Published Aug 28, 2026, 8:00 PM EDT
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You’d think, by now, people would just leave Superman as he is and try their own thing. But no, that hasn’t stopped DC from finding increasingly deranged ways to reinvent the Man of Steel. From multiversal versions of Kal-El to outright villains wearing his familiar face, DC has spent decades wondering what happens when you remove the humanity of Clark Kent from Superman. Now, ahead of 2027’s Man of Tomorrow, we’ve just seen a new side of Superman.
DC’s Next Level: One Shot has officially revealed a genetically engineered Superman clone created to replace the original Man of Steel, alongside similarly twisted copies of Batman and Wonder Woman, with the three part of a mysterious group known as the Drones, genetically engineered superhumans created using the DNA of DC’s most powerful characters. The new Superman is perhaps the most disturbing of the three. The clone has been deliberately created without eyes after previous versions were deemed “too dangerous,” which makes you think maybe they shouldn’t have tried to clone a guy with heat ray vision.
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
The clones cross paths with Floyd Lawton, better known as Deadshot, who has been working on a mission for Rick Flag Jr. to assassinate genetically engineered clones masquerading as ordinary humans. After completing several kills and managing to evade Batman, Deadshot eventually finds himself confronted by the artificial Trinity.
Superman’s replacement comes with another deeply unpleasant surprise. A small, living Starro exists inside the clone’s body, which Superman can regurgitate and attach to another person’s face. The creature can then retrieve that person’s biological information as part of the cloning process before returning to Superman’s body.
It’s currently unclear whether the artificial Superman can rival the real Kal-El in terms of raw power. The decision to remove his eyes could suggest that his creators have successfully replicated Superman’s heat vision but have been unable to control it, making previous versions dangerously unstable.
Next Level: One Shot is available now from DC Comics.
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Peter Safran, James Gunn