Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s Superman! Blogger Erik describes the lives of four superbeings which all have strikingly similar characteristics to Superman. Are they good; are they evil? Read more to find out.–Alternate Realities Editor Hannah Hall

By Erik Bearman

*Warning: spoilers for Megamind, Brightburn, and Amazon Prime’s The Boys below.

Even if you’re not a comic-book fan, you’ve probably heard of Superman. He’s a modern-day paragon of truth, justice, and heroism and is inspiring to people inside his universe and in the real world. So, it shouldn’t surprise you to know that many artists have been inspired by the iconic superhero. Some spin-offs and allegories are just as heroic as the original. Others are flawed characters. And, some are straight up evil! When Hannah gave us the theme of “Alternate Realities,” I chose to write about these alternate supermen because it’s interesting how different characters, many flawed, use the same set of superpowers.

Sentry

First appearing in The Sentry #1 published July 19th, 2000, Sentry has become one of Marvel’s most powerful characters and has fought against and alongside heroes such as the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men.

Scientists working on Project Sentry were attempting to recreate the serum that granted Captain America his super strength. Many decades of failure were about to bring an end to the project. Until Robert “Bob” Reynolds broke into the laboratory and drank the serum. The serum granted him “the power of a million exploding suns” which included abilities such as flight, superhuman strength, and teleportation (marvel.fandom.com).

Over the past several years, Sentry has only grown more popular with the fanbase and even more powerful in the comics. His greatest threat is arguably the Void; an evil alternate personality implanted in Sentry’s brain by the villain Mastermind.

Metro Man

Megamind introduced us to the Metro Man; the beloved hero of Metro-City and certified baby kisser. Much like his rival Megamind, Metro Man’s planet was in danger of being swallowed by a black hole. So, Metro Man’s parents sent him offworld. Metro Man landed in an upper-class neighborhood and was adopted by a very wealthy family. Even as a child, Metro Man was adored by his community and was always the popular kid in school.

During his adulthood, Metro Man dueled with Megamind countless times and always won. But, one day, Metro Man got tired of being the hero. He realized he never had a choice to explore his dreams. In order to free himself, Metro Man faked his death during a fight with Megamind. While Megamind was busy wreaking havoc across the city, Metro Man was expanding his career as a musician. Megamind and Roxanne (Megamind’s version of Lois Lane) asked for Metro Man’s help in fighting Metro-City’s latest threat: Tighten. But Metro Man declined and continued his doomed career as a musician.

Brightburn

In the 2019 horror film Brightburn, Kyle and Tori Breyer wanted to have a child but were unsuccessful. One night, while attempting to overcome this problem, the Breyers heard a thunderous noise outside their farm. The couple investigates and finds an alien pod containing something that resembles a human baby. Finally happy that they’ll be able to raise a child, the Breyers hide the pod beneath their barn and raise the baby, which they name Brandon, as their own. The name “Brandon” is a possible reference to Brandon Routh, the actor who played Superman in Superman Returns.

For the most part, Brandon seems like a normal kid. He’s socially awkward, occasionally mouths off to his parents, and hides diagrams of human body parts under his bed. His parents pass these incidents off as typical teenage hormones. But, these are actually indicators of Brandon’s aggressive and cunning nature. 

Things truly take a turn for the worse when Brandon wakes up in the middle of the night and hears mysterious voices commanding him to “Take the world.” After discovering and mastering his powers of super strength, laser vision, and invulnerability, Brandon begins a brutal killing streak across his hometown of Brightburn, Kansas. He eviscerates his family’s chickens, the mother of his childhood crush/best friend, several police officers, his own relatives, and finally, a passenger plane. In the end credits of the film, Brandon is revealed to be continuing his rampage across the U.S. with seemingly no way to stop him.

Another major hint of Brandon’s true nature comes earlier in the film in Brandon’s science class. Brandon describes how a species of parasitic wasp lays their eggs in other nests. The students respond by teasing Brandon for being a nerd, but this moment is further alluding to Brandon being sent to Earth for the purpose of taking over the planet.

Homelander

First appearing in The Boys comic book series written by Garth Ennis and illustrated by Darick Robertson, and later played by Anthony Starr in the Amazon Prime original series of the same name, Homelander is the paragon of heroism. He is the crown jewel of Vought International and dedicated to fighting for the peace, security, and freedom of the United States of America. There’s just one problem…

It’s all a lie.

These stories of a Clark Kent-like upbringing are fed to the public by Vought’s expert PR team. The sad reality is that, as a human infant, Homelander was subjected to experiments involving Compound-V: the volatile, superpower-gifting serum created by Vought scientists. With the goal of creating the world’s greatest superhero, Vought bred Homelander to be the ultimate weapon. But, they neglected to teach him lessons in empathy, humility, and modesty. Which has resulted in the arrogant, narcissistic, man-child that is Homelander.

Among the most heinous crimes (that we know of) Homelander has commited are the attack of Rebecca Butcher (wife of Homelander’s arch-nemisis Billy Butcher), intentionally letting a plane full of innocent people crash just so he could convinvce the government to allow “supes” in the military, and teaming up with the superpowered-nazi Stormfront.

As despicable a creature Homelander is, he was not born evil. Remember, Homelander was never raised with loving parents, nor was he ever surrounded by friends. In the lab, he was constantly forced to impress his superiors, which is why Homelander is always seeking admiration from the public and why he goes berserk when he doesn’t receive it. When you boil it down, Homelander is the result of decades of loveless scientists and barbaric experiments.

***

I’m pretty sure that we’ve all imagined what it would be like to have superpowers. I know I have. It’s pretty jarring to see how different people have used Superman’s powers, whether it’s for lawful good or chaotic evil. I think it’s interesting to learn about how different artists have twisted our understanding of a heroic paragon.

Alternate Realities Editor: Hannah Hall

Sources:

• https://www.marvel.com/characters/sentry-robert-reynolds
• https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Robert_Reynolds_(Earth-616)
• Megamind (2010)
• The Boys (2019-present)
• Brightburn (2019)