In the 1990s, the tale ‘Reign of the Supermen,’ which covers the events following Superman’s death, popularized various Supermen varieties. One of them was Cyborg Superman. Dan Jurgens invented the character, and it first appeared in a comic book a few years ago, in 1987.
He started out as a brilliant scientist who perished from a radioactive mutation. Instead of dying, he evolved into a consciousness capable of taking over and controlling any type of technology.
Henshaw as Cyborg Superman, plagued by life’s anguish, fell from the road of virtue and turned against the Man of Steel. This was the turning point in his story. He later became entangled with the Justice League, Apokolips, the Manhunters, the Sinestro Corps, and the Green Lantern Corps, among other DC cornerstones.
In this video, we will look at how Cyborg Superman came to be and what he did after that.
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Cyborg Superman: Origin
The 1987 comic Adventures of Superman, Issue #466 kicks off the story of Cyborg Superman.
Hank Henshaw was a crew member alongside three others for the LexCorp space shuttle called Excalibur. A solar explosion doomed the shuttle and the members were exposed to terrible, cosmic radiation, as they had been performing experiments on radiation before the explosion. Henshaw’s wife, Terri, was also a part of the crew.
The space shuttle crashed and the radiation destroyed the bodies of the crew members, Steven and Jim. Strangely, their consciousness survived and both of them were able to fashion a new, mutated body for themselves.
While Steven, who lost his mass, created a body from the pure, cosmic radiation itself, Jim relied on the dirt, trees, and shuttle wreckage for his new body. However, they were overly distraught about their new non-human bodies. Terri seemed to have suffered no damage at all while Hank’s hair had turned white.
Hank Henshaw decided to help his friends in agony and transform them back. He had also suffered from radiation sickness but kept it a secret. The crew went back to LexCorp in Metropolis, hoping to cure themselves using the facilities. However, the guards found the two mutated beings arriving at LexCorp suspicious and a fight broke out.
Superman reached LexCorp and intercepted Steven, who had gone berserk due to his abnormal physical state and gotten access to limitless radioactive powers. After Superman managed to subdue him and promised Hank to help him out, Steven flew into space and plunged himself into the Sun.
Terri, who was fine before, began to suffer from the side effects of the accident. Her body began to immaterialize as it was bleeding itself into another dimension, which made their team kind of like the Fantastic Four. Meanwhile, Hank’s body began to decay severely, with his skin and muscles melting off.
He eventually died but before doing so, he found a way to cure his wife by exposing her to radiation. It worked out and Terri survived. However, Jim committed suicide by using an MRI or a Magnetic Resonance Imaging, which ripped out the metal fragments in his body. As the only survivor, Terri was left distraught and severely depressed.
Hank Henshaw returns in Issue #468, proving that he hadn’t really died. Just like Steven and Jim, his physical body had expired as well, causing him to transfer his mind into the mainframe of LexCorp.
Meanwhile, Terri was in a terrible mental state following the traumatic incident. Henshaw presented himself in front of his wife but he now had a robotic body that looked like Wall-E on steroids and far less cute. Terri could not fathom the fact that the robot was actually her husband. During this time, all communication networks around the United States stopped working which called for Superman’s intervention.
Henshaw dismantled his body and transported himself to NASA via the electrical wirings. The shock of Henshaw’s bizarre rebirth and robotic consciousness pushed Terri into a catatonic state and she ended up in a coma. Henshaw remained oblivious to it.
At NASA, he crafted a new body for himself using the NASA Equipment. Superman crashed into NASA to intercept Henshaw to stop him from disrupting the country’s communication systems.
Henshaw revealed his identity to Superman and explained why he needed to create a body for himself and it could only be done with the communication system, it released excess energy that disrupted the networks, which is something he could not stop. All he wanted was his wife. At that instant, Terri’s psychiatrist barged in and asked Superman to keep the robot away from Terri at all costs as the new information had put her in a coma.
