WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Superman #23 by Brian Michael Bendis, Kevin Maguire, John Timms, and Alex Sinclair, available now.
The DC Universe has plenty of powerful gods, ranging from the Greek and Roman pantheons to their own cast of Jack Kirby-created characters, the New Gods. And in Superman #23, the Man of Steel encounters a new mystical being named Xanadoth.
This magical menace poses a particular threat against Superman's weakness to the mystic arts, but his power level in general makes him potentially mightier than even the likes of Trigon and Darkseid. Now, here's how the ancient spirit may be prepping the Man of Steel for an especially dark fate.
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The issue begins with DEO agent Veronica Bissette attempting to get a mysterious object out of her possession. While its origins go unexplained, the severity of the situation leads Adam Strange to report to Director Bones. Suddenly, an immense shadowy figure appears near the DEO building, apparently drawn to the object. Adam Strange is able to get Bones and civilians out of the way of the ensuing chaos, but not before the artifact begins glowing brightly with the Fate symbol reflecting in Bissette's eyes.
Meanwhile, Superman visits the Hall of Justice for a meeting with Doctor Fate. Fate uses his magic to ensure that every part of Superman is working as it should, in spite of everything else bogging him down. While talking to the young doctor about his various ongoing woes, the Man of Steel admits that he feels beaten down by the turmoil in his family, as well as his seemingly haphazard decision to make his secret identity public. The two discuss this in the Tower of Fate and are completely unaware of the violence about to take place just outside tof heir proverbial window.
Briefly before Superman and Doctor Fate's meeting, Bissette, likely through the artifact from earlier, had become bonded to an ancient being named Xanadoth. Claiming to be the spirit of the Lords of Chaos, this newly freed empowered being goes on a rampage, with the similarly named Madame Xanadu as its first victim. The Xanadoth-possessed Bissette eventually makes her way to the Hall of Justice, where a brief encounter with Justice League Dark is far, far less than a fight.
By merely waving Bissette's glowing hand, Xanadoth simply tosses the group of magic users to the side, with none of them even being able to so much as launch a counterattack. The fact that two of the JLD's members are Constantine and Zatanna says a lot about Xanadoth's power level. Even though both are masters of mysticism, they were nothing more than flies to the resurrected god.
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Completely unopposed, Xanadoth enters the realm of the Tower of Fate, lambasting the current Doctor Fate for how easy the task was. Announcing himself as the Lord of the Lords of Chaos, Xanadoth remarks that the Fate Helmet that Doctor Fate wears truly belongs to himself.
The Lords of Chaos and Order are eternally warring cosmic entities that have been battling for interdimensional supremacy since the dawn of time -- or at least since they were introduced in a Doctor Fate story by Paul Levitz and Joe Staton in 1978's DC Special Series #10. As powerful mystical beings of immense energy and strength, they are typically portrayed as holding the balance of magic power in the DC Universe in check with their continued conflict. While mystics such as Arion and Princess Amethyst have been members of the Lords of Order, the Lords of Chaos have been represented by villains like Mordru and Klarion the Witch Boy. Chiefly involved in the mythology of Dr. Fate, the Lords of Chaos have also been placed into the mythologies of other characters such as Captain Marvel/Shazam!, Kid Eternity and Sandman.
The Lords of Chaos alone are powerful in a way that few DC heroes can effectively counter, with Klarion the Witch Boy able to casually play with others with his incredible magical abilities. The fact that Xanadoth is apparently their leader speaks volumes about how much more powerful he is compared to them. Likewise, his claims that the Fate helmet belongs to him would rewrite the usual assumption that it belonged to the Lord of Order, Nabu, if they're accurate. Perhaps the biggest threat that Xanadoth poses is to Superman himself. As strong as the Man of Tomorrow is, he is as vulnerable to magic and mysticism as a human would be, which gives him a tremendous disadvantage against Xanadoth. Now, a helpless Superman and Doctor Fate are the only things that stand between this god and the rest of the DC Universe.