WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Event Leviathan #1 by Brian Michael Bendis, Alex Maleev and Joshua Reed, available now.
The attack has been carried out, and the damage has been done. Leviathan successfully destroyed the world's spy organizations, including A.R.G.U.S., Spyral, D.E.O., Task Force X and more. There's no saving the day here, because there's nothing left to save. All that's left to do is figure out who is to blame.
Unfortunately for our assembled group of heroes, that question isn't going to be easy to answer. In the first issue of Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev's Event Leviathan series, there is enough misdirection and fear to obscure the truth. The whole situation is a massively stressful political pressure cooker, and one DC hero can't handle it.
How Leviathan Broke Wonder Woman's Boyfriend
When Batman and Lois Lane investigate the remains of A.R.G.U.S. they come across the lone survivor of the attack. Wonder Woman's long-time boyfriend, Colonel Steve Trevor, is found among the rubble in a terrible state. He's not dead or dying, but being the lone survivor has essentially broken him.
He was in the middle of evacuating personnel from the building when Leviathan attacked. For unknown reasons his attackers place him inside a protective bubble. Although Trevor survives the explosion, he's forced to look on helplessly as those around him die.
As the only survivor of the attack, and with no evidence to prove what actually happened, he believes that the government will blame him, leaving him inconsolable and not thinking straight. Trevor has been set up to take the blame as the man behind the Leviathan attacks. However, he doesn't know what to do about this situation, so he has just been sitting in the building sulking.
When Batman and Lois disagree with his assessment that Talia al Ghul—the supposed leader of Leviathan—is to blame for the attack, he turns against them. He begins to accuse Lois of being the actual mastermind. Her relationship to the recently attacked A.R.G.U.S. leader Sam Lane and the abducted Clark Kent make her a likely suspect. Then things take an unthinkable turn when Trevor pulls out a gun and actually shoots Lois Lane.
The End of DC's Man on the Wall
If the entire point of Event Leviathan is to unite the DCU's spy community under a single organization, this effectively removes a prime candidate for leadership. Over the last several years, Colonel Steve Trevor has remained an important part of the superhero community. He has served as the field leader of A.R.G.U.S. and is a major liaison between superheroes and the United States government.
In many ways, he filled a similar role for DC what Nick Fury has traditionally done for Marvel Universe. Though he may not have enjoyed the same elevated responsibility, if anyone was going to be involved with Bendis' new world order, it seemed DC had already positioned Steve Trevor there. Now, however, Leviathan's attack has beat him down so badly that it's hard to see him achieving the same status he once enjoyed.
In Event Leviathan, he is painted as a weak man unable to handle the unfair burdens placed upon him. Trevor can't save those around him and is forced to bear witness to what Leviathan is orchestrating. But instead of rising to the occasion, he utterly fails and proves just how unfit for duty he truly is now.
He may be unable to prove his innocence in the attack, but instead of facing the situation as an honest soldier and hero, Trevor instead decides to hide in the rubble. He is caught between taking responsibility and running for his freedom, unable to act. While he doesn't seriously injure Lois, the fact that he could actually pull his gun out and shoot her shows just how far he has fallen.
Trevor is ultimately put down by a taser arrow from Oliver Queen before he can do any real damage, but it's hard to see the heroes trusting him again. This may also end up affected his relationship with Wonder Woman, which was already a tough sell considering how dull and incapable he is compared to her. However, he's now attacked a friend in a moment of fear and cowardice. This Steve Trevor is not worthy of Wonder Woman's love.
Whatever awaits the DCU's spy community after Event Leviathan, Bendis has basically said that Steve Trevor will play no part in it. Any chance he had of being DC's man on the wall is effectively over, so it's time to move on and wonder who actually could fill that role and lead whatever organization rises from the ashes.
Event Leviathan #2 hits shelves July 10.