Most people have probably heard of Homelander from The Boys. The villain showed in 5 seasons how to reverse the concept of Superman. But he is not the only one. An even nastier Superman clone terrorized the entire Earth, causing what fans miss in The Boys: complete destruction.
Which character is it about? Between 2009 and 2012, comic author Mark Waid published the comic series Irredeemable. There he tells the story of the superhero Plutonian, who has become the greatest threat to humanity.
Like Homelander, he is an evil Superman
, who rethinks the core idea behind the DC hero. He causes significantly more destruction than Homelander and shows what fans of the Amazon series wished for the finale.
Homelander and The Plutonian completely turn the concept of the nice Superman upside down:
The Birth of the Hero Plutonian
How did Plutonian come to be? Plutonian, also known as Tony or Daniel Hartigan, was actually created by a god-like alien species that traveled through multiple realities. These aliens found Earth so fascinating that they sacrificed part of their energy to create a probe. This energy encountered a woman who gave birth to Plutonian.
Even as a child, he had superpowers that can best be compared to Superman:
- Incredible strength, endurance, speed
- Flight
- Can suffer almost no damage except from magic
- Laser eyes
- Ice breath
Unlike Superman, who gains his powers from the sun, Plutonian actually receives his powers solely through his ability to change reality based on his will.
His mother took her own life early in his childhood and Plutonian ended up in an orphanage and was placed with foster families. However, he never received the love he wanted there because his powers provoked fear. This changed when he arrived at the Hartigans.
From then on, the little David became the superhero The Plutonian, who wanted to dedicate himself to good and make the world a better place. He became the greatest superhero on Earth, but his psyche suffered as a result.
His Descent into Villainy
How did The Plutonian become a villain? Due to his past as an orphan, his core motivation to be a superhero was the love and recognition of people. He received it, but an indescribable pressure built up inside him. Thanks to his nearly limitless powers, Plutonian was always afraid of making mistakes and being judged by people for it. He feared for damage to his image.
The resulting inability to handle criticism and obsession with acceptance led to terrible deeds. The complete breakdown of his psyche and the path to villainy began after he killed one of his team members.
After that, Plutonian succumbed to his destructive rage. He devastated cities, killed superheroes, villains, and people. Even the smallest annoyances were enough to make him explode again. He submerged all of Singapore after a politician lied to him out of fear. He also allowed only 10 of his former teammates to be saved.
Thus, The Plutonian did what many fans of The Boys wished for: he unleashed a wave of destruction that left entire houses, cities, and countries in rubble and ashes. Although The Plutonian was defeated, the damage he caused was irreparable.
His path as a dictatorial supervillain also had a positive effect – at least for the former villain Max Damage. Alongside Irredeemable, the comic Incorruptible by Mark Waid was released, which shows Max Damage’s journey to becoming a hero.
Will there be a movie or series about Irredeemable? In 2022, it was announced that a live-action film of Irredeemable is to be produced for Netflix (via Hollywood Reporter).
Since then, however, nothing has been heard about it, even though the project has not officially been canceled. Whether such a film is still to be released is up in the air. If you need some series fodder until then, we have prepared a list of suitable series for you: 7 series to watch after The Boys
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