In recent years, multiple adaptations of Superman stories have repeated one specific retcon for one of DC’s most iconic villains. Since 2013’s Man of Steel, Superman adaptations have become somewhat more common. From Henry Cavill’s movie version of the Man of Steel depicted in the DCEU to the various TV versions like the Arrowverse’s Clark Kent and Krypton‘s exploration of the titular planet’s history, Superman is one DC character whose mainstream adaptations have increased in the last decade or so after much of the DC superhero franchise being dominated by characters like Batman.
Throughout each of these iterations mentioned, one iconic DC and Superman villain has also been prevalent. In each recent Superman live-action movie or TV show, this villain has appeared with slight changes to their comic book origins. Despite the original story of DC Comics telling a different origin story for this Superman villain, DC adaptations of late have continuously repeated one retcon regarding the character to link him more intrinsically to Clark Kent’s story.
DC Keeps Retconning Doomsday As A Reanimated Kryptonian
The villain in question is none other than Doomsday. The retcon that recent adaptations of Superman have repeated is that the character is created as a reanimated Kryptonian. In 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Doomsday was created by Lex Luthor from the dead body of General Zod after the latter was killed in Man of Steel. In the Arrowverse’s Superman & Lois, Doomsday was a version of Bizarro Superman. Bizarro is another DC Kryptonian villain who becomes stronger each time he dies, with the show evolving him into Doomsday after Lex Luthor repeatedly killed and reanimated him.
Finally, in Krypton, Doomsday is created using a Kryptonian soldier. The soldier undergoes experiments to create the ultimate weapon for the benefit of the titular planet, ultimately turning him into Doomsday and having the adverse effect. Each of these recent adaptations continues the retcon that began with Batman v Superman of tying the DC movie or show versions of Doomsday to a reanimated Kryptonian rather than directly adapting the villain’s comic book origins.
Why Doomsday’s Backstory Is Changed More Than Other Superman Villains
This repeated retcon begs the question of why Doomsday’s backstory is continuously changed from its comic book counterpart. In DC Comics, Doomsday’s origin is somewhat of a long process, beginning as a genetically-engineered being from prehistoric Krypton. The creator of Doomsday, Bertron, released an infant child onto Krypton’s harsh surface before the infant’s remains were obtained and cloned to create a stronger version. This new version was released back onto Krypton with this same cycle being repeated time and time again for decades.
Eventually, the being evolved into a rageful, insane killing machine driven to hate all life forms due to the memories of its countless deaths being imprinted in its genetic code thus becoming Doomsday. In reality, this origin would be incredibly convoluted to include in a live-action adaptation and is not particularly exciting narratively. As such, several DC adaptations have instead explored Doomsday’s Kryptonian-based powers by using already-powerful Kryptonians as his source. This explains his strong powers and also ties him to various adaptations of Superman much more closely, providing more emotional weight to their conflicts.
