Metallo Explained

For other uses see Metallo (disambiguation).

Character Name:Metallo
Converted:y
Real Name:John Corben
Publisher:DC Comics
Debut:Action Comics #252 (May 1959)
Creators:Robert Bernstein (writer)
Al Plastino (artist)
Species:Human Cyborg
Aliases:Metal Zero (Metal-0)
Powers:Current: Bionic Surgery
  • Superhuman strength, speed, stamina, and durability
  • Kryptonite power source
  • Imperviousness to pain
  • Hologram projection
  • Immortality

Former: Cyborg Physiology

  • Interchangeable Kryptonite
  • Computer interaction
  • Energy signature manipulation
  • Technomorphing
  • Computer brain
  • Immovability
  • Invulnerability
  • Laser vision
  • Radiation blasts
  • Mechanical engineering
  • Technological regeneration

Metallo is the name of different supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of Superman. All versions of the character are powered by Kryptonite and are partially or completely mechanical.

In 2009, Metallo was ranked as IGN's 52nd-greatest comic book villain of all time.[1]

Metallo has been adapted into numerous media outside comics, primarily in association with Superman. Malcolm McDowell, Lex Lang, Jim Rash, Paul Blackthorne, and John C. McGinley have voiced the character in animation. Furthermore, several versions of Metallo appear in the live-action series Supergirl.

Publication history

There was an earlier "Metalo" who appeared in World's Finest #6 (Summer 1942). This version was a man named George Grant who discovered the most powerful metal on Earth and invented a strength serum.[2]

John Corben and Metallo first appeared in the Superman comic strip storyline "The Menace of Metallo", which ran from 15 December 1958 to 4 April 1959. The character debuted in comic books in Action Comics #252 (May 1959), in a story by Robert Bernstein and Al Plastino.[3]

The Roger Corben version of Metallo debuted in Superman #310 and was created by Curt Swan and Martin Pasko.

Fictional character biography

George Grant

Metalo (alternate spelling) is the identity of an inventor/scientist named George Grant who had built a powered suit of armor made from "the most powerful metal on Earth" as well as a "strength serum" that made him a near-match for Superman. To draw him out, Metalo captured Lois Lane. At the end of their battle, Metalo fell into a crevice to what Superman assumed would be his death. Metalo was revealed to the reader to have "narrowly escaped destruction" and vowed to take revenge.[4]

Nearly 40 years would pass before the character reappeared in print to challenge Superman again. Metalo had improved his armor and serum and also exposed Superman to a ray that reduced his power significantly, giving Metalo superior strength in their first battle. Superman engaged in a lengthy regimen of exercise and training to restore his powers and returned to easily defeat Metalo.[5] [6]

Jor-El's Robot

A different Metallo appeared as Jor-El's robot to battle Superboy.[7]

John Corben

John Corben is a criminal and journalist who is involved in a fatal car accident while fleeing the scene of a murder he committed.[8] Professor Vale encounters Corben and transfers his brain into a robotic body covered by a flesh-like artificial skin and powered by kryptonite.[9] [10]

After obtaining a job with the Daily Planet, Corben briefly tried to romance Lois Lane, while deciding that he would use his powers to eliminate Superman, the one person who might expose his criminal deeds. After setting a kryptonite death-trap for Superman, Corben stole what he thought was another sample of kryptonite from a museum as a new power supply, not knowing it was a fake prop; this mistake caused him to die just as he was about to kill Lois Lane for discovering that he was not Superman (as he had pretended to be, being super-strong and invulnerable as a cyborg). Superman eventually escaped from the kryptonite trap and arrived just after Metallo (John Corben) had died.[11] [12]

After John Byrne rewrote Superman's origins in the 1986 miniseries The Man of Steel, Metallo was also given an altered backstory. In this version, Corben is inspired to battle Superman because Vale believes him to be an invader.[13]

Despite ignoring Vale's commands, Metallo came into conflict with Superman on various occasions, largely due to his continued activities as a petty thug. Metallo later lost his kryptonite heart to Lex Luthor, though back-up life support systems allowed him to reactivate himself and escape. He remained a thorn in Superman's side and was powerful enough to cripple the Doom Patrol. Still, the Indian-born hero who called herself Celsius did blow him apart with her thermal powers. Metallo later received a major upgrade via an unholy bargain with the demon Neron. As a result, Metallo could morph his body into any mechanical shape he could imagine (such as turning his hands into guns or "growing" a jet pack from his back) and project his consciousness into any technological or metallic device. He could also grow to monstrous size. During one battle, his gigantic fists were separated and later turned into housing by other superheroes. In another incident, Metallo was rendered more insane by the Joker and used his height to destroy an elevated train of commuters.

As Superman and others learned on various occasions, the most effective way to neutralize Metallo was to remove his (largely invulnerable) head and isolate it from other metallic items.