Saddened by his very existence and also harming his wife, Henshaw decided to dedicate himself to learning the science of the cosmos and took over the mainframe of NASA. He remembered Superman’s carrier from Krypton, the Birthing Matrix, and he headed towards it.
Superman followed Henshaw in pursuit. Ultimately, Superman failed at stopping Henshaw, who had now created a small exploration craft from Superman’s Birthing Matrix, and left for planets unknown, bringing this issue to an end.
Later, Hank traveled from planet to planet. He bonded with the lifeforms there, learned about their histories, their cultures, and everything else. With time, he grew more and more paranoid and began to believe that Superman had caused his people to die and then drove him away from Earth, probably because it is easier to deal with pain when you can put the blame on someone.
Henshaw arrived on a new planet which was under the control of Mongul, an alien overlord. After learning about Warlord, Henshaw recruited Mongul to help him get revenge against Superman.
Eventually, Cyborg Superman went on to be known as the Herald of the Anti-Monitor, the Grandmaster of the Manhunters, and the Alpha-Prime of the Alpha-Lanterns.
The Death Of Superman And The Return Of Cyborg Superman
Cyborg Superman has been a key player and an antagonist in several story arcs so let’s get down to it.
Destruction of Coast City
In the New Earth continuity, Hank arrived over Coast City in an Alien spacecraft manned by his subordinate, Mongul. He then destroyed Coast City which set off a chain reaction of events on the DCU with severe consequences.
He did this for several reasons – to erase the memories of his wife Terri from his head, who was a native of Coast City; and to turn it into Engine City. With his physical form resembling Superman, he expected this action to turn the world against Superman.
Later, Hank tried to destroy Metropolis as well but a squad comprising of a rebuilt Eradicator (who he had destroyed while destroying Coast City), Superman, Supergirl, Superboy, and Steel arrived to stop him. During the climax of the battle, Hank fought Superman and the Eradicator in the reactor of Engine City.
However, the place was brimming with so much Kryptonian radiation that it could have easily killed non-Kryptonians. Hank was able to destroy Eradicator again but in the nick of the moment, Eradicator changed the Kryptonite radiation to yellow sunlight and directed it towards Superman to power him up. After this, Superman was able to obliterate Henshaw.
Reign of the Supermen
Cyborg Superman wandered the Universe and eventually turned insane, propelling him to return to Earth. He had used Superman’s genetic tissue from his Kryptonian escape pod for his body, which made him resemble Kal-El and he could imitate his strength.
On Earth, Cyborg Superman tried to assert his legitimacy as the real Superman. He committed noble acts such as throwing Doomsday into space and saving the President. However, he planted a device in the Kryptonian deformity to always be aware of his location.
Henshaw later sent his consciousness to that device and used it when Doomsday landed on Apokolips. With Doomsday, he destroyed the Apokoliptian defenses and was even able to defeat Darkseid. However, a revived Superman returned to foil his plans. Darkseid recovered himself and used the Omega Effect on Cyborg Superman to defeat him.
Later, Henshaw hunted Superman down after an intergalactic tribunal mistakenly believed Superman caused the destruction of Krypton. However, after the tribunal learn’t of Henshaw’s crimes and Superman’s innocence, they captured him and cast him into a black hole.
Henshaw managed to escape but was attacked by Parallax. The battle led them to Source Wall, which is a wall made of fallen Gods and housed unimaginable powers. It acted as the barrier between all 52 universes. Parallax overpowered Cyborg Superman and dispersed his consciousness into the Source Wall.
Henshaw managed to survive as he took command over a piece of the wall. He later learned about the existence of 51 other universes and ended up contacting the Manhunters.
Revenge Of The Green Lanterns
Henshaw used Kryptonian technology to upgrade the Manhunters. He eventually became their Grandmaster and would go on to battle and capture members of the Green Lantern Corps.
