DC Can Undo Its Most Controversial Superman Twist in Years

DC Comics has a chance to undo something that has been a thorn in the side of Superman fans everywhere for nearly a decade. I am, of course, speaking about the decision to age up Jon Kent. Fans of the Superman Family no doubt remember writer Brian Michael Bendis’ tenure on the Man of Steel, which saw Superman’s son Jon aged up after a horrific detour to Earth-3. It was a narrative choice that fractured the fandom, with many fans never getting over the loss of the Super Sons’ era version of Jon.

Well, Superman Unlimited #11 by Dan Slott and Lucas Meyer seems to be DC hitting the ‘undo’ button. Jon faces off against Master Txyz, a time demon from the fourth dimension, who comes to stop Jon from defeating him in the future. After showing Jon how little an impact he makes on the DCU’s timeline, Jon resolves to defy history and become the hero Tomorrow Man (ironically, the hero that Txyz was trying to stop). Having been beaten by a paradox, Txyz decides to gift Jon his younger self, pulled from the past, right before being imprisoned on Earth-3.

DC Comics is This Close to Undoing Jon’s Controversial Aging Up

Aging Jon up wasn’t just controversial because it lost a version of the character fans really loved. Jon spent literal years trapped in a volcano on Earth-3 under the control of Ultraman. The idea of Jon losing his childhood while being tortured by a man who looked like his father was deeply unsettling to many. Fans had hoped that there would be some way to undo the traumatic experience Jon suffered and bring the Superboy they all knew and loved back. But it seemed like DC was committed to sticking with the adult Jon.

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This is the closest DC Comics has come to possibly retconning Jon’s aging up, and it poses an interesting question about where DC will go from here. The powers that be could keep the younger Jon in the present, though it does create a paradox since the older Jon shouldn’t theoretically exist. The only other option I can see is returning the younger Jon back to his proper place in the timeline, but I don’t think fans will take it well if Jon is sent to go get tortured for years twice in the same ten-year span.

As someone who was never crazy about Jon being aged up, I’m happy to see this development, but I am curious if DC will stick with it or not. It’s not the first time we’ve seen the younger Jon in the modern day. And something tells me that giving Jon the Tomorrow Man identity means the older one probably isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. But paradox or not, I think younger Jon needs to stay. So much potential was robbed when Jon was aged up, and I’m excited at the prospect of seeing that potential realised now.

What do you think about DC possibly keeping a younger version of Superman’s son around? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts on the ComicBook Forum!