The Next Generation of Heroes
Damian: “It’s time for Robin and Superboy to take a stand!”
Super Sons #1
Jon: “Why’s your name first?”
Damian: “I’m older.”
Jon: “I’m taller.”
Damian: “Shut up.”
Gunfire lights up a warehouse. A gang was unloading a drug shipment when something cut the lights. A small figure charged the criminals and has cut down several with a sword. They’re hurt, but should survive. One of the gangsters gets a clear shot at the attacker and opens fire.
An ear-shattering crash is heard as something slams down between them. Two red dots glow as lasers melt the criminals’ guns. Moonlight shining through a hole in the roof shows a young boy in a Superman costume playfully teasing an annoyed child in a colorful costume of his own. The crooks scream as Superboy and Robin leap into battle.
Superman and Batman are DC’s biggest superheroes. Now their children are stepping up to take the mantle. One’s an ex-assassin with a chip on his shoulder the size of Gotham City. The other’s a solar-powered ray of sunshine trying to make it as a hero. They fight crime. So who are they? How did the Super Sons get their start? Let’s find out.
Scene Select
Damian Wayne: Demonic Bat of the Super Sons
Jon: “I’m confused. These guys are scared to death of you. Exactly how many people have you…killed?”
Super Sons #13
Damian: [not looking at him] “First, let’s clarify that these people were killers themselves. And that was a whole other lifetime ago.”
Jon: “You’re thirteen.”
Damian Wayne debuted in Batman #655 in 2006. He was created by Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert. He technically debuted a generation earlier in 1987’s Batman: Son of the Demon, but that comic was non-canon until Morrison appropriated it for the backstory.
Batman was drugged and sexually assaulted by a villain named Talia al Ghul. She had his DNA altered in-vitro to create the ultimate warrior: Damian Wayne. Talia raised Damian as a member of the League of Assassins, inspiring him with stories of his father to become one of its greatest members.
Damian traveled to Gotham City to kill Robin and take his place as Batman’s sidekick. Batman was horrified to learn about his past and took Damian in, hoping to curb his spoiled and murderous outlook. Damian quarreled with his new family, but eventually mellowed and became the new Robin.
He has since branched out of the Bat-family to work with other heroes. He kidnapped several teenage heroes to form a new incarnation of the Teen Titans. Damian has adopted several pets, including Bat-Cow and a giant humanoid bat called Goliath. Robin reluctantly became friends with Superboy, who slowly got him to open up. The diminutive Dynamic Duo was nicknamed The Super Sons.
Jon Kent: The Boy of Tomorrow
Jon: [about the S symbol] “For me, it signifies everything I hope to live up to. Today, here, right now, I want it to mean that I see you. That I am you. And that there’s no wrong way to be yourself.”
DC Pride 2022
Jon Kent debuted in Convergence: Superman #2 in 2015. He was created by Dan Jurgens to use the Superboy identity while Conner Kent was erased from canon.
Superman and Lois Lane had a son named Jon when Clark was temporarily retired. They hid his heritage to give him a normal childhood, but Jon learned the truth when he began developing superpowers. Jon was shocked, but quickly embraced his half-Kryptonian heritage by becoming Superboy.
He has studied superheroics under his father and branched out to other heroes, including the Legion of Superheroes and Robin. Superboy recently explored the multiverse alongside an evil Jor-El. He was trapped on Earth-3 for years, finally returning to the main DC universe as a young adult.
Jon inherited the title of Superman when Clark went on a mission to space. He struggled with expectations and judging when and where to intervene. The new Superman is finding his way in the world with help from his boyfriend Jay Nakamura, his best friend Robin, and the Justice League.
Future Champions: The Super Sons’ Powers and Personalities
Damian: “Stop transgressor! [grabs a jaywalker by the collar] Jaywalking is where it starts! Next thing you know you’re knocking over liquor stores in Gotham Heights and working for pennies for scuzz like Two-Face! In my city, we don’t put up with this!”
Super Sons #6
Jon: [playing with the jaywalker’s dog] “Sorry about my friend, he’s wound a bit too tight.”
Damian: “In my city, I stop crime at its-”
Jon: [pulls Robin away] “Cross at the corners, mister. Keep your dog safe.”
Damian is an expert martial artist, infiltrator, hacker, and assassin. He uses the standard Robin equipment, including gas pellets, smoke screens, bolas, and Birdarangs. He also uses swords and bows as his signature weapons.
Damian was spoiled rotten and raised by his mother to be a sociopathic assassin. That puts him at odds with the rest of the Bat-Family and he fears that he’ll lose everything by being outcast from both sides of his heritage. Damian has both an inferiority and a superiority complex, constantly hiding his fear by boasting about his training and status as Batman’s “blood son”.
Jon Kent has all of Clark’s powers, plus the potential to become stronger than his father because of his half-human heritage. He specializes in heat vision, using precise blasts to disable foes. Jon also has the ability to overcharge his heat vision into a “Super Flare”, which is like a solar powered nuke that temporarily depowers him.
Jon is an optimist and a pacifist. He tries to defuse situations and only fights when he has to. He was a precocious child and that early maturity helped as he aged. Jon is able to empathize with others and forms quick friendships with them.
The Actors Who Play The Super Sons
Damian Wayne
Grey Griffin – DC Superhero Girls
Jacob Trembley – Harley Quinn
Stuart Allan – Son of Batman, Batman: Bad Blood, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract, others
Yuri Lowenthal – Batman: Ninja
Ben Giroux – Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Zach Callison – Injustice
Jack Griffo – Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons
Jon Kent
Jordan Elsass – Superman and Lois
Grey Griffin – Young Justice
Jack Dylan Grazer – Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons
Didya Get All That?
The children of Batman and Superman, preparing to take over the family business.
Jared Bounacos has written for Movie Rewind since 2016.
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