Warning! Contains spoilers For Superman #7!
Superman‘s all-powerful new enemy may have a secret link to Conner Kent, the Superboy from the 1990s. Superman is one of the most powerful beings in comics, which is why plenty of people have tried to either capture or recreate his power. One of the biggest examples of this is when Lex Luthor created a clone of Superman, using Superman’s DNA and his own to fill in the blanks, which resulted in Superboy. Now, another one of Lex’s old experiments, the Chained, claims that he and Superboy might just be closer related than people think.
The entire Super-Family is currently going up against a Doomsday-level villain called the Chained who has a very specific power. The Chained has the ability of tactile telekinesis, which is a rare power in comic books, but it’s one also shared by Superboy. The Chained shows this power prominently in Superman #7 by Joshua Williamson, Gleb Melnikov, Dan Jurgens, Norm Rapmund, Edwin Galmon, Alejandro Sanchez, Edwin Galmon, and Ariana Maher.
As the Super-Family battles the Chained, the villain remarks that Superboy has the same powers as him, and Superboy later echoes this statement. Considering they’re both the product of Lex Luthor’s experiments, it’s possible the Chained was the first failed attempt at creating a Superboy.
Superboy Admits His Power Is The Same As The Chained
Superboy was the result of Lex Luthor’s attempts to create a synthetic Kryptonian. Using samples of Superman’s DNA and mixing in his own DNA to fill in the gaps, Luthor created Superboy. While this definitely worked and Superboy benefits from Kryptonian physiology, it’s not the only power he has. Superboy also has the rare power of tactile telekinesis, and the fact that the Chained shares this exact power is unlikely to be a coincidence. Lex Luthor is a genius scientist who never does anything randomly or by mistake. It’s likely that before Lex had the DNA of Superman to create Superboy, he tried mimicking the Kryptonian’s powers a different way, through tactile telekinesis.
Tactile telekinesis grants its user abilities such as flight, enhanced durability, and super strength. All of these are powers possessed by Kryptonians. It’s likely that before Lex had the DNA he needed to attempt cloning, he tried to see if it was possible to simply recreate the powers of a Kryptonian for a human. The biggest evidence of this is the fact that the Chained mentions numerous times upon seeing both Superman and Superboy, that he believes Lex gave them their powers. The Chained has been trapped for decades under Metropolis and has no idea who Superman is. There’s no reason the Chained would think Superman’s powers are the product of Lex unless he’s seen something like them before, such as in his own powers.
The Chained Questions Superman’s Powers
Even with the help of his entire family, Superman has been struggling to contain the powers of the Chained. The Chained has so far managed to live up to his reputation as a Doomsday-level threat by using his tactile telekinesis to keep up with the Super-Family every step of the way. The history of Superboy makes it likely that the Chained is simply what Lex Luthor created him to be: a human with the powers of Superman thanks to the clever use of tactile telekinesis.
