The “Evil Superman” trope has become rather popular over the years. Writers have grown fond of the superhero deconstruction subgenre, and it’s common for stories to explore what would happen if the raw power Superman wields burned away his kind-hearted nature until only a monster was left. They can be alternate versions of Clark Kent like the one from the Injustice series or corrupted expies like Homelander of The Boys.
Even adult swim’s animated series My Adventures with Superman, which is a cozy, light-hearted take on the Superman mythos, dips into the Beware the Superman trope but with its own twist. That’s where Hank Henshaw a.k.a the Cyborg Superman comes in. He’s supposed to be a more human replacement to the Kryptonian hero, but he’s actually more dangerous than anyone could have imagined.
Who is Hank Henshaw?
We’re introduced to Hank Henshaw in season 2 of My Adventures with Superman. He’s an Air Force captain and astronaut working at S.T.A.R. Labs. He’s also an old college classmate of Lois Lane, and by the time we meet him he’s already married.
In the season 2 premiere, “More Things in Heaven And Earth,” he contacts Lois about an asteroid thinking it could be a potential story for the Daily Planet. That asteroid is actually the spaceship used to send Clark Kent to Earth, which leads to him discover he has a cousin named Kara Zor-El.
Hank is initially a friendly, happy-luck-go guy. He gradually becomes xenophobic later in the season after he becomes convinced Superman attacked a S.T.A.R. Labs symposium. From that point on, Hank starts believing in Lex Luthor’s “Earth is for Earthlings” mantra. He views Superman as an alien weapon who’s one bad day away from turning into dictator instead of someone who genuinely wants to help the citizens of Metropolis. When Silver St. Cloud points out that Superman saved the city from Parasite in “Most Eligible Superman,” Hank just storms off in anger.
How Hank became Cyborg Superman
During Brainiac’s invasion of Metropolis, Hank leads a squadron of fighter jets against Kandor only to get shot down along with the rest of his formation. Amanda Waller tries to reach him on comms but she doesn’t get a response. As far as anyone knows, he’s dead.
But he isn’t.
LexCorp recovers his body, barely alive and needing machines just to breathe. After Lex’s attempts to clone Superman with Kryptonian DNA called Project CALIBAN falls apart, Hank becomes the next test subject for Lex’s new project. Hank is revived as a human cyborg with powers and abilities that are similar to Superman’s. The goal is to give Metropolis a new homegrown hero to look after it.
Worsening instability and the bad future he creates
Hank makes his debut as a superhero in season 3 episode 2 “Mobile Suit Toyman,” where he nearly beats the elder Toyman to death.
His sense of justice only grows more brutal and twisted. Hank stops a purse snatcher by throwing the guy into a lamppost, then tells a civilian it was necessary. When Intergang commits a robbery, he beats Mist and Rough House without holding back. Silver Banshee’s sonic scream tears off part of his synthetic skin, exposes the machinery underneath to the public. The act sends Hank into a rage so intense, he actually threatens to kill her.
Thankfully, Superman steps in saying that nobody needs to get hurt, which Hank vehemently disagrees with. Superman is able to subdue Hank, but the public is absolutely terrified of Hank’s aggressive behavior. Learning that he’s really a cyborg doesn’t alleviate their fears. The revelation only makes them question how “human” Hank is now.
The bad press is enough to make Lex concerned. He tells Hank that heroes show restraint, that the public is afraid of him but Hank doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him. Lex has to shock him through a remote-control failsafe to remind him who’s really in charge.
What little control Lex has over Hank doesn’t last. After Hank hears Lois say on TV that he isn’t a hero, he snaps into another fit of rage. He’s able to keep his cool long enough to Lex into lowering his guard by playing into his ego. Once Hank figures out he has the ability to hack into machines, he destroys Lex’s own failsafe device and scares Lex shitless.
He blames Lex for turning him into a monster. Lex tells Hank the blame should fall on Superman and the aliens, that they’re the ones who took everything from him. Surprisingly, Hank agrees which shows how deep his xenophobia runs. He’d rather blame an entire species for his misfortunes rather than admit that most of his problems came from his own choices. This puts him in the same boat as Dr. Ivo, another villain who couldn’t accept responsibility for his own transformation into something inhuman.
By the end of “Guess Who’s Slammin’ to Dinner?”, Hank attacks the city of Metropolis to lure Superman into a trap. The next episode “The Death of Superman,” reveals that Hank now houses a core of Kryptonite inside his chest, giving him a huge advantage against the Kryptonians on top of everything else his cybernetics already let him do.
But that’s not the worst part.
In “Guess Who’s Slammin’ to Dinner?,” Hank is responsible for plunging the world into a dystopian nightmare with Lexcorp drones under his command. Superman, Supergirl and all their close friends and allies are dead. Things are so bleak that Lex sends Superman’s and Lois’ son Jon Kent back to the past to prevent Hank’s rise to power. And you know things are bad when Lex Luther of all people is willing to work with a Kryptonian, regardless of whether they’re half-human like Jon.
Hank is everything people feared Superman would be
For three seasons of My Adventures with Superman, characters like Amanda Waller, Sam Lane, and Lex Luthor all made the same argument. Superman is too powerful. We can’t trust his motives. Metropolis needs countermeasures in place on the off chance he turns on the people he claims he wants to protect.
Hank is the living embodiment of that fear. He has Kryptonian-level strength, speed, and durability, plus weapons and hacking abilities no human or alien has. He also lacks Superman’s restraint and empathy. Layer his trauma, resentment and narcissism on top and you have a very dangerous combination.
Hank was created specifically to replace Superman, and yet nobody created any measures to keep him in check. His only leash was Lex’s remote, and Hank took it apart the moment Lex pissed him off.
Superman has been accused of being a ticking time bomb with no off switch, but Hank Henshaw actually is one.
New episodes of My Adventures with Superman airs every Saturday at midnight ET on adult swim (Cartoon Network).
