Superman just learned about a massive forgotten mystical war from eons ago — and how the repercussions could affect the DC Universe.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Superman #24 by Brian Michael Bendis, Kevin Maguire, John Timms, Alex Sinclair, & Dave Sharp, on sale now.
There have been plenty of massive universe-threatening events over the history of the DC Universe, with the entire galaxy being put at risk multiple times over the years. As it turns out, there have even been some pretty major events that most heroes of the DC Universe don’t even know about.
In Superman #24, the Man of Steel and Doctor Fate just confronted the magical god Xanadoth, learning about how she apparently caused a magical Crisis-level event eons ago, and could easily do so again.
While talking with Superman, Doctor Fate found himself confronted by a genuinely massive threat — Xanadoth, a formidable enough force that it could break through the Tower of Fate and demand the Helm of Nabu. While Superman does his best to hold back the mystical being despite his weakness to mystical energies, Nabu is horrified to realize this truly is Xanadoth. Nabu explains to the current wielder of the title Doctor Fate — Khalid Nassour — just how powerful Xanadoth is.
Eons earlier, Xanadoth was one of the Lords of Chaos. When the balance of the universe was decided following the birth of these primordial forces, Xanadoth sought complete and total power over the young universe. Her quest to claim so much strength even frightened the other Lords of Chaos. This led to the Lords of Order and the Lords of Chaos actually putting aside their differences to work together and overpower Xanadoth in a massive mystical battle.
The assembled Lords of Order and Chaos destroyed her form and banished her from the universe, trapping what remained in the Spike of Xanadoth. However, after coming into contact with the DEO Agent Veronica Bissette, Xanadoth was able to hide her consciousness inside the young woman. Claiming more and more of the artifacts of the Lords of Eternal Balance, she’s finally become powerful enough to openly confront Doctor Fate. If Xanadoth can claim the Helm of Nabu and add that power to her own, she could become strong enough to break into the main world and take over all of reality.
Luckily for the protectors of Earth, Nabu and Khalid are able to work with Superman and Justice League Dark to counter Xanadoth before she can fully restore her powers. The possession of Veronica is seemingly fought back, and she regains control of her body. The day is seemingly saved; however, there are hints that the threat of Xanadoth is still very potent, especially given the ominous light that comes from Veronica’s body and eyes in the hospital.
While most of the major Crisis events that have happened to the DC Universe have been connected to the more cosmic elements such as the Anti-Monitor, Darkseid and Perpetua, it’s a nice reminder that the magical aspect of the universe is just as potent and dangerous. The pure threat of Xanadoth is such that opposite forces that help make up the universe actually united against her. While the heroes were able to fight back Xanadoth this time, there’s no promise that they could manage it again.
It took Superman briefly becoming Doctor Fate to slow down Xanadoth enough to contain her. If she were unleashed, she could start an entirely magical-based crisis for the universe. Xanadoth even spoke about her intentions to corrupt Superman and use him as part of her first assault on the greater universe. If Xanadoth got loose, she could even force a new magical alliance to defeat her. While he may have sent her to the hospital for now and can move on to other threats, Superman may have just met the source of a potential future crisis.
