Superman Prime Too Powerful?!?!?

[Kid Quick Foots]

Ok, so im thinking superman prime may just be a bit too powerful to hang around after final crisis. So does anyone know, or have any opinions as to what DC plans to do with him after all is said and done? Turn him into a good guy? lock him up again? or just out right kill him? and if they kill him, who in DC can actually stop him?

[Jack Zodiac]

Apparently Johns has an idea for him after Final Crisis, so it doesn't look like he's going away any time soon, unfortunately. If he stuck around, I wouldn't care, I just don't want to see him in any of the books I read. And if he happens to play any big part in any more upcoming event books, I'll be sitting 'em out.

[BYC]

The point of the character is he's nigh-unstoppable and is a walking plot device. I'm perfectly okay with him sticking around.

[botch]

should die in Final Crisis. Like the Idea of one of the villains being a "superman" who is the nexus of the DCU, and he is tied to the original Crisis and the Silver Age which is the image of comic books. And it brings it all full circle. very metaphysical/profound, just the way they can bring it all together.

[NotSuper]

Ok, so im thinking superman prime may just be a bit too powerful to hang around after final crisis. So does anyone know, or have any opinions as to what DC plans to do with him after all is said and done? Turn him into a good guy? lock him up again? or just out right kill him? and if they kill him, who in DC can actually stop him?
Turning him good again would be a good story, as no character is irredeemible in the world of comics (just ask Hal Jordan), BUT it would result in what I call "Illyria Syndrome." This occurs when an all-powerful character joins the good guys, rendering all villains mere nuisances (if even that). If Prime DID become a hero again, he would either have to be de-powered or removed from active duty (ala the Spectre).

Killing him, on the other hand, would be a waste of a great character. Plus, it would make Prime's detractors (you know, the annoying bunch who claim to hate him yet talk about him whenever they get a chance--basically whinners whinning about whinning) nothing to complain about, and we can't have that.

As for who can stop him, there are a few options:

The Presence: DC's version of the Islamo-Judeo-Christian God could easily kill him. Unless He only has control of His universe. If that's the case--and if his abilities are defined as "magic"--Prime could conceivably kill God.

The Spectre: God's Spirit of Vengeance, who was able to battle the Anti-Monitor.

Superman-Prime-1: Future version of Kal-El , with a Silver Age style power level

Original Superboy-Prime: What if Prime came into conflict with his younger, heroic self? Could young Prime beat older Prime if he had some help?

Earth-One Superman: The Silver/Bronze Age Superman was the one who first discovered Prime and is likely Prime's ideal version of Superman. Since this Superman would be horrififed at Prime's actions and prime considers him to be the ideal Superman, Prime would not be able to maintain his own sense of rightness, thus weakening his ability to fight. And since this Superman has the same power-level (and more experience), Prime would go down.

The Earth-One Superman might still exist in some kind of limbo for revised characters. Or there might be a Superman on another Earth with his power level.

The Anti-Monitor: No explanation needed.

Other than those forces, I don't see anyone being able to take our boy (Earth-Prime FTW) down.

[Project 22]

So, here's my theory. SP dies. He becomes the leader of the Black Lanterns. Nuff said.

[Phoney Bone]

There's a REASON Jim Croce warned not to tug on Pre-Crisis power level Superman's cape.

Supercomicbookgeek Prime shows why!

[Berkey]

As long as he wasn't so whinny all the time he could make for some good stories. In the Marvel Universe characters like Hulk have their times where they are way too powerful, but only because they are either part of or leading to a a big story. I'm sure (unless he joins the black lanterns) that after final crisis he'll probably get a depowering. Also it helps that he's evil and doesn't hold back, I'm sure superman is just as if not stronger than SP, but he has to hold back in fear of hurting others, it would be the same situation. If Superman just let loose there would be no JLA there would be no need for them.

[Jack Zodiac]

Killing him, on the other hand, would be a waste of a great character. Plus, it would make Prime's detractors (you know, the annoying bunch who claim to hate him yet talk about him whenever they get a chance--basically whinners whinning about whinning) nothing to complain about, and we can't have that.

