A Note on Superheroes

The realism of superpowers is not going to be something I discuss. The vast majority of superpowers are flat out scientifically impossible. Many of them are exaggerations of real phenomena (and can serve as fun learning tools for real world science), but they can't exist in our universe. However, I don't mind unrealistic superpowers for the same reason I don't mind the wizards in Lord of the Rings. I consider it magic occurring in a universe with different physical properties than our own. So I engage suspension of disbelief, sit back, and enjoy.

What does bother me, and what I will talk about, is superhero origins. Many times superpowers are explained using real world science, and things tend to go terribly wrong here. Next week, I'll talk about how the TV show Heroes attempts to do this very thing and ends up giving us indecipherable gibberish. As I see it, there are three ways out of the superhero origin problem (short of outright calling it magic):

Don't explain it. Sometimes the origin of the superpower doesn't matter for the sake of the story. In that case, just start with a character that has powers and never give a reason why. Maybe he or she was born with the power or just woke up with it one day. If it's not essential for the narrative, don't bother with it.

Be vague. Describe the science that led to the superpowers in very general terms without many specifics. You can say radiation is responsible without going into the source or type of radiation. You can say it was genetic engineering without saying what genes were changed and how. I don't mind that Peter Parker got powers from a radioactive or genetically engineering spider. I do mind when the Spider-Man movie attempts to show spider DNA interacting with human DNA and reveals a complete lack of understanding of genetics. As long as the explanation is vague enough, I can usually ignore it or invent the alternate universe science that allows it to be possible, which bring me to the last option.

I definitely plan on getting around to you one day, Spidey. From Wikimedia Commons.

Be creative. You're dealing with a world where superpowers are possible, give that world new science to justify it! If you're not limited by earthly ideas of strength and speed, why be limited to genetics and cell structure as we know it? It can be difficult to do and to keep consistent, but writers have invented whole new languages for their stories. This isn't much different. Other biologists may disagree with me on validity of this approach. But I think it's okay as long as you find some way to call attention to how the invented science is new. I'll provide an example when I discuss how to fix that episode of Heroes next week.