WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Heroes in Crisis #9 by Tom King, Clay Mann, Tomeu Morey and Clayton Cowles, on sale now.
Sanctuary got off to a pretty rough start in Heroes in Crisis, but unlike most of the residents who were inadvertently killed, it got better. As Tom King and Clay Mann's Heroes in Crisis #9 shows, Sanctuary has rebuilt and reopened its doors to a whole new slew of heroes. And these heroes come with their own slew of problems.
Among them is Red Tornado, DC's most notable android superhero. But why is he at Sanctuary? It might be because he's lonely. In his interview, Tornado states he's "considering building a family." Presumably, an artificial family, mechanically similar to him. "I think it will be interesting and productive," he adds. "I anticipate few obstacles."
If that passage sounds familiar, it's because that was essentially the premise of King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta's Vision series for Marvel Comics in 2016. The acclaimed series told the story of the artificial family created by The Vision, Marvel's own notable android character, and one who has long drawn comparisons to Red Tornado.
King and Walta's series focused on the challenges faced by "The Visions," trying to live and be accepted as an otherwise normal human family in suburban America. In that series, things start off well enough, but in time begin to crumble. Vision's "wife" demonstrates emotional instability and commits murder because of it. His "daughter," Viv Vision, becomes emotionally cold and distant. His "son" Vin becomes obsessed with death before meeting that very fate.
It was undoubtedly an "interesting" experience for Vision, and perhaps even "productive," but certainly not the way he imagined. Vision, too, anticipated few obstacles in creating a family, but had to try and overcome many of them. Sadly, the obstacles were simply too great. The family ultimately didn't survive intact.
Should Red Tornado ever succeed in constructing his own family and come to face the same challenges and failures, it's a fair bet he'll be making a return to Sanctuary at some point.
Unlike The Vision, Red Tornado hasn't been very active in recent memory. The character returned to DC continuity in Dark Nights: Metal after being largely absent throughout DC's New 52 era. He didn't have a significant role in that event and hasn't been all that active since, either. Perhaps that's why he's checked into Sanctuary. He's either having some kind of identity crisis, or he's simply bored.
A family of Red Tornadoes would certainly be an interesting concept, and one King would be perfectly poised to take on should he ever get the opportunity. While "The Tornadoes" isn't currently on any DC solicitations, it would certainly be a unique way to bring the character back into prominence.