That's a lot of talk for a character that sucks nuts. Maybe his detractors don't like him, but most of us don't go into multi-paragraph rants about how he sucks or how he should die, we just say he sucks and should die. ;)

But honestly, I wouldn't give a rat's ass if the character stuck around, I just don't want him showing up in the comics I read. If the rest of the event hadn't been as good as it was, I would've dropped "Sinestro Corps War" right off the bat because I think he's a sucky villain and doesn't add anything meaningful to the stories he's been in since Infinite Crisis. You guys that enjoy him should be able to enjoy him, just far the !@#$ away from the books I like.

[Conner_Kent]

Turning him good again would be a good story, as no character is irredeemible in the world of comics (just ask Hal Jordan), BUT it would result in what I call "Illyria Syndrome." This occurs when an all-powerful character joins the good guys, rendering all villains mere nuisances (if even that). If Prime DID become a hero again, he would either have to be de-powered or removed from active duty (ala the Spectre).

Killing him, on the other hand, would be a waste of a great character. Plus, it would make Prime's detractors (you know, the annoying bunch who claim to hate him yet talk about him whenever they get a chance--basically whinners whinning about whinning) nothing to complain about, and we can't have that.

As for who can stop him, there are a few options:

The Presence: DC's version of the Islamo-Judeo-Christian God could easily kill him. Unless He only has control of His universe. If that's the case--and if his abilities are defined as "magic"--Prime could conceivably kill God.

The Spectre: God's Spirit of Vengeance, who was able to battle the Anti-Monitor.

Superman-Prime-1: Future version of Kal-El , with a Silver Age style power level

Original Superboy-Prime: What if Prime came into conflict with his younger, heroic self? Could young Prime beat older Prime if he had some help?

Earth-One Superman: The Silver/Bronze Age Superman was the one who first discovered Prime and is likely Prime's ideal version of Superman. Since this Superman would be horrififed at Prime's actions and prime considers him to be the ideal Superman, Prime would not be able to maintain his own sense of rightness, thus weakening his ability to fight. And since this Superman has the same power-level (and more experience), Prime would go down.

The Earth-One Superman might still exist in some kind of limbo for revised characters. Or there might be a Superman on another Earth with his power level.

The Anti-Monitor: No explanation needed.

Other than those forces, I don't see anyone being able to take our boy (Earth-Prime FTW) down.




The Spectre: nope never gets involved unless he's without a host and goes haywire on everyone

Superman-Prime-1: possible but unlikely (everyone will be going with Prime is Prime lol)

Original Superboy-Prime: I dont think you can find a copy of yourself some similar maybe but a second Superboy prime.....i donno

Earth-One Superman:......Prime kinda beat him to death with a piece of Kryptonite.......so that kinda rules him out

The Anti-Monitor: Prime beat him too.....didnt kill him but torn through his armor and it seem Anti-Matter energy does nothing to him so A.M. also out


the only person I can actually see beating/killing Prime is......himself, some how either during Final Crisis or after it Prime "wakes up" from his nut case self and realizes finally whats happened and what he's done (the billions of lives he's killed) and cant deal with it, trying to remember what it is to be a hero he flys off into space and trys to 1. find peace with himself, 2. find a place to belong. If we hear of him after that is up to the writers

[Zero Hunter]

I get the feeling that he is going to be powered down alot in Final Crisis or in Countdown. All that extra energy he abosorbed form the Guardian in the Sinestro Corps War is going to start being used up soon I think. I also think that all the stress of having that extra power is going to start tearing down his body and powering him down so he has less power than he did before Infinite Crisis.

[NotSuper]

Original Superboy-Prime: I dont think you can find a copy of yourself some similar maybe but a second Superboy prime.....i donno
If Prime can time travel then he conceivably could meet his younger self. And I doubt the original Superboy-Prime (who was basically a good kid who wanted to help out his heroes) would like his future self. Of course, Superboy-Prime would probably need some help against his older self.

Earth-One Superman:......Prime kinda beat him to death with a piece of Kryptonite.......so that kinda rules him out
You're thinking of the Earth-Two Superman, Kal-L. I'm talking about the one from Earth-One, the Silver/Bronze Age Kal-El. The one with nearly unlimited power.

the only person I can actually see beating/killing Prime is......himself, some how either during Final Crisis or after it Prime "wakes up" from his nut case self and realizes finally whats happened and what he's done (the billions of lives he's killed) and cant deal with it, trying to remember what it is to be a hero he flys off into space and trys to 1. find peace with himself, 2. find a place to belong. If we hear of him after that is up to the writers
I could see that. Maybe he could become like the animated Amazo afterwards.

