Probably one of DC Universe’s Most Powerful Characters, Superman is surely the Super hero the most famous of the franchise, or even superheroes in general. He has amazing powers, even rivaling the specialties of some, such as the speed of The Flash. Deprived of these extraordinary abilities, Superman is therefore no longer able to protect his own and achieve his ends. Unless he manages to get them back…
DISCLAIMER: This article contains spoilers for Action Comics #1040, if you’re going to read it, look no further.
a superman not too super
This isn’t the first time fans have seen Superman stripped of his powers. And recently in The Warworld Sagait is even what pushed his son, Jon Kent, to take over as the new Man of Steel on Earth. Meanwhile, Clark Kent has formed his new team, the Authority, to travel to Warworld in hopes of bringing down its ruthless dictator, Mongul..
Sadly, what few powers he had were stripped by the “Star Forges” (ie: star forges) of the Red Sun of Warworld. Now utterly helpless and following the scattering of his team, Superman seemed unable to hinder Mongul’s growing victory, finally until the kryptonian potentially finds a way to get his powers backand for good this time.
This revelation happened in the comics Action Comics #1040, released last month, directed by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Lee Loughridge and Riccardo Federici. Although Superman was locked up, he learned that Midnighter was free, and that the latter was plotting a revolution, then informing the leader of the Authority that he plans to strike the Star Forges soon. This could restore Superman’s powers, or at least what little he has left of them, but would result in the deaths of countless civilians.. Inconceivable for the Man of Steel, the latter still needs his powers given his more than precarious situation. Fortunately, he may have found another way, but it could turn him into a real giant monster..
an unprecedented source of energy
Under the Warworld, there are kinds of energy veins, called Genesis. His power comes from Source, the oldest form of energy in the universe. Superman once encountered him while on Earth, just before he came to Warwolrd. A fragment of Genesis fueled a Warzoon ship full of Kryptonian refugees which crashed, falling into Atlantean hands. This fragment nearly caused a war without Superman’s intervention. But this fragment also caused the transformation of an Atlantean scientist into a real Kaiju.
Here, when Superman made contact with him, he briefly levitated above the ground. But Genesis is very powerful, and its limits still unknown. And the question of knowing the presence of this energy on Warworld still remains a mystery. Either way, it could actually manage to restore Superman’s powers without needing to resort to a yellow sun, which is pretty much unheard of. Because until now, apart from the yellow and blue sun, only magic could affect Superman to the point of giving him powers. As a result, either the Source energy acts like sunlight or its abilities are unlike anything the DC Universe has known before.
But the fact is that Genesis has already turned an ordinary Atlantean into a Kaiju. One wonders, then, if this could also do the same to Superman. Because in Action Comics #1032we see that Superman arrives in a mystical place, when he had just entered inside the giant monster. A voice then reaches him, explaining that a similar place will also soon be within him. Although she didn’t explicitly predict that he would become a Kaiju, she suggested that he would play a role in the return of an evil character who may be hiding behind Genesis. Something more powerful, and infinitely older than his current enemy, Mongul.
And while Mongul doesn’t directly control Genesis, he still knows how to use it. The Warzoons have been able to resurrect fallen fighters, like they did with Superman, but exactly how is unknown yet. Also, many of their technologies have the same blue energy found with Genesis.
Considering possible restorative qualities, Genesis could not only give Superman powers without the need for yellow sun, and could even restore his powers to full. This could then be the centerpiece in the fight against Mongul and the liberation of Warworld. But given the strange prophecy he heard earlier, it could also turn out to be far more dangerous than it already seems.
