Right now, it may be too early to label any one person as being the main villain of the upcoming “Elseworlds” crossover, but all signs point toward that being the Monitor. After all, the closing moments of last night’s episode of Supergirl did see him decimate Earth-90.
Of course, there’s also Arkham Asylum’s John Deegan, but he looks to be a pawn in the matter. Well, so does the black-suited Superman, but you have to admit that a corrupted Man of Steel sporting darker threads is bound to attract some attention.
As such, much speculation is circling the origin of this rogue powerhouse, as it’s become apparent he’s not the familiar version of Kal-El previously played by Tyler Hoechlin. Naturally, we assume him to come from another universe designate, but as usual, comic books may provide the answer.
In light of that awesome new banner showing the major players standing side by side which dropped earlier today, this fella is again a hot topic for conversation – and we’re seriously giving credence to the growing movement believing him to be Superman Prime.
To give some brief history, this version of the character began as “Superboy Prime,” originating on Earth-Prime. In other words, he comes from “our” planet in the context of DC Comics lore. And since being reintroduced into canon during the events of Infinite Crisis, he’s spun out of control and become quite vile.
But since Hoechlin is a fully grown man, referring to him as any sort of Superboy seems a bit silly. That said, the producers may have looked to Countdown to Final Crisis for inspiration wherein – you guessed it – the protagonists went on a journey spanning the multiverse, and came across a matured and newly rechristened Superman Prime who’d been laying waste to various worlds. Conveniently, this arrived at a time when the Superboy name was in legal limbo, therefore the aforementioned evolution of the character occurred.
Of course, we’ll know if indeed we’ll bear witness to the live action debut of Superman Prime in less than one week once the next crossover commences. When you really think about it though, the stars are aligning rather well in this regard, so that’s why we’re willing to take some time out to discuss the matter.
In any case, “Elseworlds” begins on Sunday, December 9 with The Flash, continues on Monday, December 10 with Arrow, and wraps up on Tuesday, December 11 with Supergirl.