Warning: SPOILERS forSuperman Unlimited#1Everything has changed in the DC Universe, with a newSupermanseries launching its first issue by doing the unthinkable. Living up to the power of its name,Superman Unlimitedhas taken Kal-El to a new level of power, infusing him with the might of kryptonite to take a new, golden form, apparently invulnerable to his most famous weakness.
The bombshell is exactly the kind of event with which to launch a brand new series, andSuperman Unlimitedhas changed nearly all aspects of the character’s life. By sending the Man of Steel up against a kryptonite asteroid big enough to kill him, the feat instead grants Superman new life. After almost succeeding in killing him once and for all.
Since this is Superman, the issue’s climactic pages see Kal-El do the impossible and slow the asteroid enough to guarantee it will do no harm once it impacts Earth’s surface. Resigning himself to his fate as a result, Superman takes what he believes to be his dying breath. But awakening in a new state,Superman instead discovers he no longer needs to fear a weakness to kryptonitelike the rest of his Kryptonian allies and family.
Superman’s New Golden Form Makes Him Immune To Kryptonite
Superman Unlimited#1 by Dan Slott, Rafael Albuquerque, Marcelo Maiolo
The science or biology at work in this new upgrade is still a mystery, but it’s evident thatSuperman should have been killed by this kryptonite meteor, somehow evolving from it instead. For Kal-El, the disaster seems straightforward: he exerts himself through the expected agony of a giant ball of kryptonite, succumbs and loses consciousness, as the meteor impacts. But when he wakes up in a hospital bed aboard the Justice League Watchtower, his friends reveal he has been out of action for a full three months.
A similarity tothe death of Superman eventis easy enough to note, which is why Batman, of all other heroes, is the only hero eager to show Superman the darker side of his coma. Superman may have returned to Earth intact, but so did the kryptonite, resulting in an explosion of kryptonite-fueled technology and weaponry. Superboy and Supergirl already bear the scars of enemies empowered to harm their Kryptonian physiology, which is apparently a threat Superman no longer needs to contend with.
What A Kryptonite-Upgraded Superman Means For The DC Universe
Batman has apparently already uncovered the changes which have taken place in Superman’s body, and shared them with his Kryptonian relatives. Putting Superman under spectrometer lights, the radiation and change becomes visible, revealing the Man of Steel to now be a Man of Gold. Presumably this change tohow Superman’s body receives and processes kryptonite radiationis what has nullified his weakness. A true evolution of Kal-El’s physiology, from both Kryptonian and human norms.
There is no telling what kind of threats the new and improved Superman will take on in the series to come, but if the title is any indication, the idea of a Superman without limits is one fans will get to see explored at length. How the likes of Superboy, Supergirl, Power Girl, andeven Superman-Litecontend with this new, kryptonite-filled world… remains to be seen. As the only one immune, Superman may have more pressure to defend his family than ever before.
