The Absolute Universe is fundamentally different from the mainline DC Universe. Instead of being structured around hope, it’s ruled by despair and hate, inspired by Darkseid’s essence. Every hero has been put through the wringer, but the one who’s had his sense of self challenged more than anyone else has been Superman. Ra’s al Ghul and Brainiac want nothing more than to turn Superman into their murder machine, which seems to be Darkseid’s ultimate desire. So far, Superman’s managed to retain his soul, but DC just gave us a glimpse into what they want the Man of Steel to become.
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Absolute Evil showed the formation of the Absolute Justice League, except this version isn’t run by heroes, but their worst villains. This league represents the corrupt system that has beaten down people and ruled with an iron fist, and that system’s roots go back far longer than anyone thought. They have their own private assassin and superpowered hitman in the form of Hawkman. This corrupted hero shows us exactly what they want to do to Superman, and what the Absolute Universe might have planned for the rest of the Trinity.
A Hero Turned Into an Absolute Monster
While Absolute Hawkman’s origin still isn’t known, the opening page of Absolute Evil showed a flashback to 1951, where the winged hero agreed to work for the House Un-American Activities Committee. In the present, the various rich, established villains of the soon-to-be Justice League debated whether they should join forces. Hector Hammond rejected the others, saying he had everything he could need under his control, so Veronica Cale called Hawkman in. Before the meeting, Hector had advised his friend, Jubal Slade, to try to pay off Oliver Queen, who was on the path to becoming the Green Arrow and going after Slade. Unfortunately, Ollie never got the chance.
Hawkman entered the meeting with the dead Ollie. Cale used this as an example to everyone of what combining their resources could do. Hawkman had clearly changed from the hero we know him as, outfitted with metallic wings and armor, alongside a massive morningstar club. He’d killed Ollie after Hector’s call, meaning he murdered him and brought his corpse there in what is fairly safe to say is under an hour. Absolute Hawkman isn’t just a hitman; he’s an elite assassin who is at the beck and call of the United States government, and he shows us exactly what they would do to Superman.
Dark Future Reflected in Heroes Past
Ra’s al Ghul has made it well known that he intends to break Superman’s spirit to ashes. All so he can use him as the ultimate weapon to raze the Earth and wipe out humanity. Hawkman is the perfect analogue to that dark possibility. He was one of the strongest heroes of his generation, and much like Absolute Superman, was often depicted like an angel of some kind. But this Hawkman has been altered. He wears spiked armor, and even his wings have been turned into weapons made of metal. He looks more like a machine than a man, reflecting his place as a weapon and nothing else.
Beyond just Hawkman, the other Golden Age heroes offer insight into what Cale and Joker want to do to their own nemeses. Sandman was murdered because the government wanted his sleeping gas formula, and Wildcat quit after stealing a bribe from some crooks he intercepted. This reflects how the two villains sought to deal with their respective heroes. Cale tried to kill Wonder Woman and take whatever power she had for the government, and Joker wanted to buy Batman off to get him out of the picture. These Golden Age heroes perfectly show us how this universe deals with heroes, and specifically how people like the Trinity have fallen before.
Batman has already rejected the money and Bane’s attempt to transform him, and Wonder Woman has proved very hard to kill. Still, Superman has yet to overcome Ra’s al Ghul, and could still be broken by the near-endless suffering of those around him. Superman is just one more loss away from becoming a monster exactly like Hawkman, which makes the two heroes near-perfect mirrors. Let’s just hope that Superman can buck off this bleak future like the other two have.
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