Superman Returns, Jason White (Conspiracy Theory).

[SuperWho]

I have been searching to see if this theory pops up anywhere and the Google is failing me, or I am a rare person to think this.

Lois Lane was fully aware the whole time that Jason was Superman's son and originally got with Richard White to cover up the fact that she was pregnant with him. More over, fully aware that he has the capability to accidentally do serious damage to things and people, she trains him when stressed out to use an inhaler, one she has laced with minute amount of Kryptonite to suppress his abilities.

1. Lets assume a direct link to Superman II regardless of the fact that the timeline makes almost no sense. Lois knows she loves Superman regardless of whether or not she remembers finding out Clark is superman and sleeping with him. When she realizes she is pregnant, being a rather intelligent person, Lois figures out that she is missing a few days of memory. Not only does this really, really annoy her, he is gone and she can not confront him. "Lois, I'm sorry I left you."

2. I recall a comic timeline from somewhere that a future Lois has Superman's baby, and to prevent the super powerful fetus from totally destroying her, he gives her some sort of pendant made of a Kryptonite that suppresses his ability.

3. After throwing a grand piano up a set of stairs and all the way across the room in a moment of panic, Jason reaches for his inhaler and realizes he feels better without it and tosses it aside. He is young and may not have full awareness of why, but the inhaler has been causing his weaknesses and breathing problems, not solving them.

I have had this idea since the day the movie came out, and never thought to check and see what people think.

I have always loved this movie, regardless of its slight inconsistencies. I like all the little nods to the Donner movies. The smoking on the rooftop, the scanning Lois' purse, other such memories. To be truthful, I could watch until the Plain comes down in the ball park over and over and over and just stop there, but I enjoy all the action scenes and the interplay between Richard, Superman and Lois.

[Ascended]

I dont think I've ever heard that theory (at least not that I can recall), but I could believe it. The question of course, would be where Lois got the kryptonite. But given her connections I don't think it'd be a stretch to say she got her hands on some and was able to convert it into something to help suppress Jason's powers.

And that entire plane sequence is one of the best Superman moments ever put to film. I loved how they included all these details, like the brief moment of weightlessness as the plane starts to descend (no, that wasn't space, that was just how gravity works), the way the steel of the plane ripples as Clark finally stops it, the chaos in the cabin......the entire scene had a great sense of energy and danger that made me really believe this was a life-and-death situation, and Clark's struggle to stop the plane was perfectly handled; it was a challenge not because it was heavy, but because physics are a real bitch.

And landing the plane in a baseball stadium? That's about as gods damn American as it can get.

It's far from my favorite Superman movie. But it definitely has its good points, and the visuals were definitely one of them.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I will never forget my sister's reaction to Superman Returns was to turn to me and state matter-of-factly "Lois Lane is not a good person".

And she's right. As much complaining as we hear about Superman stalking Lois like a creep, everybody seems to forget about the logistics of Lois being dumped by Superman (who apparently doesn't even bother saying goodbye or explaining why he was leaving), which prompts Lois to hook up with Jason White so soon afterwards that both Jason and her believe that it's either his child or something because none of this is explained properly in the film.

Aside from the handful of truly amazing action sequences, that film is a goddamn disaster of ridiculous plotting and characterization.

[superduperman]

This explanation is about the only one that makes any sense. I've never been a fan of the "human until he isn't" version of his powers. This is probably my biggest issue with the post-Crisis Superman. There are so many loose ends to this movie. I liked it overall but I'm not naive to it's flaws. Lois had to know Superman was her son's father but how? Her memory was wiped. Even in the original movie, that was problematic. She's literally missing at least a week of time. This is never followed up on. I get that he's a fictional character but the way they've always handled them never seemed to have any real rules or followed any internal physics. It was always what was convenient for the narrative at the time.

[Clark_Kent]

This explanation is about the only one that makes any sense. I've never been a fan of the "human until he isn't" version of his powers. This is probably my biggest issue with the post-Crisis Superman. There are so many loose ends to this movie. I liked it overall but I'm not naive to it's flaws. Lois had to know Superman was her son's father but how? Her memory was wiped. Even in the original movie, that was problematic. She's literally missing at least a week of time. This is never followed up on. I get that he's a fictional character but the way they've always handled them never seemed to have any real rules or followed any internal physics. It was always what was convenient for the narrative at the time.

I've always been curious why Lois was so okay with having Superman's kid, but no memory of the act of creating said kid. In her mind, she would logically be wondering if he can impregnate without contact, or if she was raped somehow lol (and technically, he pretty much raped her mind in SII, sooooo...). Point being, at some point she either knows she's pregnant with his kid and doesn't care how she got there, or she figures it out when Jason throws the piano & still doesn't care. The movies (all of them, S 1-4 and Returns) are just so damn weird, and not just due to the era they were made in or homaging. I love every Superman movie, "because Superman", but they get really weird at times when looked at with a modern eye.

As to the OP, I have to believe Lois isn't so terrible a person as to purposefully expose her kid to something that should kill him over time, so I doubt the inhaler thing for 3 reasons:

1: That would make Lois a child abuser
2: If Kryptonite was that easy to get a hold of, Lex wouldn't need to rob a museum.
3: And probably most important, Jason is shown to have an asthma attack and struggle with breathing early on in the film. He sees a picture on TV of Superman while Clark just happens to be standing next to the screen, and Jason immediately sees that something is up here. He starts wheezing and has to use his inhaler to make it stop.

My personal, entirely subjective opinion, is this: Jason shows physical weakness, but above average intelligence for his age, as a result of the Kryptonian-Human melding of DNA. However, just as a human can suddenly develop new allergies after getting stung by a bee for the first time, Jason develops some Kryptonian abilities and no longer needs his inhaler after Lex exposes Jason to Kryptonite. Being Jason's first ever exposure to Kryptonite causes a change in his physiology, and his abilities kick in. Just like a person developing new allergies after an exposure to a sting for the first time.

That's how I see it, anyway. It's entirely possible that, without that exposure to Kryptonite, Jason may have not developed powers until much later, if he even developed them at all.