Thread:Jester of chaos/@comment-26884760-20160402183122/@comment-26884760-20160402184719

Phantom Zone is used if an author (or movie maker) wants to get rid of a villain but doesn't necessarily want the infamous Zod neck-break thing.. in pre-"dark" Superman it was a pretty big deal as Superman wasn't meant to really kill his enemies.. these days I guess it's around for similar reasons but Superman no longer has the "no kill" policy so it's more for characters they want rid of but can't be bothered to actually kill..

Phantom Zone is basically Limbo or the Zone of Silence from Archie comics, it can make a character *appear* dead (as they seem erased from existence) but much like someone who is shrunk down with Ant Man tech they aren't necessarily dead but rather in another dimension.

since only Kryptonian criminals are sent to Phantom Zone I don't know if other species would survive there, like I said it's used because Kryptonians (who are all like Superman under Earth's sun) are just too overpowered otherwise.. in the old universe anyway, where Superman never killed.. these days it's more a lazy means to get rid of minor villains while keeping them "alive" for future movies like Justice League etc..