In Superman/Batman #2 (November 2003), Lex Luthor fabricated evidence implicating John Corben as the criminal who shot and killed Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne instead of Joe Chill.[14]

Superman: Secret Origin

In the 2009–10 miniseries , which retells the origins of Superman and his supporting cast, Corben is an Army sergeant who works for General Sam Lane. He is enlisted to battle Superman and is transformed into a cyborg to save his life after his suit is damaged and malfunctions.

The New 52

In The New 52 continuity reboot, Corben is possessed by Brainiac. However, Superman reasons with him and he helps fight Brainiac before being rendered comatose.[15] [16] Corben later recovers and becomes an ally of Superman before sacrificing himself so Superman can use his kryptonite heart to regain his powers.

DC Rebirth

In DC Rebirth, Metallo is resurrected and joins the Superman Revenge Squad.[17]

Roger Corben

Roger Corben is John Corben's brother, who works with the secret organization SKULL to avenge his death.[18] [19]

Powers and abilities

Metallo's metallic body offers him a high degree of protection from physical and energy attacks. He has enhanced abilities and no longer needs to eat, sleep, or breathe. His brain is hermetically sealed inside a shielded alloy skull that has its own power supply. When he was first created, he was powered by a kryptonite heart; losing that, he subsisted on plutonium instead. Additionally, because of his cyborg body, Metallo possesses superhuman strength and speed, enough to pose a challenge and even a threat to opponents such as Superman (in that case, he also takes advantage of the weakening power of kryptonite besides his own strength).

Over the course of his criminal career, Metallo's body would be decimated constantly by various circumstances. As such he would receive numerous upgrades or whole new chassis' to replace his damaged parts, such as by the obscure supervillain organization Cerberus, which modified him with a vastly superior body, one with lead-lined skull-plating and an anatomic layer that even Superman could not demolish.[20] This gave him greatly enhanced strength and durability, coupled with moderate mechanical regeneration to repair internal damage.[21] He was later outfitted with a larger LexCorp tech body, which gave him laser vision and further augmented his physical abilities.[22] Soon after it was destroyed, Corben had received a new body from a fellow Kryptonite-powered supervillain Conduit; which gave Metallo radioactive blasts from his hands and could utilize geomagnetism to make him physically immovable, even by the Man of Steel, so long as he stood on solid ground or flooring within a building complex.[23]

Metallo would eventually sell his soul (or what was left of it) to the demon Neron in return for increased power,[24] gaining the abilities to mentally control and absorb any mechanical or metal object he focuses on and transforming any technology (himself included) into an extension of his exoskeleton (an ability similar to Cyborg Superman).

In experimenting with his newfound abilities, Metallo found he could alternate differing energy frequencies for harnessing and redistributing it from various power sources.[25] Brainiac 13 upgraded Metallo to tap into various light spectra to better utilize his kryptonite-charged abilities. His mechanical body was also upgraded to be able to grow towards monolithic proportions.[26] He is also occasionally portrayed as having a liquid metal-based endoskeleton, possessing the ability to morph parts of his body, specifically his limbs, into different weapons or tools, such as chainsaws, shovels, hammers, etc. While not a genius like Lex Luthor or Brainiac, Corben's time spent with machines has given him a gifted understanding of how they work, enabling him to tinker with their mechanical functions even before gaining his technomorphing capabilities.[27]

Salvation Run reveals that Metallo possesses a high-calculus cyber-mind with which to run the numbers of possible and probable outcomes as well as success ratios through. In the previous continuity, the pre-Flashpoint Lex Luthor modified Corben to holster and utilize different forms of kryptonite; boasting mutagenic red-k, inverted blue-k and lastly, artificial depowering gold-k on top of the green he already possessed.[28] He could even power a great many anti-Kryptonian armaments developed by Luthor through it.[29]

Other versions

In other media

Television

Live-action

Arrowverse

Six different incarnations of Metallo appear in media set in the Arrowverse:

Animation

DC Animated Universe

The John Corben incarnation of Metallo appears in series set in the DC Animated Universe (DCAU), primarily voiced by Malcolm McDowell.

