Kneel Before Zod Series By Joe Casey And Dan McDaid Coming In 2024

[Frontier]

Casey seems set to kill Ursa and Lor, so perhaps that will be Zod’s equivalent to Doom scarring his own face. Zod actually got them killed himself, but he blames Kal for it:

Sounds like Casey is going to get very dark which is a welcome counterbalance to the lightness of the main books right now. If he pulls this off we might finally have the Zod who lives up to his own potential.

I'll be very surprised if they're permanently killed off. Though I feel like it's a waste to take his family away from him because that makes him more of a dark mirror of Clark.

[Vordan]

I'll be very surprised if they're permanently killed off. Though I feel like it's a waste to take his family away from him because that makes him more of a dark mirror of Clark.

True, but then having Zod be a family man who lost his family also increases his status as a dark mirror to Clark. After all that is the tipping point for Injustice Superman, he had a happy family life and lost it all through his own mistakes. Doing that with Zod on Earth 0 might be the key to unlocking his full potential as a villain.

[Frontier]

True, but then having Zod be a family man who lost his family also increases his status as a dark mirror to Clark. After all that is the tipping point for Injustice Superman, he had a happy family life and lost it all through his own mistakes. Doing that with Zod on Earth 0 might be the key to unlocking his full potential as a villain.

Maybe, though I feel like you also could've developed Ursa and Lor more as characters.

[Robotman]

In my opinion Zod should be Superman’s equivalent to Ra’s al Ghul. On the surface he has somewhat noble intentions but his ultimate goal is self serving, ego driven, and will include mass murder.

Ra’s wants to restore the balance of earth’s ecosystem and “save the planet”. Of course he has to kill off most of humanity and he would be the only person to lead civilization once everything is said and done.

Zod says he only wants to bring back Krypton and his people, but we know that he also feels like he is the only one to lead them and everyone will kneel before him.

I really don’t like when Zod is presented as some anti-hero. He should be one of Superman’s top villains.

[Vordan]

Maybe, though I feel like you also could've developed Ursa and Lor more as characters.

Certainly but Casey wants to go a different route and I’m just as fine with that. Bendis positioned Zod as moving into a Vegeta esque role, and the Zods as the sneering Kryptonian supremacists who occasionally help out the Els because they’re still Kryptonians was a take I could get on board with. Taking Ursa and Lor off the board a while (because yeah, nothing is ever permanent in comics) in order to justify pushing Zod towards greater heights of villainy while reigniting his blood feud with the Els is also a valid path. End of the day whatever pushes Zod into living up to his potential as a villain is what I’m here for.

In my opinion Zod should be Superman’s equivalent to Ra’s al Ghul. On the surface he has somewhat noble intentions but his ultimate goal is self serving, ego driven, and will include mass murder.

Ra’s wants to restore the balance of earth’s ecosystem and “save the planet”. Of course he has to kill off most of humanity and he would be the only person to lead civilization once everything is said and done.

Zod says he only wants to bring back Krypton and his people, but we know that he also feels like he is the only one to lead them and everyone will kneel before him.

I really don’t like when Zod is presented as some anti-hero. He should be one of Superman’s top villains.

Zod being the Ra’s equivalent is what I want, and most people seem to be on board for that, but Zod being the Doom equivalent is just as enticing. DC lacks a villain of that level of gravitas and Zod totally could be that. He has a tragic backstory, he has the arrogance to match Doom (including the delightful habit of talking about himself in the third person), and he has a personal feud with Supes while being powerful enough to credibly be a threat to any other hero. And he works towards a similar goal as Doom - he wants to build an authoritarian state to protect his people who he genuinely cares for while still curbing their freedoms - which you can portray as sympathetic if misaimed or make no bones about how appalling his ambitions are.

[exile001]

Maybe, though I feel like you also could've developed Ursa and Lor more as characters.

They've had a decade and nobody bothered. Neither were made more interesting by the pairing. Time to go!

[exile001]

in my opinion zod should be superman’s equivalent to ra’s al ghul. On the surface he has somewhat noble intentions but his ultimate goal is self serving, ego driven, and will include mass murder.

Ra’s wants to restore the balance of earth’s ecosystem and “save the planet”. Of course he has to kill off most of humanity and he would be the only person to lead civilization once everything is said and done.

Zod says he only wants to bring back krypton and his people, but we know that he also feels like he is the only one to lead them and everyone will kneel before him.

yes!!!!!!!

[marhawkman]

Certainly but Casey wants to go a different route and I’m just as fine with that. Bendis positioned Zod as moving into a Vegeta esque role, and the Zods as the sneering Kryptonian supremacists who occasionally help out the Els because they’re still Kryptonians was a take I could get on board with. Taking Ursa and Lor off the board a while (because yeah, nothing is ever permanent in comics) in order to justify pushing Zod towards greater heights of villainy while reigniting his blood feud with the Els is also a valid path. End of the day whatever pushes Zod into living up to his potential as a villain is what I’m here for.

And it makes you understand Zod's motives. You overall WANT Zod to rescue Ursa and Lor. but the question is HOW....

[HsssH]

Problem with Zod is his power level so you almost have to send him to Phantom zone after each storyline or you know, he'll just start wrecking **** next day again. And well, getting sent back to PZ all the time is Xa-Du's thing already.

While Doom has impressive feats he often achieves them with scheming and power upgrades. Like, if Doom attacks tommorow I can buy that one of the Avengers teams or FF will deal with him.

With Zod it is hard for me to "buy" that anyone asides of Clark can deal with him. And no, I don't feel like that about his other villains.

[Vakanai]

With Zod it is hard for me to "buy" that anyone asides of Clark can deal with him.

Martian Manhunter, Firestorm, the Spectre, a few DC characters teaming up like Hawkman/girl and a GL maybe...
There's heroes or team ups of heroes who could deal with Zod, but honestly Zod's not Doom - it just feels wrong if he's off bothering anyone other than Clark and Clark's Superfam you know?

[HsssH]

All 3 are jobbers.

[Vakanai]

All 3 are jobbers.

Not their fault bad writers don't know how to prop up other heroes without making these guys job. They should be able to handle Zod, but bad writers gonna write bad.

[Mantis-Ray]

Didn't Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps have an entire arc where they battle Zod and his forces?

[marhawkman]

Martian Manhunter, Firestorm, the Spectre, a few DC characters teaming up like Hawkman/girl and a GL maybe...
There's heroes or team ups of heroes who could deal with Zod, but honestly Zod's not Doom - it just feels wrong if he's off bothering anyone other than Clark and Clark's Superfam you know?

Well, Victor von Doom only rarely bothers most heroes.

[Ascended]

Certainly but Casey wants to go a different route and I’m just as fine with that. Bendis positioned Zod as moving into a Vegeta esque role, and the Zods as the sneering Kryptonian supremacists who occasionally help out the Els because they’re still Kryptonians was a take I could get on board with. Taking Ursa and Lor off the board a while (because yeah, nothing is ever permanent in comics) in order to justify pushing Zod towards greater heights of villainy while reigniting his blood feud with the Els is also a valid path. End of the day whatever pushes Zod into living up to his potential as a villain is what I’m here for.

This. I am really, really into political frenemy Zod. Like you said, it's Doom. That's what Zod, as leader of the New Krypton colony, could be. It's everything great about Zod made even better and more robust. I would hate to lose that, I really really would, especially since nobody's picked up the character since Bendis left. All that potential not even touched on? I'd be aghast. But if Casey tells a good story that makes Zod a better, more interesting, more dangerous villain, then I can't argue with that.