Doomsday is a legendary comic book villain because he did what everyone else thought was impossible: he killed Superman. Doomsday is the first villain who managed to truly bring down the Man of Steel, and he left a permanent mark on DC as a whole. Of course, Superman came back as he always does, but now he lives with a shadow of his head that’s shaped like the monster who once put him in the grave. Doomsday is one of Superman’s strongest foes of all, and every time he appears is a sign of something majorly terrifying going down. Now, DC has an all-new Doomsday who can kill Superman in an all-new way.
The Absolute Universe is all about reimagining our favorite heroes for the modern, grittier era, living in a world defined by Darkseid. Absolute Superman follows the Man of Steel as he struggles to hold onto hope in a world that wants nothing more than to grind his soul to dust. His latest brawl against King Shazam, the Absolute Black Adam, literally shook the world, but while Superman won, it paved the path for an even greater villain. Absolute Superman #21 ended with King Shazam landing on a planet far, far away and met Superman’s next greatest villain, Absolute Doomsday. Except, there wasn’t just one Doomsday, but a whole planet full of them.
This entire arc focused on the revival of King Shazam, woken from his three thousand year-long sleep in a sarcophagus to claim rulership over the world, as he believed a prophecy foretold. Of course, the Phantom Stranger really spoke of Superman, but King Shazam refused to believe that anyone but him was destined for greatness. The Supermen clashed, spanning the globe and nearly tearing it apart in their might. Superman punched King Shazam to the moon, where their blows literally shattered it, but in the end, the boy-turned-conqueror said the magic word and became young again, giving Hawkman the chance to use the Father Box to teleport him and it across the universe.
Teth-Adam awoke on a planet inhabited by aliens that looked like Doomsday, but instead of mindless beasts, they had an entire civilization. These aliens are clearly not like the Doomsdays that we know. Given their somewhat rudimentary-looking society, they seem to be a species in the early stages of civilization. Even if they are more advanced, it’s highly doubtful that they possess the power to stop King Shazam from subjugating them. I find the idea that the entire race of people possessing Doomsday’s strength unlikely. Instead, this is simply their introduction, which will pave the way for the true villain to emerge at the behest of King Shazam and the Father Box.
Darkseid is obsessed with Superman. The reason he always loses in the main universe is that reality bends Superman’s hope. The Absolute Universe is his counter, bent towards evil, and so far, he’s proven that he wants to corrupt Superman more than anything. The Father Box tried to shatter his will and turn him into a killer. It turned an ordinary boy into a false copy of Superman, even complete with super senses and a cape made of dust, just like the Man of Steel. Darkseid knows that Superman always wins, which is why he’s trying to create his own Superman. Of course, Superman will never break; that’s what makes him who he is, which is where Absolute Doomsday comes in.
The Father Box, if it can’t corrupt Superman, might decide that the next best thing is to kill him. It could empower one of the aliens to be its champion, even greater than King Shazam, as the weapon to slay Superman. King Shazam might even command it of the Box, thinking he’s in charge. The original Teth-Adam traveled thousands of light-years to return to Earth after being banished, and this one is set to do the same with an enhanced alien designed to kill Superman. After all, Darkseid knows that this is the one creature in all reality that can kill the Man of Steel, and with the Father Box turning him into a beast that serves Darkseid’s agenda, even Superman might not stand a chance at conquering his absolute doom.
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