Warning! Spoilers ahead for Action Comics #1032
After the events of the latest issue of DC’s Action Comics, it’s very possible that Superman and Aquaman could be facing off in a new World War between Atlantis and the United States. A recent attack from Mongul’s Warworld over the ocean resulted in Superman saving refugees with mysterious connections to his homeworld of Krypton. However, several of the warships and soldiers were taken captive as spoils of war by Aquaman and his people of Atlantis, including an unknown relic that the US seems very keen to claim for themselves.
Recent issues of Action Comics from writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson and artist Daniel Sampere have seen Superman secretly dealing with a gradual decrease of his strength and power, but it’s one the villain Mongul seems to be aware of as well (and likewise wants to take advantage of). As a result, he had sent a platoon of warships as part of a grander plot involving the refugees Superman rescued aboard, whose origins and connections to Krypton are currently being investigated by the Man of Steel and his family. However, Superboy, in particular, is highly suspicious, as he’s been fearing his father’s death for some time now based upon what he knows from his time in the future.
Meanwhile, Aquaman and Atlantis claimed the ships and Mongul’s Warzoon soldiers as prisoners, while also claiming an intriguing relic: a fragment of a tablet Atlantean scientists have elected to call Genesis in the new Action Comics #1032. However, the power that came from the fragment proved to be too great to control, and visions from a “Sleeping God” turned those who had been in close proximity into massive kaiju, heading straight for the United States. What’s worse, they wouldn’t respond to Aquaman’s commands. While the combined efforts of Aquaman and Superman managed to defeat the monsters and save the day, the US government’s Steve Trevor arrived with orders to seize the fragment, seeing as how it had landed in US waters. However, the former king of Atlantis didn’t appreciate this. At all.
Considering everything else that Superman is currently dealing with, a war with Aquaman and Atlantis would be insanely devastating. It’s very likely that Superman will try to destroy the fragment – which he himself has some sort of connection to. However, it’s possible that those actions to prevent a new World War could turn his allies against him down the line. While this is all conjecture, Future State did reveal a possible future where Superman gets banned from Earth due to something he did that was controversial. Perhaps it will be intervening between warring nations?
In any case, whatever this fragment and its “Sleeping God” is, it came from Warworld, which means it’s more than likely a part of Mongul’s grand plan. Future State also saw Superman becoming a prisoner of Warworld after leaving Earth, being forced to fight in Mongul’s gladiatorial pits while also doing what he could to free all of the planet’s slaves. Perhaps that’s where this is all headed, or at least a version of it. DC has been pretty clear that the events of Future State are not fully set in stone, though it does look like Superman is currently headed down that path, beginning with a war with Aquaman.
