For three seasons Adult Swim’s My Adventures with Superman has been dropping hints that Darkseid could be a future antagonist. Between the visual nods to Apokolips to the implication that he’s an old enemy of Krypton, the pattern is hard to ignore.
A god-like tyrant who rules the hellish planet of Apokolips, his ideology is built around conquest and domination. He’s obsessed with something called the Anti-Life Equation, a mathematical formula that proves life has no free will or inherent meaning. The formula would give Darkseid the power to rule the entire multiverse.
What makes Darkseid different from most Superman villains is the scale. This show has gradually expanded its dangers from thieves and mercenaries to enemies of the Kryptonian empire to alternate timelines. Introducing Darkseid would officially move MAwS from being mostly contained to Metropolis to a full-blown cosmic threat.
The Hints Have MAwS Already Dropped
The buildup started back in season 2. Krypton was once a militant empire of warmongers until they encountered an enemy they couldn’t beat into oblivion. The AI-based hologram of Jor-El told Clark he began secret peace talks with that enemy in order to save his people. Unfortunately, those efforts were rendered moot when Brainiac destroyed Krypton on the day a ceasefire was going to be announced.
During a flashback, a massive planet is visible in the background. Some viewers said it was Apokolips while others assumed it was actually Warworld, the mobile battle-moon tied to the villain Mongul.
Later in Season 2, Brainiac tests Superman using holographic simulations of alien warriors he brain-scanned after he killed them. One of those holograms includes a Parademon, Darkseid’s signature army. The fact that Brainiac has data on one at all strengthens the idea that Apokolips was the planet the Kryptonian Empire was at war with before Krypton fell.
In Season 3’s “The Ex-Games”, an alternate version of Lex Luthor reveals that his Earth went to hell after Superman died and something called the Hunger Dogs invaded. The episode doesn’t explain who the Hunger Dogs are, but in the comics they’re Apokolips’s oppressed, impoverished lower-class citizens, also known as “Lowlies.”
And then there’s the season 3 finale “The Return.” After he’s thrown in prison, Lex tells Amanda Waller that before the season began, his satellites picked up…something as it scanned deep space following the destruction of Kandor. Again, the show never reveals what Lex saw, but it was enough to send his fear of aliens into overdrive. Everything he did in season 3, from rebuilding Hank Henshaw into a cyborg to creating the Eradicator was a vain attempt to protect the Earth from what’s coming. The scene itself is a nod to the 2016 film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, where Lex warns Batman about the incoming invasion of Apokolips.
Could Other Villains Show Up First?
Darkseid isn’t the only contender, and he might not even be next in line. MAwS co-creator and co-showrunner Jake Wyatt has stated that Mongul has been “on the idea board for every season” and that he’d love to work on a Mongul arc one day.
General Zod is another candidate, but the odds are lower. The season 1 finale had a masked Kryptonian deliver Zod’s famous “kneel” line, only for season 2 to reveal that character was Kara Zor-El (Supergirl).
Since then, aspects of Zod’s character were given to other characters. Kara had his militaristic upbringing, while the Eradicator gained his looks and obsession with destroying the House of El in season 3.
That doesn’t completely rule out a future appearance from Zod though.
Nothing Is Confirmed Yet
As of late August 2026, My Adventures with Superman hasn’t been renewed for a fourth season. Wyatt went on X/Twitter to explain that while Adult Swim, DC Studios and HBO Max stand by the show, each of those entities need to “chart its own future in an uncertain, unstable climate.” His tweets make no direct mention of the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger, now delayed due a lawsuit filed by 12 state attorney generals and the Writer’s Guild of America. But it’s hard to deny there’s some uncertainty in the air since no one knows when or if the deal will be allowed to go through.
Despite that major setback, the series has grown in popularity as more people learn about the (mostly) light-hearted, anime-inspired take on Superman. If My Adventures with Superman does get renewed for season 4, all those hints regarding Darkseid could finally lead to a pay off.
All three seasons of My Adventures with Superman are available to stream on HBO Max.
