DC Reveals Big Superhero Powers Twist in Absolute Power Finale

Throughout Absolute Power, Amanda Waller has pushed DC’s heroes to the brink, removing their powers, their access to the multiverse, and the trust they had established with the world at large. While outgunned and depowered, the heroes were still able to push back and gain some footing, resulting in a final all-out assault on Waller’s compound in Absolute Power #4. By the issue’s end, DC had one more big twist regarding the stolen powers up its sleeve, and we’re getting into all the spoiler details from the Absolute Power finale right here!

The Power Play

In the Absolute Power Ground Zero prologue special, one of the first moves Waller makes is to bring back the dead John Starr, aka Time Commander, and she has him upgrade and then implant his hourglasses into each of the Amazos. As further explained in Absolute Power #4, the hourglasses allow objects to go back in time one hour, and since they are implanted into each Amazo, they can then rewind to the moment before they were attacked, allowing them to continually self-repair.

Batman and Blue Beetle get Starr into Waller’s headquarters and he makes some tweaks to one of the implants. Starr says that he’s rigged this implant to override the others, and since all of the Amazos are power-linked, if one gets hit with the device it will cause a chain reaction that affects all of them. That chain reaction will then cause all of the Amazos to rewind before they stole the powers in the first place, causing all of that energy to be returned.

Mission Accomplished…But Not For Everyone

The Last Son hears this plan and goes to head off the heroes before they can execute their plan, and successfully knocks them back. Thankfully they get some backup in the form of once again hero Green Arrow, who picks up the device and hits the mark, tagging an Amazo and thus setting off a huge release of the energy they initially captured.

With their powers restored, the heroes quickly overtake the Amazos and Waller’s forces, though we do learn that there was an unpredicted element to their victory. Batman reveals that when the superpowers were released, not all of them returned to their original owners. Some powers were swapped with other heroes, while other powers went to others that have been unaccounted for, and they will need to find the new owners of those abilities.

We don’t know the full extent of power switching that occurred, but we do know a few of those affected. The first shown are Fire and Ice, who have swapped powers, while Beast Girl has adopted a Tiger-specific form. A later panel reveals Plastic Man now has new powers, though it’s not known if he can also still stretch, and Black Canary is shown to have heat vision, though we don’t know if she also still has her sonic scream.

Lots more will be explored in All In as we progress, but there are already a few big changes to the status quo, and we can’t wait to see what’s next. What did you think of Absolute Power #4? You can talk all things comics with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb!