There is so much that just doesn’t make sense about the Phantom Zone. Both in the comics and in the movies.
And even though Christopher Reeve’s first two movies are rightful classics, the Phantom Zone is a definite chink in the armor.
Do they SUMMON the giant space mirror?
Does it just happen to be floating by when they had the trial?
Did you ever want to know what it was like in the Phantom Zone? Well, you have to watch Supergirl
Do you REALLY want the answer?
For all its faults though, there is one classic story about the Phantom Zone that I just love! Steve Gerber wrote a three issue mini-series that was recently compiled into a graphic novel — Superman: Phantom Zone
But really, why didn’t they just send everyone from Krypton they could possibly zap as soon as they knew their planet was exploding? Nevermind. It may be goofy, but it has given us some great stories.
“But really, why didn’t they just send everyone from Krypton they could possibly zap as soon as they knew their planet was exploding?”
That was Jor-El’s suggestion in Superman The Animated Series. They were all climate change deniers, though. They didn’t believe it until it was too late.
In the movie it wouldn’t have worked anyway . . . unless there were a couple million more giant space mirrors that happened to be floating by.