Prometheus (DC Comics)

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Not to be confused with Prometheus (Marvel Comics).
Prometheus
Hybrid
(Unnamed version)
The Society
Injustice Gang
(Chad Graham)
The Society
Notable aliases(Unnamed version)
Retro, Shazam, Matt Dell
AbilitiesPeak human physical and mental conditioning
Highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist
Expert in the use of various weapons
Cybernetic implants, helmet and armor further augment physical attributes

Prometheus is a name used by multiple

supervillains appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Grant Morrison and penciller Arnie Jorgensen, the most recognized version first appeared in New Year's Evil: Prometheus (February 1998). Commonly an adversary of the Justice League and a villainous foil personality to Batman (similar to villains Killer Moth, Wrath, and Hush), Prometheus would serve as an enemy to superheroes including Batman, Green Arrow and Midnighter.[1]

In 2009, Prometheus was ranked as IGN's 80th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.[2] On The CW's live-action Arrowverse TV series Arrow, the character was portrayed by Josh Segarra and voiced by Michael Dorn.

Publication history

Curt Calhoun debuted in Blue Beetle (vol. 6) #3 (August 1986). A new version of Prometheus debuted in New Year's Evil: Prometheus (February 1998) and returned in JLA #16–17 (March–April 1998) and #36–41 (December 1999–May 2000). The character was then impersonated for a time by Chad Graham, but returned in Faces of Evil: Prometheus #1 (March 2009). Prometheus starred as the villain in the limited series Justice League: Cry for Justice #1–7 (September 2009–April 2010), and was killed at the conclusion of the story.

Writer Mike Conroy noted "...with his technologically advanced armor and weapons arsenal, which can download the fighting techniques of the world's top martial artists...he (Prometheus) turned out to be a formidable foe, as the JLA found out".[3]

Fictional character biography

Curt Calhoun

The original version, Curt Calhoun, debuted in

epidermis, which confers superior strength and durability. Calhoun is also capable of raising the temperature of his armored form to several hundred degrees Celsius
.

Unnamed version

The most well-known version is the unnamed son of two hippie spree killers, who traveled across the United States with them until they were gunned down by police in a shootout. This traumatic experience causes their son's hair to turn white, and he vows to "annihilate the forces of justice" to get revenge for his slain parents.[7]

Using his parents' hidden caches of money, the son travels the world and develops his skills, becoming an underground pit-fighter in

Ghost Zone
".

Prometheus builds a house in the void as his headquarters, which is warped by the dimensional effects to become "crooked". He relates his origin to a young man, with the alias "Retro", who has won a competition to be part of the

JLA Watchtower.[8]

Initially, the plan appears to be successful, with Prometheus infecting Steel's armor with a virus, hitting the Martian Manhunter with a dart containing a toxin that destabilizes his ability to control his shape, knocking out Huntress, trapping Zauriel in the Ghost Zone, beating Batman senseless using downloaded skills, using neural chaff to disrupt Green Lantern's will, and manipulating the Flash into believing that the tower is rigged with bombs that will detonate if he moves too fast. He then tries to force Superman to kill himself after admitting that the hero is too powerful for him to kill, stating that he will murder the rest of the tour group otherwise. Prometheus is then caught off guard by the anti-hero Catwoman (who is disguised as journalist Cat Grant), allowing the heroes time to recover. Steel is able to restore his suit and transfer the virus to Prometheus' suit. Admitting he lied about the bombs, Prometheus switches places with Zauriel in the Ghost Zone and escapes capture.[9]

Prometheus appears briefly during an encounter between the JLA and the Avengers and skirmishes with Captain America while using Batman's skills, but Captain America easily defeats him by exploiting the villain's overconfidence and his own enhanced physique.[10]

Prometheus returns as a member of

Blood Pack super-hero team.[12]

Cry for Justice

A spate of superhero deaths (

Star City suffering massive casualties (including Roy's daughter), Prometheus's ultimatum is met and he returns to his lair, but is murdered by Green Arrow by shooting an arrow through his head.[13]

The New 52

In 2011, "The New 52" rebooted the DC universe. Prometheus shows up to torment Midnighter using stolen technology from the God Garden that he sells to various individuals around the world. In addition, he acquires the Gardener's secret files on Midnighter's true identity and origin. When confronted by Midnighter, Prometheus uses God Garden technology to block Midnighter's tactical computer, eliminating the edge Midnighter has in analyzing an opponent's fighting techniques. Prometheus also reveals that he has downloaded all of Midnighter's own skills into his brain to use against his enemy. Pretending to be an ordinary man, he uses the alias Matt Dell to seduce and have a romantic relationship with Midnighter to achieve his goals.[14]

Chad Graham

The third version, Chad Graham, debuted in

Birds of Prey and defeats Lady Shiva in seconds.[19] He eventually falls under the alien Starro's control but is freed once Starro is defeated.[20] Graham is later murdered when the true Prometheus regains himself; he expresses contempt for Graham's impersonation but is satisfied that the damage Graham has done to Prometheus's reputation would lead to the heroes underestimating him in the future.[12]
The third version relies on the use of two pistols, although he also possesses his mentor's helmet and artificial skills, giving him the training to defeat even Lady Shiva in a matter of seconds.

