Man of Steel: Decoding the Viral Campaign

Just a little while ago, ComicBook.com reported on the beginnings of a viral campaign for Man of [...]

Man of Steel snow

Just a little while ago, ComicBook.com reported on the beginnings of a viral campaign for Man of Steel, including a new websites for the Deep Space Radio Wave Project which redirected us to what is apparently a countdown. Using what will likely turn out to be Kryptonian numbers, but not recognizably Kryptonian from a previous point in Superman's publishing history, it would appear that we have a little under 15 hours remaining, which means that whatever is launching will do so at noon tomorrow.

Will it be a new trailer? A piece of viral video? Who knows. But one thing's interesting: the "countdown" website redirects to a domain that, when you suss it out, directs you to 77 degrees, 58 minutes North latitude by 76 degrees, 19 minutes West longitude. That puts it in the far north of the Baffin Bay in Greeland. Western Greenland is home to a massive, prehistoric crater (the world's oldest) that's been attributed to asteroid activity on earth, so it's possible that's what they're getting at, but if so they're not in quite the right spot. Given that Superman's most famous nemesis is both notably bald and also, in the most recent version of the mythology as written into the New 52, in bed with the military-industrial complex, there's another thing that happened in the area that might be of some interest: The 1968 Thule Air Force B-52 crash. As described by Wikipedia, there was a crash on January 21, 1968, "involving a United States Air Force (USAF) B-52 bomber. The aircraft was carrying four hydrogen bombs on a Cold War 'Chrome Dome' alert mission over Baffin Bay when a cabin fire forced the crew to abandon the aircraft before they could carry out an emergency landing at Thule Air Base. Six crew members ejected safely, but one who did not have an ejection seat was killed while trying to bail out. The bomber crashed onto sea ice in North Star Bay, Greenland, causing the nuclear payload to rupture and disperse, which resulted in widespread radioactive contamination." Obviously this event would have taken place before Superman arrived or was even born (if he were to have arrived at that time it would make him 44, far too old for Warner's and DC's sensibilities), but perhaps a blast of that magnitude attracted Jor-El's attention? It may be grasping at straws, but it's the most notable thing to have happened at Baffin Bay in recent history and...come on, Chrome Dome?

All that said, it seems likely this is the spot chosen for the new Fortress of Solitude. In today's world, Antarctica may be considered unrealistic because there will be people able to reach it, and the North Pole...well, it's always just felt a little too silly to have Santa and Superman going home to the same spot. Maybe that's where the Regan Alicia is doing some cold-water fishing? I'm not sure what you could catch up there, but I'm sure there's a thriving industry in a body of water that size. So what might this countdown reveal? Satellite photos of the Fortress? Images of Clark Kent being all super out at sea to save his shipmates? We'll see tomorrow at noon, if my calculations are correct.

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