How will New 52 Superman return?

[A Guy's Name]

But it would be a reverse clone saga, because at first their were 2 spider-men, then they sidelined Peter and made Ben the actual Spider, then they restored Peter back to Spidey, here, they first replace, then they make there be two for a while, possibly until the end of rebirth.

That's why I said the flavour and suspense of Clone Saga, not all of the actual plot.
But eh. Maybe I was inaccurate.

[666MasterOfPuppets]

Then, again who would you have replace with guys running DC now?

Me as the official head of all things Superman.

Then a bunch of writers/ artists who have already agreed to my "Superman guidelines": DieHard, Sacred, hellacre, et al.

[DieHard200904]

That's why I said the flavour and suspense of Clone Saga, not all of the actual plot.
But eh. Maybe I was inaccurate.

No, I was starting to get fatigued and overthinking it, need to go to bed until the Sun wakes me up.

[NeonZ]

I really think New 52 Superman will only return as the "main" Superman anytime soon if Rebirth Superman completely fails very quickly. Rebirth is meant to be another jumping on point. They wouldn't be setting up a new protagonist only to throw him away immediately afterwards. All material so far only seems to describe him as "Superman" too, rather than specifically "Pre-Flashpoint Superman". When you look at the design sheets recently released, his "previous design" used for comparison even was the New 52 Superman rather than the Black suit or the old Pre-New 52 design.

Also, we now know that Rebirth seems to involve some continuity tweaking at least (like Jason Todd going back to his pre-Flashpoint origin) so the chances of this Superman being integrated into the world's history, rather than being seen as an outsider, seem suddenly higher. It'd explain why he's immediately showing up alongside the Justice League in every book featuring them too.

[Sacred Knight]

I think he's coming back regardless of the success or failure of it. Its part of the plan, not a backup plan. There won't be any worry of introducing this guy only to take him away, because they're not going to be throwing Superdad away. He's staying too. There's going to be two Supermen. The old one and the young one, just like pre-Crisis.

And he's definitely not being retconned into this world's continuity. That he, Lois and Jon are from a different world will continue to be a major plot-point. Integrating them in would require retconning out the New 52 Lois Lane as well, and they're not doing that; she's becoming Superwoman. So with two Lois's exsiting, we already know they're not going to change anything to make the Super-family original inhabitants of this Earth.

[DieHard200904]

I really think New 52 Superman will only return as the "main" Superman anytime soon if Rebirth Superman completely fails very quickly. Rebirth is meant to be another jumping on point. They wouldn't be setting up a new protagonist only to throw him away immediately afterwards. All material so far only seems to describe him as "Superman" too, rather than specifically "Pre-Flashpoint Superman". When you look at the design sheets recently released, his "previous design" used for comparison even was the New 52 Superman rather than the Black suit or the old Pre-New 52 design.

Also, we now know that Rebirth seems to involve some continuity tweaking at least (like Jason Todd going back to his pre-Flashpoint origin) so the chances of this Superman being integrated into the world's history, rather than being seen as an outsider, seem suddenly higher. It'd explain why he's immediately showing up alongside the Justice League in every book featuring them too.

Having two Supermen gives the sound of a DC plan to sell more, because there will be plenty of people who will buy one, and there will even be some who will buy both, which means in the end, more money for DC on the Superman line, and more overall gained enthusiasm. I know it's not one Superman, but it's nonetheless a gimmick that I am sure DC wouldn't be beyond using for their own purposes, especially since they did it with Earth-22 Superman and the JSA in the past. They know that people like different kinds of Superman, so they are, IMO, playing that out. They also know that a Death of Superman caused a boost in sales back in the 90s, so they do it tweaked, with Pre52 being part of the "reign of the Supermen".

[DieHard200904]

With Jurgens running things for a while I think its quite likely. Its the classic set-up first off, there's really nothing well-received about the Zor-El version, and they went out of their way to set up Hank in L&C. To me that's a big red flag that something's upcoming. Bringing the Zor-El incarnation back now, to me seems like a means to wrap up the idea, personally. Zor-El as a villain was never a sustainable idea anyway.

Not to mention they really need to cease passing Superman's villains onto others. Cyborg Superman is a Superman foe. I tend to give a little bit of a pass when it comes to Kara because she's part of the family, and there's some characters who don't get tons of play who can get more in another setting, like Silver Banshee. But Cyborg Superman got plenty of use with Superman stories. So shopping him off to someone else, even Kara in this instance, makes no sense. Its not as bad as when he was shipped off to GL's mythos pre-Flashpoint, but all the same he is a Superman villain and belongs as a top five nemesis of Superman. It was probably the best thing Jurgens contributed to the mythos in the 90s.

If they bring back Kenny, they had better keep the general premise of Kenny being either someone who bullied Clark like in the DCEU, or someone who rivaled him and was jealous of him like Pre-Flashpoint. I would be facepalming if they gave Kenny to Kara.

[Francisco]

A question guys; How old was Superman in action comics vol 2 issue 1?