Powers and abilities

Prometheus possesses no superhuman abilities, but has undergone intense physical and mental training and utilizes an extensive range of equipment and technology like the hero

hypnotism, can download the knowledge and physical skills of others directly into his brain via a compact disc, his default disc including the skills of thirty of the world's greatest martial artists. Where Prometheus obtains this information is not known, but his combat skills include the duplicated abilities of Batman and Lady Shiva
, although it is unclear how much combat training he would possess if he had to fight without the helmet. The 'battlesuit'/helmet combination is also equipped with an artificial Intelligence that can rapidly calculate and deploy a variety of strategies and countermeasures that have allowed Prometheus at various times to incapacitate entire groups of the Justice League singlehandedly and simultaneously.

Finally, the unnamed version possesses the "Ghost Key" which allows the villain to teleport himself and other objects and persons to and from a dimension called the "Ghost Zone". It can also be used to inflict total molecular disintegration on a target, but Prometheus only employed this function once, when he eliminated the unsuspecting Retro. The helmet can be hacked by external sources, but Batman had to study the helmet for a month to learn how to hack it in that manner, and it is unclear if this would allow him to hack other versions of the helmet.

Other versions

JLA/Avengers

Prometheus appears in JLA/Avengers #4 as a brainwashed minion of Krona.[21]

Power Rangers/Justice League

In

Lord Zedd and Brainiac steal his powers.[22]

In other media

Television

Adrian Chase" (right) in Arrow
.

Video games

Miscellaneous

Prometheus appears in

Smallville: Lantern. After stealing equipment from the Department of Extranormal Operations
(DEO), he fights the Green Arrow and a DEO team before disappearing in a Boom Tube.

References

  1. ISBN 9780345501066
    .
  2. ^ Prometheus is number 80 Archived 2009-05-09 at the Wayback Machine, IGN. Retrieved September 5, 2009.
  3. ^ Conroy, Mike. 500 Comicbook Villains, Collins & Brown, 2004.
  4. ^ Blue Beetle (vol. 6) #4 (September 1986); #6 (November 1986); #8–9 (January–February 1987) and #11–13 (April–June 1987)
  5. ^ The New Teen Titans #34 (August 1987)
  6. ^ JSA #28 (November 2001)
  7. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0
    .
  8. ^ New Year's Evil: Prometheus (February 1998)
  9. ^ JLA #16–17 (March–April 1998)
  10. ^ JLA/Avengers #1–4 (September 2003 – May 2004)
  11. ^ JLA #36–41 (December 1999 – May 2000)
  12. ^ a b Faces of Evil: Prometheus #1 (March 2009)
  13. ^ Justice League: Cry for Justice #1–7 (September 2009–April 2010)
  14. ^ Midnighter (vol. 2) #7 (July 2016)
  15. ^ Batman: Gotham Knights #50–55 (April–September 2004)
  16. ^ Batman: Gotham Knights #66 (August 2005)
  17. ^ Villains United #1–6 (July–September 2005)
  18. ^ Infinite Crisis #1–7 (December 2005–June 2006)
  19. ^ Birds of Prey #94 (June–August 2006)
  20. ^ Teen Titans (vol. 3) #51–54 (November 2007–February 2008)
  21. ^ Smallville: Lantern #2
  22. ^ Power Rangers/Justice League #4
  23. ^ Mason, Harvy (October 6, 2016). "'Arrow' Season 5 Episode 2 Spoilers: 'The Recruits' To Introduce New Green Vigilantes; Who Is Prometheus?". parentherald.com. Archived from the original on January 7, 2017. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  24. ^ Abrams, Natalie (March 1, 2017). "Arrow unveils Prometheus' identity – what's next?". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  25. ^ "'Arrow' Crossover Brings Back a Surprise Season 1 Character as a Villain". 28 November 2017.
  26. ^ "Arrow crossover episode made a fan theory come true". Digital Spy. 28 November 2017.
  27. ^ "Batman: Arkham's Most Obscure Villain Easter Eggs". Screen Rant. 26 June 2022.
  28. ^ "LEGO DC TV Series Super-Villains Character Pack".
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