After months of teasing the event of the season, Absolute Power is here and it promises to rock the DC Universe. After a year and a half since the Dawn of DC began, the initiative is finally coming to a close with a story sure to make a huge impact among DC’s greatest heroes.

But before readers dive headfirst into first issue of Absolute Power, there’s a few things they may want to know. What events gave way to this dramatic story? And what does the future hold for the DC Universe in the weeks and months ahead? Read on to discover 10 things fans need to know about Absolute Power.

10

Superman’s Evil Opposite Inspired Waller to Go After Metahumans

Seen in: Suicide Squad: Dream Team #2 (2024), Nicole Maines and Eddy Barrows

Before Amanda Waller embarked on her current mission, she traveled the multiverse to accomplish her previous one. The “Infinite Frontier” era saw Waller venture out to Earth-3, a world of reversed moralities and the home of the Crime Syndicate with the intention of bringing it under her control. Waller succeeded in seizing Earth-3, but at the cost of being stranded on the planet far from her home world.

Waller later returned from Earth-3 (the how revealed a bit later), but the adventure to the parallel Earth taught her something. Waller privately admitted to the precog hero Dreamer that being on a world of metahumans with unchecked power instilled a deep fear in Amanda. Upon returning to the Prime Earth, Waller had a new vision and began a crusade to eliminate every single metahuman on Earth.

9

Brainiac Backed Waller’s Plot

Seen in: Superman: House of Brainiac Special #1 (2024), “Signal”, Joshua Williamson and Fico Ossio

Fans wondered how Amanda Waller returned to the Prime Earth when she was left trapped on Earth-3 with no way to get home. Fortunately for her, she was found on the distant world by the mysterious Council of Light, who brought Waller back to her home to act as the Council’s agent. Unbeknownst to Waller at the time of her rescue, the Council was secretly composed of Brainiac and his variants.

At the end of Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, Waller presented the Council with a proposal to imprison the world’s metahuman population. But Brainiac wanted the metahuman presence on Earth gone completely and backed Waller’s plan by giving her the resources necessary to begin her work. Waller eventually discovered Brainiac was the man behind the Council of Light, but remained steadfast in her mission to take care of Earth’s metahumans.

8

Batman Built Waller’s Trinity of Evil Partner Failsafe

Seen in: Batman #125 (2022), Chip Zdarsky and Jorge Jimenez

In Batman’s corner of the DC Universe, his world was nearly upended by his greatest contingency ever: Failsafe, an android built to stop Batman in the event he ever took a life. Failsafe was activated after the Penguin faked his death and framed the Dark Knight for the crime. The stress of the event also triggered Batman’s backup personality, Zur-En-Arrh, who began a plot to take over as the DC Universe’s sole Batman.

Zur-En-Arrh transferred his consciousness to the Failsafe robot and imprisoned Bruce Wayne in Blackgate Penitentiary. The new Batman began arresting criminals in Gotham in droves. Thankfully, the real Batman broke out and with the help of the Bat-Family, stopped Zur-En-Arrh and erased his personality from Failsafe’s hard drives. Unfortunately, the Failsafe body was acquired by Amanda Waller, who repaired Failsafe with the help from a revived Time Commander.

7

Waller Stole Six Amazos Failsafe Acquired

Seen in: Batman #146 (2024), Chip Zdarsky and Jorge Jimenez

Amid the rest of the chaos going on in the past year for Batman, Zur-En-Arrh had a much bigger plan in mind. At one point, Batman traveled the multiverse meeting copies of himself. Along the way, Zur-En-Arrh picked up Zur-En-Arrh doppelgangers of these various Batmen and kept them hidden in Bruce’s mind. While the Prime Zur-En-Arrh was set on eliminating crime from Earth, he also envisioned cleaning up the multiverse with his new crew.

After Zur-En-Arrh started inhabiting the Failsafe body, he began making plans to expand his operation. Zur-En-Arrh acquired six copies of Amazo 3.0, each of whom would be the host body for a different variant of Zur-En-Arrh. Zur-En-Arrh never got a chance to activate his crew or take his operation beyond Gotham. But just as Failsafe was taken by Amanda Waller, so were the Amazos.

6

Waller Manipulated the Titans to Gain Incredible Political Power

Seen in: Titans: Beast World (2023), Tom Taylor, Ivan Reis, and Danny Miki

From the shadows, Waller kept a close eye on the world’s metahumans, particularly the Titans, who had risen to replace the Justice League. Waller made contact with Raven’s evil side, which had manifested in a physical form, and got her to help with Amanda’s most ambitious step yet. When the Earth was invaded by a Necrostar, Beast Boy transformed into a Star Conqueror to stop it. Waller sent the evil Raven to mind-wipe Beast Boy, leaving him stuck as a rampaging monster.