Film

Video games

Miscellaneous

Merchandise

The John Corben incarnation of Metallo received a "Collect and Connect" figure in Wave 5 of the DC Universe Classics line.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Top 100 Comic Book Villains. 2009. IGN. 2017-05-10.
  2. Book: Eury . Michael . The Krypton Companion . 2006 . TwoMorrows Publishing . 9781893905610 . 83.
  3. Book: Cowsill . Alan . Irvine . Alex . Korte . Steve . Manning . Matt . Wiacek . Win . Wilson . Sven . The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe . 2016 . DK Publishing . 978-1-4654-5357-0 . 200.
  4. World's Finest Comics #6 (Summer 1942)
  5. Superman Family #217 (April 1982)
  6. Book: Greenberger . Robert . Pasko . Martin . The Essential Superman Encyclopedia . 2010 . Del Rey . 978-0-345-50108-0 . 245.
  7. Superboy #49 (1956). DC Comics.
  8. Book: Rovin, Jeff . The Encyclopedia of Supervillains . Facts on File . 1987 . New York . 0-8160-1356-X . 217–218.
  9. Book: Fleisher . Michael L. . The Original Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes, Volume Three: Superman . 2007 . DC Comics . 978-1-4012-1389-3 . 221–223.
  10. Book: The DC Comics Encyclopedia. 2004. Dorling Kindersley Limited. 978-0-7566-0592-6. 201.
  11. Action Comics #252 (May 1959)
  12. Book: Cowsill . Alan . Irvine . Alex . Manning . Matthew K. . McAvennie . Michael . Wallace . Daniel . DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle . 2019 . DK Publishing . 978-1-4654-8578-6 . 88.
  13. Book: Greenberger . Robert . Pasko . Martin . The Essential Superman Encyclopedia . 2010 . Del Rey . 978-0-345-50108-0 . 242–244.
  14. Superman/Batman #2. DC Comics.
  15. Action Comics (vol. 2) #1 - #4 (September - December 2011). DC Comics.
  16. Action Comics (vol. 2) #7 (March 2012). DC Comics.
  17. Action Comics #979-984. DC Comics.
  18. Superman #310 (April 1977). DC Comics.
  19. Superman #423 (1986). DC Comics.
  20. The Adventures of Superman #491 (1987). DC Comics.
  21. Action Comics #678 (1938). DC Comics.
  22. Damage #1 (1994). DC Comics.
  23. Action Comics #710 (1938). DC Comics.
  24. Steel (vol. 2) #21 (November 1995) and Underworld Unleashed #1 (November 1995). DC Comics.
  25. The Adventures of Superman #546. DC Comics.
  26. Superman: The Man of Steel #98. DC Comics.
  27. Doom Patrol (vol. 2) #10 (1987). DC Comics.
  28. Action Comics Annual #10. DC Comics.
  29. Action Comics Annual #11. DC Comics.
  30. Superman: Red Son #3. DC Comics.
  31. Justice #4. DC Comics.
  32. Superman Family Adventures #6. DC Comics.
  33. Web site: Mitovich . Matt . June 17, 2009 . Smallville Casting Exclusive: Brian Austin Green Is Metallo! - Today's News: Our Take . February 19, 2016 . TVGuide.com.
  34. Web site: Supergirl casts Superman villain Metallo — exclusive. Entertainment Weekly. Abrams. Natalie. August 30, 2016.
  35. Web site: Two Surprise Arrow-verse Characters Who Will Apparently Get Earth-X Versions In The Big Crossover. Joest. Mick. Cinema Blend. November 21, 2017. November 22, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171122192912/https://www.cinemablend.com/television/1728459/two-surprise-arrow-verse-characters-who-will-apparently-get-earth-x-versions-in-the-big-crossover. November 22, 2017. live.
  36. Web site: Metallo Voices (Superman) . May 23, 2024 . Behind The Voice Actors. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  37. Web site: Younis . Steve . June 2, 2024 . "My Adventures With Superman" Season 2, Episode 3 "Fullmetal Scientist" Review . June 2, 2024 . Superman Homepage . en-US.
  38. Web site: Harvey . James . July 28, 2009 . Menu System For "Green Lantern: First Flight - Two-Disc Special Edition" DVD Release . May 23, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090728025057/http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=502 . 2009-07-28 .
  39. Web site: Harvey . James . September 28, 2011 . Warner Home Video Announces Voice Cast For "Justice League: Doom" Animated Film . 2011-10-16. May 23, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111016033133/http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/news.php/news.php?action=fullnews&id=1135 .
  40. Web site: Jayson . Jay . July 3, 2015 . Metallo Was Originally Planned As Villain In Man Of Steel Sequel . February 19, 2016 . Comicbook.com.
  41. Web site: Holmes . Adam . March 17, 2016 . Batman V Superman Casting Hints At Possibility Of Metallo For Future DC Comics Films . April 14, 2019 . CINEMABLEND.
  42. Web site: Harvey . James . November 22, 2023 . Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths Trilogy Teaser Trailer Released . November 25, 2023 . The World's Finest . en-US.
  43. Web site: Eisen . Andrew . October 4, 2013 . DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide . May 23, 2024 . IGN.
  44. Web site: Eisen . Andrew . June 9, 2014 . Characters - LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham Guide . May 23, 2024 . IGN . en.
  45. Web site: Young Justice: Targets #5 - Metallic Aftertaste (Issue) . June 3, 2024 . Comic Vine . en.
  46. Web site: Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century #20 - Metallo 3000 (Issue) . July 28, 2023 . Comic Vine . en.
  47. Superman '78: The Metal Curtain #1-6. DC Comics.