[storm_willing_slave]

That's a lot of talk for a character that sucks nuts. Maybe his detractors don't like him, but most of us don't go into multi-paragraph rants about how he sucks or how he should die, we just say he sucks and should die. ;)

But honestly, I wouldn't give a rat's ass if the character stuck around, I just don't want him showing up in the comics I read. If the rest of the event hadn't been as good as it was, I would've dropped "Sinestro Corps War" right off the bat because I think he's a sucky villain and doesn't add anything meaningful to the stories he's been in since Infinite Crisis. You guys that enjoy him should be able to enjoy him, just far the !@#$ away from the books I like.
Wholeheartedly agree!!!!

[NotSuper]

Part of the reason I like Prime is because I liked the original version, created by Maggin. It was such a great idea: A Superman (well boy) that existed in the real-world. Superman is essentially wish-fulfillment and Prime was the final evolution of that.

The current Prime still has that wish-fulfillment aspect, but in a negative sense. Imagine if we had god-like powers and could eliminate characters we hated. And would it matter if we did destroy them? After all, they're not real, not like us. That's likely one of the reasons Prime is able to kill so easily (though he wasn't able to at first). Kind of adds a dimension to wishing characters were dead on message boards. If they were real, we'd be horrible people.

To be honest, I shudder to think what real comic fans would do if their world was destroyed, they were trapped in solitude for twenty years, and had to watch the heroes they sacrificed everything (LITERALLY everything) for kill and maim each other. We might even be worse.

Even though I don't agree with Prime's actions, I can understand his anger and his desire for some kind of meaning in a seemingly meaningless universe. Kind of reminds me of that old DKR line: "The world only makes sense if you force it to."

I also hope that one day we'll see the original Superboy-Prime. I'm not sure how that would happen (maybe time travel?), but it's something I hope for. That original story is one of my favorite Superman stories. True, Prime was created as a relatively throw-away character, but he turned out to be very unique. It's a shame this version didn't last long. But that's the way things go, I guess.

[ShaggyB]

Part of the reason I like Prime is because I liked the original version, created by Maggin. It was such a great idea: A Superman (well boy) that existed in the real-world. Superman is essentially wish-fulfillment and Prime was the final evolution of that.

The current Prime still has that wish-fulfillment aspect, but in a negative sense. Imagine if we had god-like powers and could eliminate characters we hated. And would it matter if we did destroy them? After all, they're not real, not like us. That's likely one of the reasons Prime is able to kill so easily (though he wasn't able to at first). Kind of adds a dimension to wishing characters were dead on message boards. If they were real, we'd be horrible people.

To be honest, I shudder to think what real comic fans would do if their world was destroyed, they were trapped in solitude for twenty years, and had to watch the heroes they sacrificed everything (LITERALLY everything) for kill and maim each other. We might even be worse.

Even though I don't agree with Prime's actions, I can understand his anger and his desire for some kind of meaning in a seemingly meaningless universe. Kind of reminds me of that old DKR line: "The world only makes sense if you force it to."

I also hope that one day we'll see the original Superboy-Prime. I'm not sure how that would happen (maybe time travel?), but it's something I hope for. That original story is one of my favorite Superman stories. True, Prime was created as a relatively throw-away character, but he turned out to be very unique. It's a shame this version didn't last long. But that's the way things go, I guess.

There is no chance of seeing the original Superboy Prime through time travel. Remember he never existed after COIE. The only reason he survived was alex created there "heaven" for them to occupy.

Im predicting he runs into a version of himself thats no where near his power levels but has the exact opposite ideals as him. That will be a rather strong moment for the character..... basically seeing what he could have been.

[bjtrdff]

No, You Think?!!!!?!?!?!

[NotSuper]

There is no chance of seeing the original Superboy Prime through time travel. Remember he never existed after COIE. The only reason he survived was alex created there "heaven" for them to occupy.
I think there is. Pre-Crisis characters have shown up after COIE (like the original Supergirl) and we still don't know how the new universe works yet. Prime could conceivably go back in time before the creation of the current universe to get to the past one. It all depends on how time travel works in the current universe.