With Beast Boy out of control, Amanda approached the President of the United States and encouraged him to activate the Bureau of Sovereignty and make Waller its head. Waller was given unilateral power, which she used to kill Beast Boy (though he managed to recover). Unfortunately, this new role allowed Amanda Waller to advance her agenda even quicker.

5

Waller Has Convinced Green Arrow to Join Her

Seen in: Green Arrow #9 (2024), Joshua Williamson and Sean Izaakse

Green Arrow went missing during Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths and while his family searched high and low for him, Team Arrow made a shocking discovery: Waller had implanted technology intended to keep the heroes separated from one another. Green Arrow eventually tracked down Waller in the rechristened Hall of Order to get answers from her. Surprisingly, Waller was forthright with Oliver and told him that she’d been manipulating his family to bring Green Arrow over to her side.

Waller offered Green Arrow a deal: Working for her in exchange for getting his family back. Queen agreed and was sent to recover the Sanctuary files from an old Justice League base for her. Though Green Arrow told his family he was playing the long con, Queen has seemingly gone all-in on Waller’s campaign to the surprise of Team Arrow.

4

Dreamer Has Been Blackmailed Into Joining Waller’s Side

Seen in: Suicide Squad: Dream Team #1 (2024), Nicole Maines and Eddy Barrows

During “Beast World” Amanda Waller saw what Dreamer was capable of and decided to acquire her as an asset. Waller approached Nia Nal and threatened to expose Parthas, an alien refugee community and Dreamer’s home, unless the hero started went along with Amanda’s plans. Dreamer had no choice but to comply and started working for Waller.

But Waller really put Dreamer’s powers to the test by having her join the Suicide Squad and using her to take the island nation of Gamorra. The mission was a success, but Dreamer was horrified at what she’d done. She ran away from the Squad and Waller, true to her word, exposed Parthas. Nia attempted to get revenge on Waller, but a vision showed Dreamer that Amanda has placed bombs in Nia’s family members, forcing Dreamer to continue working for Waller.

3

Waller Has an Island Prison to Hold Every Metahuman

Seen in: Suicide Squad: Dream Team #3 (2024), Nicole Maines and Eddy Barrows

The latest iteration of the Suicide Squad was sent to Gamorra under the impression that the island nation was being endangered by insurgents and that they were there to liberate it. This was, of course, a lie by Waller who was hiding her true intentions for Gamorra. Shortly after murdering the nation’s elected leader, President Sara Nakamura, Waller took control of Gamorra and began building a giant prison on the island.

Dreamer tried to disrupt the construction of the prison by crashing a plane into the worksite, but Nia only succeeded in slightly delaying the timetable. The prison was completed relatively quickly and Waller has already gone and started imprisoning various metahumans. Gamorra native Jay Nakamura has already been thrown into a cell to prevent him from warning the world about what Amanda Waller is doing on the island.

2

The Brainiac Queen is Waller’s Secret Weapon

Seen in: Absolute Power: Ground Zero #1 (2024), “Stage Three”, Joshua Williamson and Gleb Melnikov

While Amanda Waller continued to gain power on Earth, Brainiac worked towards a new goal for himself. Feeling an emptiness he didn’t know how to solve, Brainiac decided to create life. Brainiac used the combined might of the Super-Family and an army of Czarnians to empower and fuel his greatest creation, the Brainiac Queen, a powerful monster that can drain even the most mighty beings of their powers.

Brainiac Queen wound up on Earth a blank slate, only to be found by Waller and Failsafe. Failsafe combined its technology with the Sanctuary files to create a program that simulated a life where the Queen saw Waller as her ‘mother’, who taught her the danger metahumans presented. After the program ran its course, the Brainiac Queen was ready to help Waller bring the metahumans down.

1

Dreamer Has Seen the Future and Waller Wins

Seen in: Absolute Power 2024 FCBD Special Edition #1 (2024), Mark Waid, Mikel Janin

Before Waller found the Brainiac Queen, she spent time with Failsafe trying to figure out a way to remove the powers from metahumans. Her efforts were in vain as their methods only succeeded in killing metahumans, but not de-powering them. Frustrated, Waller consulted her precog asset Dreamer and demanded to know what Nia saw in the future.

Dreamer couldn’t bring herself to tell Waller what she saw but the evidence is clear. Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and their most powerful allies all in chains among a desolate landscape as Waller looks on in victory. Nia has held back, telling her employer that the future isn’t clear. But this isn’t the only vision Dreamer has had about the future, and they all point to massive body counts and Waller being the only person in the DC Universe left standing.

A lot of has happened in the months leading up to Absolute Power and these ten moments are the most important things DC Comics fans need to know about this summer’s main event.