jor-El's wisdom[]

Jor-El's consciousness reveals the truth to Kal-El

Jor-El teaching Kal-El his origins and purpose.

"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 as we did. Not if you guide them, Kal. Not if you give them hope."
Jor-El to Clark Kent.[src]

Inside, he was briefly attacked by a service android until he placed his command key inside a port, powering up the ship. Following this, the key downloaded updates and upgrades to the ships computer software It also update the ships database with the last 18,000 years of Kryptons history. It also rasied the ship from the ice covering it, transported it to isolation atop a giant moutain of snow and concealing it from the Earth's tracking devices. The ship also began work on a Kryptonian skinsuit while an artificial intelligence hologram of Jor-El activated, guiding Clark throughout the ship and revealing his origins. He explained how the ship was built during Krypton's era of expansion, during which they explored the stars until the mission was abandoned in favor of artificial population control, abandoning colonial outposts and exhausting natural resources for years to come until General Zod led a failed coup on the council in an attempt to save the planet.

After teaching him of Krypton, Jor-El passed on words of wisdom to his son, explaining the reason he was sent to Earth was to help the humans become what Krypton had once been without following their mistakes. As they journeyed throughout the ship, work on the suit was completed, at which point, Jor-El revealed the Kryptonian skinsuit manufactured for Clark as he explained the nature of his powers and that Clark needed to keep pushing himself to realize his full potential. Unbeknownst to Clark, his activation of the ship sent out a distress signal that was picked up by the Black Zero.[2]

Zod's campaign[]

Zod found the Fortress image

Zod's ship arrives outside the Scout Ship.

"Our people can coexist."
"So we can suffer through years of pain trying to adapt like your son has?"
"You're talking about genocide."
"Yes. And I'm arguing its merits with a ghost."
Jor-El and General Dru-Zod[src]
Fortress of Solitude crashing in Metropolis

The Scout ship crashes in Metropolis.

After the Sword of Rao's arrival on Earth, the ship was commandeered by General Dru-Zod, who erased Jor-El's programming and attempted to use the Genesis Chamber's embryos to rebuild Krypton's population on earth. However, Zod was ultimately stopped by Superman, and the ship crashed into the city of Metropolis.[2]

Birth of Doomsday[]

"Advising: Action forbidden. It has been decreed by the Council of Krypton that none will ever again give life to a deformity so hateful to sight and memory. The desecration without name."
"And where is the Council of Krypton?"
"Destroyed, sir."
"Then proceed.""
Kryptonian Service Android and Lex Luthor[src]
Fortress of Solitude ship Metropolis

The wreckage of the Scout Ship sealed off.

Following General Zod's defeat, the United States government took control of the ship and built a containment facility surrounding it. Lex Luthor managed to gain access to the site after striking a deal with Senator Barrows, using General Zod's fingerprints to enter the ship. Luthor then used Zod's command key to gain access to the ship's archives, instructing it to teach him everything about Krypton. Using this new knowledge, Luthor procured Zod's body and used it to recreate a Kryptonian mutant using his own blood and the ship's Genesis Chamber.

Steppenwolf appears before Lex Luthor

Lex Luthor communicates with Steppenwolf within the Genesis Chamber.

In the aftermath of the ferocious battle between Superman and Doomsday, a SWAT team infiltrated the ship, interrupting Lex as he viewed a liquid geo construct of a towering figure wielding three cubes. As the SWAT team arrived, the figure let out a roar as it disappeared, leaving Lex to turn to face his arresting officers.[5]

Return of Superman[]

Scout Ship

Two years after the death of Superman, the ship was still kept within the government's containment facility. After the Justice League made the decision to bring Clark back to life, they discovered that if his body was submerged in the ship's Genesis Chamber and exposed to the energy of a Mother Box, they could jumpstart his accelerated healing to revive him.

Scout Ship at Star Labs

The remains of the Scout Ship at Star Labs.

Following this revelation, Cyborg, Flash, Wonder Woman and Aquaman went to retrieve Clark's body from the cemetery in Smallville, Kansas. Afterward, they brought his body back to Metropolis, where Barry snuck into the government's containment facility where the ship was being held, posing as military personnel while Victor falsified his credentials.

The League arrived at the facility, and Aquaman placed Clark's body into the chamber's water. Victor then used the armor in his left palm to create a modified Kryptonian Key similar to the one created by Jor-El and General Zod, inserting it into the main console reactivating the ships self repair function and using a portion of his power to jump start the ship and the recharge generators. However, after attempting to initiate the ship's computer systems, Victor discovered that Lex Luthor's creation of Doomsday previously overloaded the vessel's systems, depleting the power reserves entirely. He also removed both General Zod's and Lex Luthor's control over the vessel, returning control back to Clark. As there was not enough power to start the process, Flash came up with the idea to jumpstart the Mother Box by creating a powerful surge of electricity, to which Victor agreed. Running to the opposite end of the ship, Flash was instructed by Victor that he needed to charge the Mother Box the moment it touched the chamber's fluid. As Cyborg initiated the countdown, Barry prepared himself, then sprinted to the chamber as the Mother Box fell, activating it and reawakening Superman, who flew through the roof of the ship. After regaining his memory, Clark returned to the ship, where power had been fully restored and the repair process continued. Clark walked through the corridors where Jor-El first presented him with his Superman Suit. There, a number of compartments opened, revealing a Kryptonian Space Suit, similar to the one worn by General Zod, House of El Battle Armor, the original version of Kal-El's Superman suit, a copy of Superman's current red and blue suit, and a back version of the suit with the House of El crest in silver. After selecting the black and silver suit, Clark exited through the main airlock. Upon hearing the voices of Jonathan Kent and Jor-El, Clark took flight, absorbing the sun's energy above the planet before heading to Bruce Wayne's villa.

Later, Ryan Choi was appointed director of nanotechnology at Star Labs, gaining direct managerial oversight of the Scout Ship.[1]

Occupants[]

Current occupants[]

Former occupants[]

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • The bulk of the Scout Ship's design was handled by Jake Harrell, who modelled about 90% of the ship.[6]
  • In DC Comics, the Fortress of Solitude is the base of operations of Superman. The fortress has been located in various regions around the world, including the Arctic, the Andes, the Amazon rainforest, the bermuda triangle, a mountain on the outskirts of Metropolis and an underground complex in a mountain cliffside.
  • In the Man of Steel Prequel comic, a signal begins to emanate within the ice where the scout ship is located, alerting NASA and presumably acting as the onus for the ship's discovery by NASA's satellites. The signal is presumably the same radio signal detected by the DSRW Project website as early as December 2012. It remains to be seen what triggered the signal or signals, as this occurs before Clark uses the House of El command key to activate the ship's primary functions.
  • Carla Gugino is the voice of the ship's artificial intelligence program in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Zack Snyder's Justice League. She previously worked with director Zack Snyder in 2009's Watchmen, where she portrayed the superheroine Sally Jupiter, the first Silk Spectre.

References[]

External Links[]

Advertisement