- "Krypton's destruction sent a shock wave that knocked my pod off-course and into the Phantom Zone. A region in space where time doesn't pass. I slept there for 24 years until somehow, I got here."
- —Kara Zor-El[src]
The Phantom Zone is a region of space in which time stands still, and from which almost nothing escapes.
History
Original multiverse
The maximum-security Kryptonian prison, Fort Rozz, was banished to the Phantom Zone at an unspecified date.
In 1979, Kal-El and Kara Zor-El were rocketed away from the dying planet of Krypton to Earth.[1] As Zor-El saved Argo City from destruction, he placed himself in the Phantom Zone to save himself.[2] Meanwhile, Kara's pod veered off-course and she was stuck in the Phantom Zone, only arriving on Earth 24 years later. As Kara left the Phantom Zone, she pulled Fort Rozz with her. Since time doesn't pass in the Phantom Zone, Kara didn't age at all during her stay.[1]
About 37 years later, it was revealed by Indigo that Kara escaped the Phantom Zone when Indigo downloaded herself into Kara's pod and re-activated its engines, allowing it to leave the zone and resume its journey towards Earth.[3]
Years later, Mar Novu admitted he released Malefic J'onzz from the Phantom Zone as a test for J'onn J'onzz.[4] Brainiac 5 and Lena Luthor work together on the Phantom Zone projector. While he is away, unbeknownst to everyone she tampers with it; Messing with the machine so that anyone affected would not be sent to the Phantom Zone; instead would be transported to a cell in her bunker. After using it on Malefic, everyone at the DEO believed he was now back inside the Phantom Zone.[5]
Later though, everyone found out Malefic was never sent back to the Phantom Zone.[5] Instead, Lena held him captive to study Q-Waves after tampering with the machine.[6]
New multiverse
- "No. This isn't right. The Phantom Zone's been fractured somehow. Of course. Crisis. When all the timelines converged into one, the opposite must have happened here. It's no longer one pocket dimension, but many; an inter-dimensional archipelago."
- —Querl Dox[src]
During the Anti-Monitor Crisis, the Phantom Zone became fractured.[2] Some time ago, a race of beings native to the Rao system known as Zulian Maletarians, also known as Phantoms, were banished to the Phantom Zone for conspiring to take over various planets. They became the dominant species and acted as the region's prison-guards within the Zone, leading to the region being named after them.[7]
Kara in the Phantom Zone.
In mid-2020, Kara Zor-El was sent to the Phantom Zone when she was blasted by a Phantom Zone projector wielded by Lex Luthor.[8]
The portal to the fractured Phantom Zone.
Kara learned that Zor-El, her father, lived here and the two ultimately decided to attempt an escape to Earth-Prime. Meanwhile, the Superfriends recruited Silas to build a portal to the dimension, only to learn that Crisis caused the place to be fractured and that finding Kara would not be easy.[2]
After Kara and Zor-El hitch a ride on a phantom through a portal to another section of the Phantom Zone, Kara meets Nyxlygsptlnz who helps her to free her father from those who plan to sacrifice him to a beast.[7]
Kara is rescued by the Superfriends.
Humans in the Phantom Zone develop a fugue state and dream their worst phobias; when the Superfriends entered the dimension by transforming the Tower into a spacecraft, the humans of the team, and Nia Nal, had nightmare visions of their fears. However, they recovered and found Kara and Zor-El as the Kryptonians were fighting Phantoms. Unbeknownst to the reunited team, Nyxly hitchhiked a ride to Earth with them.[9]
Known locations
- Phantom Lake
Known residents
Current residents
- Midnight
- Phantoms (native)
- Az-Rel
- Various White Martians
Former residents
- Astra (deceased)
- Unnamed Hellgrammite
- Vartox (deceased)
- Non
- Brainiac 8/Indigo (deceased)
- Tormock
- Jindah Kol Rozz (deceased)
- Other prisoners of Fort Rozz (some deceased)
- Malefic J'onzz
- Silas
- Scar (unknown)
- Owen (deceased)
- Kara Danvers/Supergirl
- Zor-El
- Nyxlygsptlnz
Visitors
- J'onn J'onnz/Martian Manhunter
- Alex Danvers/Sentinel
- Nia Nal/Dreamer
- Querl Dox/Brainiac 5
- Kelly Olsen
- Lena Luthor
Appearances
Supergirl
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 5
Season 6
|
Comics
Adventures of Supergirl
Trivia
- The realm's metaphysical laws and intrinsic phenomena somehow robs certain species of their abilities, with some examples even persisting even after they left the Phantom Zone, as was seen in the case of Malefic who had to exploit human technology in order to regain the power deprived from him by the Zone—inception. Phantoms, on the other hand, recover their ability to infect other beings and reproduce seemingly as soon as they exit the domain. Moreover, Imps from the Fifth Dimension cannot use their powers to simply exit the Phantom Zone, much less banish themselves from it by returning to their native dimension after speaking their own name backwards.
Behind the scenes
- In the DC comics, the Phantom Zone is an interdimensional realm outside of space and time. It debuted in Adventure Comics #283 (April, 1961) and was created by Robert Bernstein and George Papp.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Pilot"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "A Few Good Women"
- ↑ "Solitude"
- ↑ "The Wrath of Rama Khan"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "In Plain Sight"
- ↑ "Dangerous Liaisons"
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Phantom Menaces"
- ↑ "Rebirth"
- ↑ "Fear Knot"