[Last Son of Krypton]

A question guys; How old was Superman in action comics vol 2 issue 1?

He was 22 years old.

[Francisco]

22 years old.

Thanks A lot

[Last Son of Krypton]

Thanks A lot

You're welcome.

[phantom1592]

With Jurgens running things for a while I think its quite likely. Its the classic set-up first off, there's really nothing well-received about the Zor-El version, and they went out of their way to set up Hank in L&C. To me that's a big red flag that something's upcoming. Bringing the Zor-El incarnation back now, to me seems like a means to wrap up the idea, personally. Zor-El as a villain was never a sustainable idea anyway.

Not to mention they really need to cease passing Superman's villains onto others. Cyborg Superman is a Superman foe. I tend to give a little bit of a pass when it comes to Kara because she's part of the family, and there's some characters who don't get tons of play who can get more in another setting, like Silver Banshee. But Cyborg Superman got plenty of use with Superman stories. So shopping him off to someone else, even Kara in this instance, makes no sense. Its not as bad as when he was shipped off to GL's mythos pre-Flashpoint, but all the same he is a Superman villain and belongs as a top five nemesis of Superman. It was probably the best thing Jurgens contributed to the mythos in the 90s.

I actually liked Cyborg superman as a Hal enemy better.

When Hal fights him... it's like him fighting SUPERMAN. Invulnerable, powerful... the fight of the ages. It's like tangling with the man of steel himself, but without the moral code... And Hal is ready for it. His hatred and feud was up to the task.

When Superman Fights him... it's Tuesday.

Between Bizzaro, Zod, Doomsday... the whole 'Kryptonion nemesis' with the same power level is kind of played out. Possessing machines and impossible to kill were the only real kinks in the abilities... but still a bit boring. Either way... since the first thing he did as 'evil cyborg superman' was destroy coast city... it could be argued that CS is more a Hal villain anyway. Regardless of whatever history Hank Henshaw had...

[Sacred Knight]

I don't think there's much of an argument to be made. He was clearly designed and built to be a Superman villain, and operated as so for the bulk of his post-Crisis existence. It took over ten years to really even begin to do anything with the Hal connection. That he destroyed Coast City was basically just happenstance. It meant nothing to him. Conquest and ruining Superman's name did. Coast City was just the recipient of some bad luck, frankly. It meant a lot to Hal, obviously, and you could see why HE'D have a strong axe to grind with him. But Hank couldn't care less about Hal Jordan. His obsession and hatred was all for Superman.

Now liking the stories in his GL appearances is obviously all subjective. I didn't find anything more intriguing there (I've seen characters amassing tons of rings before, that's nothing special) on a personal level, and trying to sympathize him by making him a character trying to die I thought was a bad move. Not every villain has to be sympathetic. I don't want to feel bad in some way for every villain. Hank Henshaw shouldn't want to die. He's too insane with rage for that.

[phantom1592]

I don't think there's much of an argument to be made. He was clearly designed and built to be a Superman villain, and operated as so for the bulk of his post-Crisis existence. It took over ten years to really even begin to do anything with the Hal connection. That he destroyed Coast City was basically just happenstance. It meant nothing to him. Conquest and ruining Superman's name did. Coast City was just the recipient of some bad luck, frankly. It meant a lot to Hal, obviously, and you could see why HE'D have a strong axe to grind with him. But Hank couldn't care less about Hal Jordan. His obsession and hatred was all for Superman.

Now liking the stories in his GL appearances is obviously all subjective. I didn't find anything more intriguing there (I've seen characters amassing tons of rings before, that's nothing special) on a personal level, and trying to sympathize him by making him a character trying to die I thought was a bad move. Not every villain has to be sympathetic. I don't want to feel bad in some way for every villain. Hank Henshaw shouldn't want to die. He's too insane with rage for that.

Matter of perspective I guess.

I honestly don't remember him being much of a superman enemy. I remember him impersonating him in the 'which one is the real one' origin story. I remember him showing his true evil in an awesome turn against superboy... and destroying coast city. When the Real Kal-el came back, Hal Jordan was with him in the 'storm engine city' story... Then I remember the Final Night story where Parrallax sticks him in the source wall forever... Then coming back with the Manhunters in the GL book.

I imagine there were a few Kal-el vs Henshaw stories between there... but I really don't remember seeing any of them. Certainly none that left an impression.

OH... I remember one with doomsday on apoklips getting him that 'red' look... Maybe Hunter/Prey.


I agree the 'I want to die' is annoying and dumb... but sometimes it's kind of neat to see a hero REALLY hate villain, and the villain REALLY not care about that hero! it's usually so much the other way around. Villain hates hero and tries to ruin his life... but ot the hero he's just 'one of the rogues'.

I liked seeing Hal jump properties for a personal vendetta.


That said, Coast city is back, Hal's back, Parallax was a terrible story... so i'm content just losing henshaw to the 90's and calling it a day.

[manofsteel1979]

I don't mind Henshaw being a GL villain, just so long as he's primarily a Superman villain first and foremost.