[Lunal]

If I were Superman Prime, i would retcon punch the writers who prevented me from instantly going back in time and resetting the entire universe towards the end of IC.

[justcrash]

I'm sure superman is just as if not stronger than SP, but he has to hold back in fear of hurting others, it would be the same situation. If Superman just let loose there would be no JLA there would be no need for them.

No, Silver age, a pre-COIE Kryptonian/Superman is unstoppable in todays DCU, thus why prime is such a big threat. When Superman was revamped in 86 by Byrne, the DC PTB specifically wanted a Superman that couldn't toss planets around with a finger, so he was DRASITCALLY depowered.

There is an early issue of Byrnes run (maybe a 2-3 parter?) when our Kal-el fights a pre-crisis superboy and gets his rear handed to him. THAT superboy was still a good guy, other wise Kal would have been crushed.

[Micro]

Yes!!! I want to see Superman-Prime vs Earth-One Superman....


"This looks like a job for Superman!"

[jadehorde]

The Spectre: nope never gets involved unless he's without a host and goes haywire on everyone

Superman-Prime-1: possible but unlikely (everyone will be going with Prime is Prime lol)

Original Superboy-Prime: I dont think you can find a copy of yourself some similar maybe but a second Superboy prime.....i donno

Earth-One Superman:......Prime kinda beat him to death with a piece of Kryptonite.......so that kinda rules him out

The Anti-Monitor: Prime beat him too.....didnt kill him but torn through his armor and it seem Anti-Matter energy does nothing to him so A.M. also out


the only person I can actually see beating/killing Prime is......himself, some how either during Final Crisis or after it Prime "wakes up" from his nut case self and realizes finally whats happened and what he's done (the billions of lives he's killed) and cant deal with it, trying to remember what it is to be a hero he flys off into space and trys to 1. find peace with himself, 2. find a place to belong. If we hear of him after that is up to the writers

That version of Anti-Monitor was weaker. They said as much. He could have defeated everyone present GL's AND SC if he was at his original levels. And he had a War World blown up on top of him.

Earth-1 Superman...the Supes that died was Earth-2.

And I nominate Dr. Fate, assuming we get a competent guy this time around.

[ZNOP]

What if we transport him the the Marvel Universe and have him go at it with Gladiator? Another, overpower nitwit. My Mother?!? No, Your Mother!!! That's it. Let's do this:cool:

[hYPE]

Apparently Johns has an idea for him after Final Crisis, so it doesn't look like he's going away any time soon, unfortunately. If he stuck around, I wouldn't care, I just don't want to see him in any of the books I read. And if he happens to play any big part in any more upcoming event books, I'll be sitting 'em out.

hahaha! You really don't like Superboy Prime, huh? You crack me up.

[NotSuper]

Yes!!! I want to see Superman-Prime vs Earth-One Superman....


"This looks like a job for Superman!"
Seeing what Prime has turned into would break the Earth-One Kal-El's heart. (Especially since Prime killed Kal-L, one of Kal-El's closest friends.) Meeting Prime gave him hope for the future after Kara died.

Kal-El would still stop him (he's fought and defeated beings even stronger than himself), of course, but it would depress him greatly. He also wouldn't like the new, darker universe, but wouldn't try to force it to change like Prime, or even the passive way Kal-L wanted to fix it. He was less proactive than his Earth-Two counterpart because he was so powerful.

[Superman-Prime]

No one should defeat Superman Prime ever..he should just destroy everything after final crisis and create one single ultimate Earth and restart the universe from zero. Just as Hal jordan planned to do during Zero Hour. And actually his idea of power and order is quite right, Superman and all the other JLA just sit down and do whatever they want and save the world, but that doesnt mean its the right decition, They fought back Alex Luthor when he was looking for the good earth, and they fight back, but who told them Alex was wrong, werent Alex ideas far more correct since he actually was monitors descendant in few words, i think Alex had far more idea of how things should be, not a rich Wayne boy in gotham city neither a kryptonian with great powers, all this heroes are just fighting for there own lives and not looking to all posibilites, like recognizing that actually there earth is wrong....

Superman Prime see this and he should change it...

