Who should get the Dr Xa-Du 'treatment'?

[Nix Uotan]

Dr. Xa.Du is one of the criminals from the Phantom Zone that got reinvented in the New 52 by Grant Morrison. Originally called Xadu, he was imprisoned for his illegal suspended animation experiment. I think currently the go to guy for Kryptonian villains tends to be Zod due to his popularity or just a random guy who is quickly forgotten. But in Grant Morrisons Action Comics we get a transformed Dr. Xa-Du as the Phantom King who sports a cool and creepy form. Greg Pak continues to use him and hope he remains to be used in the future as I think he has been reimagined nicely.

But Superman has many other Kryptonian villains. Out of them, which do you think could be interestingly reimagined? Note, just Kryptonian villains, not regular Superman Rogues from Earth.

[Superlad93]

I'd say Non could use a good refreshing. I always thought it would be interesting if on hitting Earth's sun Non's brain would fix itself after some time. Then say he plays dumb even after it's fix and takes orders from Zod but then turns the tables on the dictator in the end. The hard part would be finding a new and interesting outlet for the character after the fact.

Xa-Du got his living death and phantom zone mastery. What if Non more of a super scientist who built and used hyper advance tech with his Kryptonian endowments? Maybe he carves out a place for himself on Earth: brings his tech to smaller countries, gains followers etc? He'd almost be overcompensating for all those years of having a blank mind. He'd just want his mind to be acknowledge for how brilliant it can be. But then maybe he still somewhat misses that freedom that comes with becoming pure id and instinct like he used to be. The struggle of natural Kryptonian proclivity for advancement and productivity, and the taste he had of being a simple instinct driven creature. I think this would be worth exploring.

[Sacred Knight]

Ursa. Now that Faora has taken over her usual role in this continuity (right-hand woman, lover of Zod), they could overhaul Ursa in a unique way. Gives Superman another female adversary.

Jax-Ur also has potential, being that now he was formerly a respected solider and fiancé of Lara before Jor-El entered the picture.

[Slaughter]

Car-Vex from the New Krypton saga! She would be "The Wrongly-Accused One!" An innocent between criminals, renegades, outcasts, miscreants and general kryptonian degenerates! Remember when Phantom Zone criminals had sentence times, rather than being thrown away to (not) rot forever. and Superman (or 'boy) would review their cases? Have her be the one who is innocent and one day her case is reviewed or her sentence is up and she's freed, being the one phantom zone criminal that ins't a menace to humanity! Maybe, taking from New Krypton, she is Zod's mole outside the Phantom Zone, possibly unwilling. Alternately, have her being guilty, but honest-to-rao repentant.

Ursa. Now that Faora has taken over her usual role in this continuity (right-hand woman, lover of Zod), they could overhaul Ursa in a unique way. Gives Superman another female adversary.

Jax-Ur also has potential, being that now he was formerly a respected solider and fiancé of Lara before Jor-El entered the picture.

One idea would be to make Ursa an martial artist like Faora used to be. More skilled than Superman, powers or no powers, so he can't solve this problem with mere punching either. If Superman is to kryptonians as Batman is to humans, then Ursa is as Karate Kid is to Batman.

Another idea: Ursa is Kryptonian Lady Shiva - she doesn't want to conquer the world or anything, she wants out to test herself against the universe's champions. Because its fun. That means she goes around to find someone capable of fighting her, then challenges them to a battle to the death, consent optional. So once she's freed and whoops Superman's ass, she goes around to find the first super-powered man-god she can fight to the death. Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, or a Green Lantern, or Captain Marvel. Or the entire Justice League. Superman has to find Ursa before she kills someone in a duel to the death, or someone kills her first, then find out how to defeat someone who outclasses him in skill (an added obstacle is if the other party DOESN'T want to stop the fight either. Bugger off, we're having a duel TO THE DEATH here!). Maybe she even gives weird challenges, like calling up Batman (or Steel. Or Mr. Terrific. Or the USA Military) and giving 24 hours to prepare anyway he can and show on X spot to battle her (TO THE DEATH!), or Gotham will become humanity's first lunar city. Or she shows up from the Phantom Zone, asks to be depowered (so its fair) and then invites all the top martial artists of the DCU to a gauntlet. She's so crazy she goes after immensely-powerful cosmic entities for giggles.

Maybe some more mix 'n match - maybe she's a man-hater psycho like Faora was, and tortures people in her spare time. For fun.

[Ascended]

I'd say Non could use a good refreshing. I always thought it would be interesting if on hitting Earth's sun Non's brain would fix itself after some time. Then say he plays dumb even after it's fix and takes orders from Zod but then turns the tables on the dictator in the end. The hard part would be finding a new and interesting outlet for the character after the fact.

Love the idea. Hadn't considered Non at all. And I always thought his mind would repair itself under a yellow sun. I mean, why wouldnt it? But to take your idea and offer my own spin, what if Non, in missing the freedom of being pure id, created a chemical formula to repress his super/ego for short lengths of time? Sort of a Kryptonian Jeckle/Hyde deal? During the day, he offers his intellectual aid to third world nations and does his best to see that his brilliance is acknowledged, but at night (or when he gets bored) he becomes a monster of pure id, who gets into all sorts of trouble, and Clark has to stop him? And then when that gets old, we can move on to the idea that the formula works too well and keeps transforming Non even after he's stop using? Some drug morality references, a well-trod fictional path (Hulk, Man-Bat, Hyde, so many others) but with the added fun of Kryptonian level powers and intellect. Might be fun. Or maybe Im just taking your idea in the wrong direction....