Henshaw wanted to figure out whether sentient life could be controlled or not and as a result, began to experiment on the Corps. But, their suffering plagued his mind and he decided to eliminate them.
Hal Jordan led a rescue expedition to free the Corps. They used Henshaw’s Highmasters to power up their rings a hundred times over and defeated Henshaw. His remains were then collected by the Guardians of the Universe only for interrogation purposes.
Sinestro Corps
Henshaw and Superman-Prime were imprisoned during the Sinestro Corps War. The opening raid on Oa freed them and they joined hands with the Sinestro Corps and the Anti-Monitor.
Henshaw was made to supervise and watch over the construction of the new Warworld. Meanwhile, the Sinestro Corps approached Earth, which was their primary target. Henshaw was asked to handle the Justice League, which he did along with his army of Manhunters. They almost subdued the League, i.e. until Superman arrived to the battlefront. Supergirl and Power Girl also arrived to aid Kal-El.
After the Justice League managed to turn the tides of battle, Henshaw was incinerated as Warworld and the Anti-Monitor collided and exploded. The majority of his body survived the explosion and his head was intercepted by the Manhunters. They reanimated his brain and brought him back to life. However, by this time, Cyborg Superman did not want to live anymore.
A Secret Piece Of History
Henshaw is seen with his wife Terri and fellow astronauts in the Booster Gold Series where we are taken back in time before the Excalibur accident. However, the accident to birth Cyborg Superman ends up taking place to kickstart future events.
In Coast City, Booster Gold’s sister, who had lost her memory, suddenly remembered how Cyborg Superman had destroyed the city before.
He eventually arrived at Coast City to destroy the place. He fought Booster Gold for a while, i.e. until he left Booster to his fate as he needed to go against the Eradicator and see to the destruction of the city and its seven million inhabitants.
Brightest Day
Henshaw went on to become the Alpha Prime of the Alpha Lanterns. He had even built an army using the Green Lanterns which had previously been kidnapped by the First Generation Alphas.
Henshaw converted John Stewart into an Alpha Lantern while some of the other Lanterns were on the lookout for John.
Following the events of the Sinestro Corps War, the Manhunters had revived Henshaw. During the Blackest Night, he had seen his wife Terri and crewmates Jim and Steven as Black Lanterns. Flooded by terrible memories and an incapability to die, even Nekron was unable to bring Henshaw out of his misery. This hopelessness had helped birth the idea of the Alpha Lanterns as he needed their help. But he also needed to get rid of the Manhunters.
Meanwhile, John Stewart was rescued by Ganthet, Soranik Natu, and Kyle Rayner. A battle ensued between the Alpha Lanterns against Kyle and Soranik.
Ganthet was the one who could’ve helped Henshaw turn into a human again. Before Ganthet could carry the plan out, the Green Lanterns attacked them.
Cyborg Superman’s body was destroyed so he tried to make Boodikka his host. However, her sheer willpower to prevent him from infiltrating her system. This ended up killing him, which is something he wanted the most.
Reign of Doomsday
In this arc, Boodikka was being helped by Batman to recover from the New Krypton war. All of a sudden, Doomsday attacked. Boodikka was taken back to the JLA watchtower when she heard a voice say that Doomsday wanted it, not the Justice League. It was revealed that Cyborg Superman still existed within Boodikka’s circuitry as nanobytes and he reconfigured himself back to life.
Doomsday destroyed Henshaw and took Supergirl out of the Watchtower. Together, Henshaw and Supergirl were captured along with the other Supermen. Henshaw told them that there were other Doomsdays for each Superman and Superman ripped out his metal heart to power him down.
The other Doomsdays were sent to different dimensions and Henshaw was eventually taken to S.T.A.R. Labs.
What Makes Cyborg Superman So Powerful?
To be an adversary of Superman, you either have to be ridiculously powerful or ridiculously intelligent. Hank Henshaw seems to tick both the boxes.