[Gonzalez]

DC will probably keep Super"Man"-Prime around as long as possible, if only to torture the Siegel family as much as humanly possible with all the money that is being made off the *psst: SuperBOY* character, that the Siegel family isn't seeing a penny of.

That would definitely learn 'em who's boss. Who do these creators and writers think they are, anyways, to think that they're more important than corporate lawyers, MBA's and editors whose voracious, artificially-overinflated egos are much, much more important?!

Now that I've really started paying attention and done my research on DC, I've learned how they treat their most bread-and-butter creators like Jerry Siegel. And I'm not surprised at all that they would dare to actually pull something like this. Their main priority seems to be corporate domination rather than the honest marketing of real heroism.

Of course, it's not that comics' readers even much care anymore: people of decency apparently stopped reading comics quite some time ago... And all that seems to be read comics now are power-lusting domination groupies -- people who thrive on living vicariously through the megalomaniacal achievements of posturing egomaniacs in capes and the posturing, egomaniac corporations that publish them. And all facilitated by the posturing, egomaniac henchmen who devote themselves to silencing all dissent regarding this whole mentality.

What's more, I'm not alone in having this attitude; before his death, Mike Wieringo himself made much the same kind of comments about the new comics attitude of screwing over creators, installing amoral, narcissistic sociopaths as super-"heroes" and, in general, cultivating an apocalyptic, thug mentality.

In light of all this, DC really should flip the "D" and "C" in its name and call itself "CD Comics" instead...

What would it stand for? Why, "Corporate Domination Comics", of course.

[mastaflan]

I am sick of that dude......Seriously he should die and never come back.......I don't even really like regular superman.....

[MythicBrawn]

He should have been put down at the end of Infinite Crisis. The only reason to keep him around is as a plot device. Anybody that he kills is on the Guardians head since they should have given him the death penalty when they had the chance.

[Ben Fox]

Maybe that Superboy from the Hypertime storyline in Superboy's title could come back and take on Prime. He was Silver Age power levels, wasn't he?

[jadehorde]

No one should defeat Superman Prime ever..he should just destroy everything after final crisis and create one single ultimate Earth and restart the universe from zero. Just as Hal jordan planned to do during Zero Hour. And actually his idea of power and order is quite right, Superman and all the other JLA just sit down and do whatever they want and save the world, but that doesnt mean its the right decition, They fought back Alex Luthor when he was looking for the good earth, and they fight back, but who told them Alex was wrong, werent Alex ideas far more correct since he actually was monitors descendant in few words, i think Alex had far more idea of how things should be, not a rich Wayne boy in gotham city neither a kryptonian with great powers, all this heroes are just fighting for there own lives and not looking to all posibilites, like recognizing that actually there earth is wrong....

Superman Prime see this and he should change it...

Or the fact that his scheme FAILED despite all his planning means that Alex's idea wasn't the be all and end all.

That is USUALLY the lesson anytime a supersmarty decides that the world would be better if the supers ran things. Heck, Deep Space Nine made it a point. That despite 4 supergeniuses working out "all the angles" to the oncoming war, they couldn't predict the actions of a single girl that mucked up their entire plan. The fact that for all the murders and machinations, for all of SBP's power and Alex's basically onesided prep against everyone, his plan still failed, so why the heck should we assume Alex would in ANY way be competent enough to make a perfect world?

The only one plan of this type that came close to success was Apocalypse's in Age of Apocalypse. If the flatlines somehow beat him, he'd STILL win because he was all about survival of the fittest.

EDIT - And of course, when has a Monitor been right? The first came the closest and still got taken out by his herald.

[Gonzalez]

I'm laughing at how all you people are so gullible. You're really not seeing that these plots and characters that you care so deeply about, are nothing more than your being manipulated.

Superman-Prime is does not exist. And he's not even a character. He's a legal tactic. A legal tactic on the part of DC and Warner, so that they can wrest full ownership of Superboy and even Superman from the Siegel family, and make mountains and mountains of cash, off of gullible fools who they've tricked out of their money, and whose money helps finance their screwing over the upstanding creator of Superman and Superboy.

Bah.

[Zeal]

Anyway, back on topic.

This may be a long shot, but here's my theory of why Superman-Prime is so powerful. I look at the "Prime" universe as the universe from which all cosmic energies, magics, and powers emanate from, or the 'source' from which the various universes are distributed from. Put simply, the Prime universe would be the focal point of all creation, or the point in which the Presence first decided to will into existence the first universe. This point would be a source of near unlimited power.

