Warning: contains a preview of Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #3!While Jon hit Ultraman with a shocking new power, with the villain itting he's never been hit harder, despite fighting the Supermen of countless realities. Now, DC is finally explaining this new ability.
In a preview for Tom Taylor, Henry Clayton, Jordie Bellaire and Wes Abbott's Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #3, Jon wakes up in the reality of DC's hit videogame Injustice: Gods Among Us - a world where the death of Lois Lane turned Superman into a dictator. There, he meets Lex Luthor, who informs him that his new power is an extension of Superman's classic use of solar energy. Jon can now expend all his energy to boost his powers past even Kryptonian limits - something he should be able to harness with further training. This is fascinating for fans, as it has huge implications for Superman's future power, but it's understandably overshadowed for Jon when Injustice's Superman enters the room, fresh from executing Ultraman.
Superman's New Power Supercharges His Strength
As a Kryptonian/human hybrid, it's been hypothesized that Jon has the potential for greater power than the original Superman, and even to use his powers in new ways. Jon already proved this by inventing a new form of heat vision, where he is able to cross the beams for a huge, grenade-like explosion. However, now he is developing new abilities inspired by Superman's electric blue form from the '90s, the first sign of which is being able to punch harder than any other Superman in the multiverse.
Superman's New Punch Has Multiversal Significance
Fans had assumed that Superman's new electric-blue powers would develop over the course of his reality-hopping mission to stop Ultraman, however a shock twist sees the villain already dead. Now, Jon is stranded in the world of Injustice, with a version of his father who considers himself a hero, even as he's begun killing former Justice League allies like Green Arrow for standing against him. Taylor formerly wrote DC's Injustice tie-in comics - one of the publisher's most celebrated modern series, and a world fans have been desperate to see return - so it's likely that this new predicament will be a major turning point for Jon's journey as Superman.
Superman vs Ultraman Crowns the Most Powerful Kryptonian
Adding to the satisfaction of Jon stepping out of his father's shadow with new, even more extreme powers is the fact that he manifested this ability against Ultraman. When Jon was a child, Ultraman captured him for years, 'raising' him as a twisted reflection of his father. Now, not only has Jon stopped Ultraman from hunting the multiverse's Clark Kents, but he laid him out with an unprecedented new power level. Of course, it's likely that Jon just flew out of the frying pan and into the fire, since he's once again facing an evil Superman - but this time one who has bent the whole world to his will, and is ed by many of DC's most powerful heroes gone bad.
If the new Superman is going to escape this reality and return home, he'll need to harness his new abilities not against the unthinking Ultraman, but against an evil version of his father at the height of his power.
Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #3 is available May 2 from DC Comics.
