Homelander and Omni-Man are arguably the most famous evil Superman clones, but DC itself has some to offer. One of them is the complete opposite of Clark Kent and even uses Kryptonite to his advantage.
Which character is it? In the comic Justice League of America No. 29 (1984), the Justice League had to face a new enemy. From the alternate universe of Earth 3 came the Crime Syndicate, a group of villains based on the well-known heroes.
The leader of this group is Ultraman, an evil version of Superman. Instead of the S
, a U
adorns Ultraman’s chest. And not only does he commit many crimes, but he also handles power and Kryptonite quite differently.
Already a Brute as a Child
Where does Ultraman come from? During the Crisis on Infinite Earths
event in the comics, the universe was rebooted, and Ultraman died there as well. We are referring to his story that started in 2011 with the New 52 era. There he made his first appearance in the comic Justice League No. 23 in 2013.
Kal-Il comes from the planet Krypton, which, like Superman, was doomed to destruction. However, his father sent him to Earth as a child and indoctrinated him during the flight with the ideology that he should be the strongest being. When he landed in Smallville, he forced Johnny and Martha Kent to raise him, saying: You are now my parents.
(Source: toy-people.com).
But that didn’t last long. At 7 years old, he killed his family and as an adult, he clawed his way to world domination. He also founded the Crime Syndicate, a malevolent variant of the Justice League. Among others with:
- Owlman (Thomas Wayne Jr.) as a variant of Batman
- Superwoman (Lois Lane) as a variant of Wonder Woman
- Johnny Quick (Jonathan Chambers) as a variant of The Flash
- The Martian (J’onn J’onzz) as a variant of Martian Manhunter
- Power Ring (Harold Jordan) as a variant of Green Lantern
- Sea King as a variant of Aquaman
The being that destroyed Krypton came to Earth due to Ultraman. But before everything was destroyed, the Crime Syndicate managed to flee into another dimension. After a long time, they landed on the Earth we know and faced the Justice League.
Kryptonite Gives Him Power
How powerful is Ultraman? Ultraman can do almost everything one would expect from Superman. He is incredibly strong, resilient, and fast. He can also fly, has laser and x-ray vision, and super-hearing. The source of his power is interesting.
While Superman is so powerful thanks to the red sun, for Ultraman it’s Kryptonite. When he eats or inhales the green rock, his powers become that strong. But this is also his weakness, because if he doesn’t regularly consume Kryptonite, his powers diminish. Outside of that, the sun can also make him vulnerable.
This creates an addiction to Kryptonite, as it grants him exactly what he has wanted since childhood: power over all others.
Unlike Homelander, who delivered a rather disappointing fight, Ultraman can provide a decent challenge to the original Superman. In Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent from 2023, Ultraman could easily kill another version of Superman.
In the crossover Forever Evil (2013-2014), he even moved the moon so that the sun would no longer weaken him on Earth – not many from this universe can do that.
The film version also presented Superman 2025 with a worthy opponent.
What do you think about the topic? Would you like more lore about different villains from the Superman universe? Feel free to share your opinion in the comments. Even He-Man has faced Superman in the past: Superman or He-Man? DC has already shown who is stronger between the two
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