As other universes are created/distributed from the Prime universe, they gradually erode and become weaker, as their powers are slowly weakened or depleted with the creation of each individual universe. Therefore, the further you go back to the source (Universe Prime) the higher the energy levels are. Think of it as ripple of waves in a pool, with each ripple representing a universe. All ripples come from the point of origin, with the center being Universe-Prime.

Simply put, Superman-Prime is the last remaining 'prime' being, and being an anomaly himself (from a world without superheroes) is inherently stronger than all other superheroes/villains that come after him.

PS- Another analogy would be cloning. The further a generation of clones are from the source material -- or the host from which all other clones are created -- the weaker/less pure they become. This is due to the gradual genetic mutations that break down the host DNA over the course of the cloning process. So in a sort of twisted way, Prime would be right about all other Earths simply being pale imitations of the original.

Just my opinion.

[steve2275]

The point of the character is he's nigh-unstoppable and is a walking plot device. I'm perfectly okay with him sticking around.and his last name is prime :p :cool:

[ZNOP]

Being that he is listed in the DC forums -- I, ask... Could Supreme defeat Prime? Please, Be specfic with you why's or not's? Thanks:)

[Paul Newell]

If you waant to ask the question, ZNOP, please do so and start a new thread at the Rumbles Forum. It's more appropriate ther and I don't want to see this thread turn into a Rumbles, thanks.

[TheORKINMan]

Now that I'm thinking about it I'd REALLY love to see an Infinity Man/Superman Prime fight.

[Joe-Dono]

I would like to see him de-powerd a bit, to around superman level.

After FC it would be cool if he became good, after realising how much evil he has done and how the current DCU would never welcome him he somehow transportd himself off to the future and hooks up with The Legion of Super Heroes.

he would have to change his name as they would know about him from historic recolds.

sorry if this is a bit rambley but im hopped up on strong flu tables.

[jadehorde]

I would like to see him de-powerd a bit, to around superman level.

After FC it would be cool if he became good, after realising how much evil he has done and how the current DCU would never welcome him he somehow transportd himself off to the future and hooks up with The Legion of Super Heroes.

he would have to change his name as they would know about him from historic recolds.

sorry if this is a bit rambley but im hopped up on strong flu tables.

I would actually think it interesting if he couldn't change his name. Or that it's so obvious in the future what a monster he was. I think it's easy for him not to care at the moment, but when 1000 years of history are weighed out it might do him some good.

I thought finding an Earth Prime and having them disgusted with him would be the trick.

[NotSuper]

I thought finding an Earth Prime and having them disgusted with him would bethe trick.
I'd do the exact opposite and have Earth-Prime love him (kind of like the Pre-Crisis Lexor). There needs to be at least one Earth where Prime is accepted. Plus, his character works best when he's questing for and/or protecting something. Having him be anti-everything would get old fast and make him seem like just a typical villain. (Personally, I thought it was out of character for him to destroy Earth-15--his quarrel should be with New Earth only.)

But what I think will ultimately happen is that Prime will become Prime--Universe-Prime that is. I see him absorbing so much power that he becomes his own universe (ala Tetsuo from AKIRA). And I think that in this new universe, there will be a Kryptonian boy on a world with no super-heroes. From there, DC could have a new Superboy-Prime (one who isn't a villain).

[jadehorde]

I'd do the exact opposite and have Earth-Prime love him (kind of like the Pre-Crisis Lexor). There needs to be at least one Earth where Prime is accepted. Plus, his character works best when he's questing for and/or protecting something. Having him be anti-everything would get old fast and make him seem like just a typical villain. (Personally, I thought it was out of character for him to destroy Earth-15--his quarrel should be with New Earth only.)

But what I think will ultimately happen is that Prime will become Prime--Universe-Prime that is. I see him absorbing so much power that he becomes his own universe (ala Tetsuo from AKIRA). And I think that in this new universe, there will be a Kryptonian boy on a world with no super-heroes. From there, DC could have a new Superboy-Prime (one who isn't a villain).

That would be interesting...just as with gardening you need some grade A fertilizer to grow the best flowers.