Ursa. Now that Faora has taken over her usual role in this continuity (right-hand woman, lover of Zod), they could overhaul Ursa in a unique way. Gives Superman another female adversary.

Jax-Ur also has potential, being that now he was formerly a respected solider and fiancé of Lara before Jor-El entered the picture.

Jax-Ur was my thought. Lots of personal pathos to pull from now, given his history with Laura. Not sure what you could do with him that doesn't reek of General Lane or Thunderbolt Ross or any other military villain, but Im sure there's something somewhere.

Ursa....just to make her different from the typical Kryptonian villains....maybe she's a devote priest of Rao? Science is basically Krypton's religion, but the worship of Rao is still there in their past. Maybe that faith lived to Krypton's last days as a type of cult, considered backwards and foolhardy by the majority? Adding a dash of that unshakable, unpredictable, "true believer" zealousness to Ursa could make her a lot of fun and remove her from the more disciplined likes of Zod and Faora.

[Adekis]

Since someone brought up the concept of "The Wrongly Accused", I love the idea of Quex-Ul.
Since the most commonly remembered version of the character is the one Byrne wrote about, the one Superman killed Post-Crisis, I'd like to see a return to something like the version who was, in fact, imprisoned wrongly. I think we've long since taken to heart the concept that the Phantom Zone is a morally questionable form of punishment- but a reminder in the form of an innocent man never hurts. I also don't necessarily think it's necessary to have him become Kal's enemy or lose his powers- though if he did, I'd also welcome a return for "Charlie Kweskill".

In terms of the others, I'll admit to being sort of interested in Dev-Em, whose famous fight with Superman back in Time and Time Again destroyed the moon in the Legion's timeline- but I'm mostly not too interested in Zone Criminals except for the standbys of Dru-Zod, Faora, and Jax-Ur.

But Nam-Ek is okay, if only because of how totally different he is from any other Zone Criminal.

[K. Jones]

I was gonna cheekily say Ultrahumanite until I read the Kryptonian caveat.

Hmm. Tough sell for sure. A classic one-off villain would be ideal, as opposed to the loads of folks we saw get revamped and characterized recently with the whole New Krypton Saga.

Dev-Em does seem good. Also, Bar-El and Lilo. I know they're very specific to All-Star, but I say go for it.

[manofsteel1979]

I was gonna cheekily say Ultrahumanite until I read the Kryptonian caveat.

Greg Pak already beat you to the Ultrahumanite punch in his recent "Horrorville" arc in ACTION.

[Ascended]

Greg Pak already beat you to the Ultrahumanite punch in his recent "Horrorville" arc in ACTION.

Pak's Action Comics! They're Action Pak'd!!**

*copyright and trademark pending. All rights reserved**

[Sacred Knight]

HA! I know Pak doesn't visit this place but he is on Twitter, you should post that there for him to see.

[Nix Uotan]

I'd say Non could use a good refreshing. I always thought it would be interesting if on hitting Earth's sun Non's brain would fix itself after some time. Then say he plays dumb even after it's fix and takes orders from Zod but then turns the tables on the dictator in the end. The hard part would be finding a new and interesting outlet for the character after the fact.

I personally found Geoff John's Non kind of interesting and new. Namely that this big lumbering guy who can't speak and only grunts has a tragic backstory of being a scientist that was a friend and ally to Jor-El who got lobotomized for his actions. Made him somewhat compelling to me. But that's just my view on the matter. As for Ursa, would be amusing that if they made Faora more like Ursa that maybe Ursa ends up like Faora... the whole martial arts killer who wants to prove herself the best against her enemies. The Lady Shiva comparison would be kind of interesting actually.

What about Professor Vakox (Va-Kox?)? I remember him, Xa-Du and Jax-Ur all initially mentioned at the same time together. One thing I feel about the Phantom Zoners is that a number of them come across as being almost Arkham Asylum crazy for Superman.

[confusiongrows]

What about Lesla Lar? Writers keep saying they want to add more villains to Supergirl's mythos - why not bring back an old one?

[Slaughter]

One thing I feel about the Phantom Zoners is that a number of them come across as being almost Arkham Asylum crazy for Superman.

The true tragedy of krypton, ins't it? Everyone's dead except one guy, his cousin and a city of tiny people (who, it is unknown if they can be enlarged), and the other survivors are a bunch of criminals, renegades, loonies, maniacs, megalomaniacs and degenerates, hardly civilization-rebuilding material. Superman does the universe a favor every time he stops Zod from unleashing all these maniacs to play on the universe. How many of these guys are genetically crazed or criminal? How many of them would spread ideas of evil and destruction? Its like making a space colony of Arkham Asylum inmates, super-powered ones at that! A civilization of super-powered Arkham Asylum inmates who revere Zod as a righteous leader (ignore the dead human bones that built this New Krypton! They're nothing!), Faora as mother of a new krypton, Xa-Du and Jax-Ur as great scientific visionaries, and even more! A civilization of CRAZY, SUPER-CRAZY!

[Doctor Cosmic]

This is obscure, but I think Xon-Ur, though not a true Kryptonian villain, could be easily be adapted to the current continuity.

He was a leader of the Holy Order of Rao, a religious cult opposed to Krypton's reliance on technology and genetic engineering. Though he was on Brainiac 13's faux Krypton, the world was still based on the real Jor-El's journal entries about a previous golden age of Krypton. Xon-Ur could be used to explore some of the ideas about genetics and destiny that Hobo of Steel clumsily addressed.

Plus, he also looks really cool, IMO.

[K. Jones]

Oh, duh, Jonesy. It seems obvious in retrospect now.

Lyla Lerrol.