DC is reinventing itself in its Absolute series, and both its superheroes and villains are getting a facelift. One of Batman's iconic enemies has just become Superman's new nemesis, with a new design and nickname.
DC is reinventing itself through its series Absolute
Absolute Batman, Absolute Wonder Woman and Absolute Superman: in this new era entitled Absolute, which began in 2024, fans are witnessing a complete reboot of the DC Universe. After Dawn of DC and Absolute Power, this series develops two distinct, independent series in which your favorite superheroes have little in common with their original versions. Their dark side is explored and their origins altered. Far from the island of Themyscira, Wonder Woman was raised by Circe in the Underworld. Goodbye Krypton, Superman now comes from a family of intelligent proletarians, whom the government seeks to silence. Bruce Wayne's mansion? Also gone: the orphan didn't grow up in opulence but alongside the greatest villains of the DC Comics universe.
The return of a villain from Batman, Absolute
In Absolute Superman #8, available from June 4 in stores, a cult enemy of Batman will be drastically modified, and become an adversary of Superman. This issue, written and drawn by Jason Aaron, Rafa Sandoval, Ulises Arreola and Becca Carey, will see the Absolute version of Ra's al Ghul face off against the assassins of the Omega Men team. During a monologue revealed in preview, the villain takes on a new nickname: "the God's head", or the Head of God, the inverse of his original nickname, namely the Demon's Head.
In the Absolute series, the villain has delusions of grandeur and is "reborn" in an even more grandiloquent form than before. You can see him above emerging from a Lazarus Pit, dripping with water, like a resurrected Christ, an iconography he borrows by describing himself as Superman's "Father". In issue 6, readers discovered that this villain has been pursuing Superman, whom he believes to be the father, since his arrival on Earth.
The Absolute version of Ra's al Ghul revealed
In the main continuity, Ra's al Ghul, one of the Dark Knight's greatest adversaries, is the leader of the League of Assassins, a global criminal organization whose mission is to clean up the planet. This ecological terrorist vocation is linked to his immortality: he is all the more aware of environmental issues as he is destined to still be alive hundreds of years from now. In the Absolute series, the villain is no longer a shadowy figure, but one of the richest people on the planet, and he represents a major challenge for Superman. Thanks to his Lazarus Pits, named after a biblical character resurrected by Jesus, Ra's al Ghul regularly regenerates, and in this new version, he associates his longevity with God, calling himself the Godhead. The biblical dimension of the villain is highlighted, making him all the more relevant compared to Superman, a "religious" superhero in whom people believe. Ra's al Ghul has a divine mission, and this could pose problems for Superman...
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