Thing is, I prefer the denouement to be his realization that it was all his fault. That true heroes don't blame others for their actions and take responsibility for the evil he has done. And the best way to do that given he found even Earth-2 Superman to not measure up is to have his old world, the perfect place he's been searching for all this time to turn its back on him.

[NotSuper]

Thing is, I prefer the denouement to be his realization that it was all his fault. That true heroes don't blame others for their actions and take responsibility for the evil he has done. And the best way to do that given he found even Earth-2 Superman to not measure up is to have his old world, the perfect place he's been searching for all this time to turn its back on him.
If you do that his character ceases to have any purpose or direction. His whole reason for existing is to find his world. If they rejected him, what would he do? You could have him try to destroy the world, but that would be kind of boring and out of character (even if they hated him, he wouldn't just vaporize them--another world maybe, but not Earth-Prime) He could commit suicide, but that would also be out of character, as he's proven to do everything possible to cling on to his existence, even though he's basically a ghost (not literally, but he's little more than a sentient leftover from a dead world--almost like a tangible memory). As with all versions of Kal-El, he rarely gives up and has incredible determination.

I think Prime eventually has to have some success, even if he doesn't succeed in his own eyes. As a twisted version of Superman, Prime needs some kind of hope. Otherwise he'd just turn into a nihilist like Hank Henshaw, and we don't need two nihilistic Supermen, now do we?

[Kara Zor El]

Very well put.

Superman Prime being too powerful is his whole point. He's a parody of those times when Superman could do anything. It's that James Bond thing, which Batman has also been linked to at times. I personally get a real buzz off all that but superhero universes needed to move on from those sorts of characters. Bringing back a character who is the ultimate anything goes, was a clever and essential part of Infinite Crisis. It gets harder for writers to sustain such a character as a villain but Superboy Prime was always on a journey, right from the beginning and there is no reason why that journey can't take him to a place where he can be a hero once more. Who could stop him? maybe, just maybe we need to lose him to truly have him be something to cherish but I'm so fond of him, I'd love to see him return from time ton time. He's not too powerful, he's too powerful to be apart of current DC continuity all the time.

[jadehorde]

If you do that his character ceases to have any purpose or direction. His whole reason for existing is to find his world. If they rejected him, what would he do? You could have him try to destroy the world, but that would be kind of boring and out of character (even if they hated him, he wouldn't just vaporize them--another world maybe, but not Earth-Prime) He could commit suicide, but that would also be out of character, as he's proven to do everything possible to cling on to his existence, even though he's basically a ghost (not literally, but he's little more than a sentient leftover from a dead world--almost like a tangible memory). As with all versions of Kal-El, he rarely gives up and has incredible determination.

I think Prime eventually has to have some success, even if he doesn't succeed in his own eyes. As a twisted version of Superman, Prime needs some kind of hope. Otherwise he'd just turn into a nihilist like Hank Henshaw, and we don't need two nihilistic Supermen, now do we?

You can have a purpose and direction that will never come to fruition. You can even KNOW you will never succeed and still put your all into doing it for the rest of your life. If you think that pointlessly depressing, then almost all villainry is as well, given they are completely thwarted more often than not, and generally successfully opposed almost always. Or Batman, heck the term neverending battle is right there with a never success.

More importantly, I think that IS the future for the character. When freakin Kal-L isn't good enough to the point you brutally murder him, there won't BE an Earth that is good enough. The point of an Earth Prime rejecting him is that now he's not good enough for that world.

The character at that point can either continue his rampage, rationalizing that this world isn't right in some way or that they aren't good enough for rejecting him...just as the maladjusted adolescent he has been since his reintroduction. OR he can come to grips with how far he has fallen and finally take a step back from an antagonistic relationship with the whole multiverse and see, yes it is his fault, and no, no one else MADE him kill, and then keep killing.

EDIT - I mean what would he DO if he found an Earth Prime and they just welcomed him in with open arms? He's just going to pretend he didn't wipe out at least two other Earths and killed a couple dozen GL's/Teen Titans etc? They didn't matter or something? You'd saddle a world with no supers with a crazy like that as their "protector"? Guy can't even being to control himself and I see a Kid Miracleman scenario for him by dint of incompetence rather than clinical sadism.

