DC’s New Kryptonite Is Stranger Than Anything Superman Has Ever Faced Before

There is perhaps nothing more iconic in Superman’s lore than kryptonite. The Man of Steel’s most dangerous and well-known weakness, Kryptonite is one of the few things that poses a real threat to Superman as well as other Kryptonians or, at least, that’s the case for green kryptonite. While green kryptonite is the most famous variety, there are actually many colors of the irradiated space rocks in DC comics, each one doing something different. Now, a new variety has been added to the lineup thanks to Supergirl #7 and it might be the strangest variety yet.

Supergirl #7, written by Sophie Cambell, introduces the all-new Enchanted Turquoise Kryptonite and it has a very unique reaction when it comes to Kryptonians, specifically Supergirl: it turns her into a mermaid, complete with fin and gills. In the issue, Kara investigates an unusual crystal only to discover it’s a type of kryptonite she’s never seen before and it turns her into a mermaid. She quickly flies off and dives into the sea where she’s met by Princess Shark who reveals she unleashed the crystal because she needs Supergirl’s help.

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Enchanted Turquoise Kryptonite Has Temporary Effects — And Doesn’t Appear to Hurt Supergirl

Ultimately in the issue, Enchanted Turquoise Kryptonite is mostly a plot device. Princess Shark needs Supergirl’s help, but she needs it under the sea so she employs it to bring the hero to her so that she can ask for help, something she wasn’t sure she’d be able to get otherwise. It leads the two to have an adventure that, in turn leads to a heartwarming moment where Supergirl invites Princess Shark to the Danvers family Thanksgiving feast. When the pair show up for dinner, Kara is back to normal, which means that the effects of the crystal are only temporary and left no lasting harm or damage. It also doesn’t take away or diminish Supergirl’s powers at all which, other than the mermaid of it all, makes it pretty harmless.

What makes this kryptonite variation interesting is that it’s not actually genuine kryptonite. Instead, it’s something that’s made by a sea witch. What this means is that, while it doesn’t have any direct harm to Supergirl — and, thus, wouldn’t necessarily be harmful to any Kryptonian generally — if it was deployed in a certain way it could prove very problematic. Because it transformed Kara into a mermaid with gills that required her to be underwater to breathe, if someone were to magic up some enchanted turquoise kryptonite and place it somewhere that a Kryptonian couldn’t get to water or used it in conjunction with a form of kryptonite that somehow weakened them or diminished their powers and made it impossible for them to get to water, one could argue that it could cause them serious harm making it where they can’t breathe.

Will We Ever See Enchanted Turquoise Kryptonite Again?

At this point, it’s unclear if we’ll see Enchanted Turquoise Kryptonite again, but if we had to guess it’s not likely to have a major role going forward. Over the years there have been a lot of varieties of kryptonite introduced in DC Comics and most of them are one-offs or used very rarely. Most uses of kryptonite tend to lean towards the classic green, red, and black. Other varieties, such as pink or red-gold, have been used much less frequently.

That said, kryptonite has been a much larger focus in Superman comics recently. Two ongoing titles, Superman Unlimited and Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum, both heavily deal with kryptonite. In particular, Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum has also introduced several new versions of the substance that have varying new and weird impact on Superman and presumably other Kryptonians. This includes the dangerous new purple kryptonite that impacted Superman’s hippocampus and prevented Clark from having an accurate perception of time, something that put the hero at a significant disadvantage, something that could have major consequences to the DC Universe considering how much time factors into Superman’s general operations.

What do you think about the new, weird version of kryptonite? Let us know your thoughts in the comments and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!