DC's Injustice Crossover Crowns a New Leader of Apokolips

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Injustice vs. Masters of the Universe #6 by Tim Seeley, Freddie E. Williams II, Jeremy Colwell, Andrew Dalhouse and Wes Abbott, on sale now.

DC's He-Man/Injustice crossover has brought big changes to the Injustice Universe. Stemming from the video game ending where Superman triumphed and enslaved Earth, as the Kryptonian went about pillaging the cosmos to find magical artifacts that could prove a danger to his iron-fisted regime, we've arrived at the finale -- and it's a game-changer.

Villains like the Man of Steel himself and Wonder Woman have all been taken off the table, with Batman's Resistance finally triumphing thanks to help from Prince Adam of Eternia. However, when one tyrant falls, another rises, and the fiery war-planet known as Apokolips has gotten a brand-new leader: Atrocitus.

In Issue #5, just before Superman killed Skeletor, the Man of Steel distracted Darkseid long enough for Adam/He-Man to stab the despot with his Sword of Power and evaporate his very essence. The final issue now picks up with the evil coalition struggling without its leaders, realizing that the Dark Knight's legion and the rest of Eternia are just too much for them to handle.

Supergirl, newly returned from the Phantom Zone, takes out Darkseid's remaining forces, using their hatred of Kryptonians to motivate her into literally tearing soldiers apart. As for Skeletor's army, the Sorceress uses her magic to shut them down, and when He-Man returns to action, powered-up once more, it's more or less game over. Together, they bring down Darkseid's war engine known as the Orbital Infiltrator and capture most of the enemies of Eternia. Some escape, though, and in the book's epilogue, we see a new path carved out for Apokolips under the leadership of Atrocitus.

However, this isn't the Atrocitus who led the Red Lanterns. In the Injustice 2 comics, he and his soldiers tried to recruit Hal Jordan but failed and were driven away from Earth. In the game, though, Atrocitus fell from grace as his Red Lanterns turned on him, which caused him to bond with the Entity of Compassion, Proseltye. This being powered the Indigo Corps in the mainstream DC continuity, but here, it taught Atrocitus that his rage must be balanced with compassion. It seemed like it was trying to make him less of a villain, and here we do see him with a purple Lantern emblem on his chest. So it's safe to say he has found a way to channel both emotional spectrums.

The kicker is that he took over Apokolips using Hordak (the famous She-Ra villain) and other villains such as Cyborg Superman, She-Ra enemy Catra, and the blue-skinned cyborg version of He-Man called Faker. Either Atrocitus deceived and used them as pawns in a coup, or he remained a villain, after all. Either way, Darkseid's remaining generals -- Granny Goodness, Desaad, Mantis and the rest of Darkseid's Elite -- are clearly outnumbered and outmatched, and have surrendered the planet. If DC decides to explore this new Apokolips in a future series, it'll certainly have an interesting dynamic.

There are a number of polarizing figures in this new regime, and they could well be poised to oppose Batman's new Justice League down the line, and maybe even the other Lantern Corps. Only time will tell, but right now, in this reality, Darkseid couldn't have asked for a better replacement to fulfill his dream of cosmic conquest... so long as everyone stays on the same page.

CBR

DC's Injustice Crossover Crowns Darkseid's Replacement as Leader of Apokolips