[Zeal]

The sheer horror of watching Prime effortlessly -- and without any remorse, I might add -- kill such comic legends as Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman...it's what completely makes the character so unforgettable. I've never seen anything like this done before, and that's why I love the audacity of such a character. It's just never been done before.

Moreover, it's analogous to giving the Joker the power of a silver-aged Superman. Could you even begin to imagine the consequences? That horror could could be described as an utterly unstoppable, remorseless, and clearly insane...'god', and that's practically what the character of Prime is. It's like a kid with the powers of a god, unable or unwilling to accept the consequences of his actions, and incapable of controlling such infinite power.

A doomsday scenario, used to progress a plot, more or less.

[Just a Shadow]

I for one hope they do him in at the end of Final Crisis. I don't want reminders of COIE. The whole point of it was to get rid of the alternate realities and leave us with one version of every character. Power Girl slipped through a crack in all that so I can forgive her continud existence, but Prime I just don't want to see.

However, if they insist on not killing him, there are a few options I could tolerate. One is depowering him to regular Superman level and having him be a villain. Preferably a cosmic villain who is pretty much never seen on Earth and only shows up in the occasional GL storyline. The other is sending him to the future so the Legion of Super Heroes can deal with him. I don't read the Legion so I really don't care if he remains good or bad or at his same power levels. If he's out of the regular DCU, that's good enough for me!

[NotSuper]

More importantly, I think that IS the future for the character. When freakin Kal-L isn't good enough to the point you brutally murder him, there won't BE an Earth that is good enough. The point of an Earth Prime rejecting him is that now he's not good enough for that world.
I don't see that happening myself. For one thing it would be kind of obvious and I don't think it would be a very good story. I'd prefer to see something unique done with the character, rather than just taking readers where one expects it to go. I'm generally not a fan of predictable outcomes. Why read a story if you know what's going to happen at the end? There's no real suspense.

I don't think that's what Geoff has planned for him. I see Prime either finding his home and finding out there's ANOTHER Superman there, becoming the universe itself (essentially becoming "Prime" literally), or getting de-aged (to a baby) somehow and sent back in time to his universe (this time getting the chance to grow up). I'd prefer any of those scenarios to the "universe rejects Prime" scenario that we've ALREADY seen many times before. I'd like to see something new, something different, something creative.

[jadehorde]

I don't see that happening myself. For one thing it would be kind of obvious and I don't think it would be a very good story. I'd prefer to see something unique done with the character, rather than just taking readers where one expects it to go. I'm generally not a fan of predictable outcomes. Why read a story if you know what's going to happen at the end? There's no real suspense.

I don't think that's what Geoff has planned for him. I see Prime either finding his home and finding out there's ANOTHER Superman there, becoming the universe itself (essentially becoming "Prime" literally), or getting de-aged (to a baby) somehow and sent back in time to his universe (this time getting the chance to grow up). I'd prefer any of those scenarios to the "universe rejects Prime" scenario that we've ALREADY seen many times before. I'd like to see something new, something different, something creative.

That's your prerogative I suppose. Though really unpredictable outcomes? I mean even with the zaniest Alan Moore plot...Joker is going to get hauled off to Arkham. SBP is not misunderstood or a victim. He is a villain of the highest order. Why would I, as a reader, WANT to see him succeed and be happy and accepted by his world? That works to tweak noses, but not long term. And unless we are talking a multi-decade rehabilitation (or a yellow fear monster retcon), I don't see DC putting out a comic where a genocidal maniac makes good and kicks it on his perfect world.

Either way I suppose we agree to disagree...for one I don't see why the fixation on making SBP some type of "Prime" other than his name. I certainly wouldn't want to live in the universe that comes from him. That is unexpected per your interests, but so would Batman having toonforce powers to take out all comers. I like the de aging, as that really is the only reasonable way SBP can continue to function in the DCU at large, though THAT has already been done with a better character by the name of Erik Lensherr.

Either way, we wait and see what Geoff has planned for the character.

[HaroldAllnut]

I don't know if anyone's entertained this idea... but what if he becomes a NEW GOD?

[Blackhawkk]

An all out battle between Earth-1 Superman (last seen in Alan Moore's "Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow?") & Superman-Prime! Worlds will collapse! Universes will die!

Written by Cary Bates & Elliot S! Maggin!