Is DC Comics making 2025 the year of Metamorpho? No, of course they aren’t, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a great year to be a Metamaniac. It all began when Metamorpho was announced as part of Superman, something that no one would have ever imagined. Metamorpho has always been a C-list character, but James Gunn understood why he’s great. The end of 2024 saw DC announce a new Metamorpho series, from Al Ewing and Steve Lieber. Ewing and Lieber’s series is structured like an old Silver Age series, every issue a fun little chapter that concentrates on the coolest parts of Metamorpho’s life, all while the Element Man battles the mysterious C.Y.C.L.O.P.S.. Metamorpho: The Element Man #5 is the penultimate chapter, with Metamorpho having to gather the Meta family to battle the Thunderer. However, the battle reveals a fact about Metamorpho that no one would have guessed — he’s the most important superhero on Earth.
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Ewing is known for his big imagination, and Metamorpho: The Element Man has allowed him to flex different muscles than he usually does. The retro nature of the series makes it somewhat breezy, but the series is in canon with the current DC Universe, meaning that Ewing is getting to rewrite the rule of Metamorpho, using the history of the character, as well as a story that most DC fans have forgotten about. Metamorpho’s new place in the DC Universe puts him up there with heroes like Superman.
Metamorpho Is the Sun’s Greatest Champion
To understand exactly what the page up there is talking about, you first have to know Metamorpho. Metamorpho is basically the DC version of the Thing, the gruff everyman who gains great power but is transformed into something that isn’t human. In Metamorpho’s case, Rex Mason was mercenary hired by Simon Stagg, a billionaire industrialist, to act as a bodyguard. Rex and Sapphire fell in love and Mason accompanied the Stagg family to the find the Orb of Ra. When he did, Java, who also worked with Stagg, stole it, but not before it transformed him into a man who could transform his body into anything on the periodic table. Thus, Metamorpho was born. Now, Ra is a sun god, and apparently, as a sun god, he was responsible for finding a protector of Sol because of something that the Thunderer calls the “Sun Wars”. Apparently, at some point in the past, suns fought each other for dominance, and everyone suffered. So, the suns decided to each create champions and set them against each other. The loser’s sun would die. Metamorpho, after gaining the power of the Orb of Ra, became the champion of our star.
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This is generally a wild idea, and fits in with the weirdness of a comic that is meant to be a Silver Age throwback. That said, this isn’t the first time that we’ve seen stars in anthropomorphic form in the DC Universe. The last time we saw it was in The Sandman: Endless Nights, a hardcover with seven stories that each focused on a different members of the family known as the Endless. The Dream chapter, called “Heart of a Star”, revolved around a congress of stars meeting with the Endless and the gods at some point millions of years ago. Ewing is a very well-read writer, so there’s a good chance that he’s read The Sandman: Endless Nights, and is referencing it here in a sly way. The Sandman and Metamorpho have long been related — Element Girl died in an issue of The Sandman — so this idea could easily be a wink at that venerated series.
Metamorpho Saves the Entire Solar System
Metamorpho has been battling against the attentions of C.Y.C.L.O.P.S. since the series started, with the return of the Thunderer the latest in the organization’s attacks on Metamorpho. Metamorpho and company couldn’t figure out why, but this issue reveals the truth. C.Y.C.L.O.P.S. is working with Solaris the Tyrant Sun, a Superman villain, to help the rogue solar computer win in the Sun Wars. It’s a cool development, and this issue finally establishes Metamorpho as an A-list hero.
Metamorpho has always been a powerful hero, but despite time on both the Justice League and Outsiders, he’s never really gotten a chance to shine after the weirdness of the Silver Age. Metamorpho has never really had anything special made of him other than the sadsack monster stories that the Thing made popular at Marvel. Making him the champion of the sun is a cool way to make him more important, as well as a nod to The Sandman.
Metamorpho: The Element Man #5 is on sale now.
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