Warning! Spoilers ahead for Green Lantern #12!The latest threat Green Lantern has clashed with is shaking up the cosmic order and establishing himself as one of the DC Universe’s biggest threats. The Corps has gone through some huge changes, all masterminded by the insidious leader of the United Planets, Lord Premier Thaaros.

Though introduced to the DC Universe as a champion of order, Thaaros’ true colors have been revealed. From criminal conspiracies to ordering the deaths of hundreds, Thaaros is doing his best to tighten his hold on the universe and make sure every planet, including Earth, comes under his heel.

Thaaros Reveals His Deal with Amanda Waller

In Green Lantern #12 by Jeremy Adams, Xermanico, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Dave Sharpe, Hal Jordan and the few members of the Resistance Corps fight back against Thaaros’ forces. Green Lantern realizes that he’s outnumbered. Thaaros has the Corps and the United Planets under his control and the Resistance Corps’ members are dropping like flies. Green Lantern wants to stay and fight, but even he realizes he can’t do this alone and makes a break for Earth. Though things look grim, Hal is rescued by Star Sapphire, who transports the two back home.

Thaaros is furious at his warriors and chews them all out for failing to arrest Green Lantern. After punishing his United Planets Lanterns, Thaaros contemplates the Hal Jordan situation. Thaaros is disturbed by the fact that Green Lantern has a Power Ring that didn’t come from the Green Lantern Corps. He also worries that an independent Green Lantern Central Power Battery could endanger Thaaros’ plans to control the Emotional Spectrum. With no other option, Thaaros is forced to make contact with Earth to call in a favor from Amanda Waller.

In her base on the island nation of Gamorra, Waller receives the transmission from Thaaros. It’s revealed that Thaaros and Waller have made a deal where Waller is allowed to work without the oversight of the United Planets in exchange for assisting Thaaros. Thaaros tells Waller that Jordan is a problem and that he needs her to arrest Green Lantern and bring him to Thaaros. Waller toys with the idea of going against Thaaros, who warns Waller that for all her power, she’s just a “small speck in the eye of the universe”.

How Thaaros Secretly Took Control of the DC Universe

Lord Premier Thaaros is the leading figure in the United Planets. Though he presents himself as a noble and caring political figure, he’s actually a corrupt and treacherous man. Before he rose to the office he currently holds, Thaaros made backroom deals with the despot Mongul, deals that helped him rise through the ranks of the United Planets. While Lord Premier, Thaaros has only grown worse, even once using his influence to prevent the United Planets from helping Superman overthrow Mongul to ensure Thaaros’ sins would remain hidden.

Thaaros took on a new role when the Guardians of the Universe disappeared and control of the Green Lantern was given to the United Planets. Thaaros enacted sweeping changes to the organization, including quarantining Sector 2814 and reassigning Earth’s Green Lanterns. Thaaros wasted no time in using the Corps to his advantage and secretly began ordering the destruction of other Central Power Batteries for rival Corps. His Lanterns obeyed and Thaaros began to have a stranglehold on the Emotional Spectrum, giving his Green Lantern Corps unquestionable power.

Hal Jordan discovered what was happening to the Emotional Spectrum, though he was unaware that Thaaros was behind the attacks. Hal headed to Oa, only to discover how Thaaros changed the Green Lantern Corps for the worse. Green Lantern and the Resistance opted to expose Thaaros and his crimes to the United Planets’ leading council. Unfortunately, they were too late to discover that Thaaros had replaced all the members of the United Planets’ council with members of Thaaros’ species, meaning Thaaros was the unquestionable ruler of the United Planets and the Green Lantern Corps.

The DC Universe’s Problems Go Far Beyond Amanda Waller

Readers who have been keeping up with Amanda Waller are well aware that she’s been actively working to bring the world under her control. 2024’s summer event Absolute Power focuses on Waller’s efforts to use the combined might if Failsafe, the Brainiac Queen, and Task Force VII to rob Earth’s metahuman population of their powers. It’s a chilling prospect and one that shows just how far Waller is willing to go to attain order. However, as dire a threat as Waller is, she’s nothing compared to Thaaros.

There’s no doubt that what Waller has planned for Earth is awful. But her scope is far more narrow than Thaaros’. The United Planets’ leader is taking down the Central Power Batteries connected to the Emotional Spectrum, an energy connected to all life. Not to mention, his mad power grab has helped him change the Green Lantern Corps from DC’s greatest interstellar peacekeeping force to a terrifying personal army. Thaaros might have made a begrudging deal with Waller, but it’s clear he doesn’t see her as a threat the way many DC heroes do.

Waller and Thaaros are indeed cut from the same cloth, but they operate on far different levels. Sure, Amanda has come a long way since her days of just running Task Force X. But Thaaros has worked with some of the cruelest figures in the DCU and has wormed his way into positions of authority Waller can only fathom. They might both be Machiavellian schemers, but no one can deny that Thaaros has power and influence that could make him a nightmare to someone like Waller.

Thaaros is DC Comics’ Next Big Bad

The heroes of the DC Universe are going to have their hands full during Absolute Power, so Amanda Waller is clearly the more immediate threat. But someone as power-hungry and vindictive as Thaaros isn’t going to just go away. He’s going to take out anyone who’s a threat to his unilateral control of the DC Universe. He’s already declared war on Green Lantern and if he decides to make enemies of more Earth heroes, they’re going to have far worse threats to deal with than Waller.

Green Lantern #12 is available now from DC Comics.