He has a consciousness that is tied to machines. As a result, he can transfer his mind to any nearby computer. He can also take possession of anything electronic and control it however he wants to, a technique he refers to as technomorphing. This is how he can fashion a new, cybernetic body for himself.
The new technology becomes a part of him. He is science but with imagination. He can transform the parts with the power of his imagination. Considering the fact that he has traveled across the universe, his imagination surely is diverse and vivid. Having always been a genius, Henshaw’s powers stemming from his mind only makes him more OP. He is also not bound by the limitations of the parts of the machine he uses as his body.
Since he fashioned some of his parts by cloning Superman’s DNA from the Birthing Matrix, he possesses powers similar to Superman himself, which is where his name Cyborg Superman stems from. He has super strength, super speed, flight, and invulnerability. However, he does not have freeze breath as he does not possess biological lungs.
Kryptonian DNA would also mean that he is vulnerable to Kryptonite. However, Cyborg Superman has transcended that boundary. He has also gained a terrific understanding of biology and could create Kryptonian parts from machinery.
His lack of a physical body is responsible for making him immortal, which truly acts as a curse for him.
His weaponry is extensive with possession of the Sinestro Corps Power Rings, several of the Green Lantern Rings, and ten Qwardian. However, he tends to rely on his Kryptonian powers and brains in general. But on the off chance he does use the weapons, he wields them quite adeptly.
He also possesses the Willhunters who are basically nanites they can enslave someone’s mind to make them loyal to the Manhunters. He also has hundreds of Manhunter robots at his disposal which he has obviously upgraded. They obey each and every command of his.
After taking control over the Alpha Lanterns, he began to reproduce Alpha Lantern batteries which can turn Lanterns into Alpha Lanterns.
Cyborg Superman initially started out as a good smart guy Hank but eventually, went psychotic. We’ve already spoken about him wanting revenge on Superman as he began to blame him for his misfortunes.
With this began his streak of villainous activities and as a result, he has been a severe threat to mankind and has been the perpetrator of several cruel events.
Formed The Superman Revenge Squad
The Superman of the New 52 version was given a reboot, taking it back to its pre-Flashpoint era. Here, some of the criminals gained awareness of their forgotten history and Hank Henshaw was one of them. He transformed into Cyborg Superman again and once again, he sought revenge after Superman.
He assembled a team of villains with Metallo, Mongul, General Zod, Blanque, and Eradicator for his revenge plan. Too bad for him, Zod ultimately betrayed him, causing him to get trapped in the Phantom Zone.
He Violated The Corpse Of His Wife
During the initial stages of his story, Hank Henshaw returned as a robot to reunite with his wife. Even when his existence on Earth disrupted the communication networks, he spoke about how all he wanted was his wife.
When he came back to Earth with the Sinestro Corps, he ripped apart the body of the woman he loved so much in half. However, in his defense, he was haunted by her memories and he was in a terrible state for not being able to die.
Powerful And Insane Versions Of Superman In Various Forms Of Media
Cyborg Superman has appeared in several different forms of media, be it on television or in films.
He appeared in one of the episodes of the American Animated series, Legion of Super-Heroes but his identity is a bit arbitrary here. The episode witnesses the arrival of a Superman robot that looks like Cyborg Superman but he is only known to a property caretaker in the 31st Century.
Cyborg Superman has also appeared in the CW superhero drama series Supergirl, where he was portrayed by David Harewood.
When it comes to movies, a variation of Cyborg Superman appears in Superman: Doomsday a direct-to-DVD movie by DC, based on the storyline of ‘The Death of Superman’.
He also appears in The Death and Return of Superman, a 2011 short film. Here, the character has been portrayed by Elijah Wood.
Cyborg Superman also appears as a prominent and important character in the Reign of Supermen as the main villain of the movie. His storyline is altered a bit as he is made to be one of Darkseid’s brainwashed minions.
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