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Cyborg Superman: That's enough. We may see it differently, but in the eyes of the law, Lex Luthor is not a criminal. The rule of law is a rule you never break. And real justice is everyone's right. Even the worst among us. Lex Luthor: Now, who the hell are you? Cyborg Superman: I'm Superman.
„
~ Cyborg Superman to Lex Luthor.
“
Superman turned me into this! Darkseid only rebuilt me and taught me how to wield my hatred as a weapon. Just like he did with... (Superman: Doomsday.) That beast was only a mindless assassin. While I was set to a singular purpose. Destroy what remains of Superman. His good name. It was the best revenge I could hope for. Until now.
„
~ Cyborg Superman explaining his hatred and plan to destroy Superman.
Hank Henshaw, also known as Cyborg Superman, is a minor character in The Death of Superman and the main antagonist in Reign of the Supermen.
Hank Henshaw was originally an astronaut who was killed by an asteroid containing Doomsday in space along with his crew and wife, Terri, but was then resurrected and transformed by Darkseid to help take revenge on Superman and conquer the Earth.
Hank Henshaw was an astronaut aboard the Excalibur space shuttle with his wife, Terri Henshaw. Henshaw's crew then received a transmission saying that an asteroid containing Doomsday was going to hit the Excalibur space shuttle unless Henshaw and the crew escaped. Henshaw believed that Superman would come to rescue him and his crew from the asteroid, but meteorites from the asteroid begin to hit the shuttle, killing the crew and Terri, leaving only Henshaw left. The asteroid then crashed against the ship, destroying the shuttle and killing Henshaw. Following Superman's death, Cyborg Superman is then seen flying through space towards Earth.
Reign of the Supermen[]
After recovering his remains, Henshaw is later resurrected by Darkseid, and his consciousnesses is transferred into a cyborg body resembling Superman to a degree. Darkseid then brainwashed Henshaw, making him believe that it was Superman's fault that he, Terri, and his crew were killed.
Six months following Superman's death after defeating Doomsday, four new versions of Superman appear; Superboy, Steel, Cyborg Superman, and the Eradicator. During an attack on Lex Luthor by the Eradicator, Cyborg Superman arrives after Steel and Superboy were defeated, and then fights and drives away the Eradicator. Many people then begin to see Cyborg Superman as the real Superman, which angers Luthor. Lois then begins to write an expose revealing Superboy to be a clone and asking if all of the Supermen are fakes.
This leads to a meeting between her and Cyborg Superman, telling him she knows he isn't the Superman she knew and loved. Cyborg Superman understands her, but only asks that she tells people that he is the real Superman and to let him protect Earth.
During a press conference to launch the new Justice League Watchtower, a boom tube opens and Parademons terrorize the event, while Cyborg Superman watches. Superboy is defeated, but the Justice League hold their own while Cyborg Superman saves the President of the United States. The boom tube then collapses and falls onto the League, appearing to have killed all of them and Cyborg Superman declared the "real" Superman. While Cyborg Superman visits the grave of Terri Henshaw, he gets a message from Darkseid to begin his invasion plan. Lois and Irons then soon learn of the visit and that after the Excalibur destruction, Hank Henshaw's remains were never found. After the discovery, Lois and Irons begin to realize that Cyborg Superman is Hank Henshaw.
Henshaw then announces to the world during a press conference in the Justice League's honor, his plans for a new Justice League: a Cyber Corps, an organization composed of regular people that are granted superpowers from unknown technology. Lois recognizes the technology as Apokoliptian and questions Luthor's involvement, as he has stolen the technology before. Lois and Luthor see a broadcast from inside Cyborg Superman's mind, revealing Darkseid and his plans to invade, and that he orchestrated the deaths of Henshaw, Superman, and the League in response to the failure of his previous attempt, by using the Justice League Watchtower.
As the Cyber Corps begins to circle the watchtower, Lois heads inside the Watchtower and reveals to Henshaw that she knows who he really is and Henshaw then begins to choke her saying that he must have realized she knew all along after realizing that she and Superman were close. When the Watchtower reveals the real Superman heading towards him, Darkseid takes over Henshaw and begins the invasion by using the Cyber Corps to open a giant boom tube over Metropolis. Henshaw then betrays Darkseid and closes the boom tube, stopping the invasion so he can personally kill Superman. He orders the Cyber Corps to attack Metropolis just as Superman arrives. Superman struggles to fight Henshaw as he isn't at full strength while the latter reveals he blames Superman for not saving his wife from the Excalibur destruction caused by Doomsday.
Henshaw then launches the Watchtower (which while still under Henshaw's control greets the Justice League as intruders) into orbit to prevent the returned Justice League from aiding Superman and Lois. With Superman nearly defeated, Lois opens the Watchtower's window shutters so the sun's yellow rays shine on Superman while getting blasted at by Henshaw. Superman then returns to full power and blasts off Henshaw's Cybernetic arm but regenerates it. Superman is then forced to stab Henshaw in the head with a crystal containing the Eradicator, which destroys Henshaw's consciousness and kills Henshaw for good. With Henshaw dead, the battle ends when the drones of the Cyber Corps are deactivated, although all of the people who were turned into drones die in the process.
Gallery[]
Hank Henshaw before becoming Cyborg Superman
Cyborg Superman vs The Eradicator
Cyborg Superman witnessing the Parademon attack
Cyborg Superman making his recruitment speech
Cyborg Superman choking Lois Lane
Darkseid taking over Cyborg Superman
Cyborg Superman overpowering Superman
Cyborg Superman's mental breakdown
Cyborg Superman choking and insulting Superman
Cyborg Superman standing over Superman
Cyborg Superman regenerating his arm
Superman stabbing Cyborg Superman in the head
The Eradicator killing Hank Henshaw's subconscious
Cyborg Superman dies
Cyborg Superman's floating corpse
Quotes[]
“
Don't worry, Superman will save us... Superman! You see? He's here! ...Superman?
„
~ Hank Henshaw's final words as a human before being killed by the asteroid carrying Doomsday
“
Lois Lane: Dr. Frankenstein. Or is it his monster? So easy to get mixed up. Cyborg Superman: Frankenstein wanted to play god. Do I look like I'm playing?
„
~ Henshaw's sanity collapsing as he succumbs to a god complex
“
Hank Henshaw is dead. Just like your beloved knight in blue tights.
„
~ Cyborg Superman revealing his true nature and identity as Hank Henshaw to Lois Lane.
“
Cyborg Superman: [after seeing that Superman's alive, a signal blares in him] No! Not now! Darkseid: So? My Doomsday weapon failed and the Kryptonian still lives? Cyborg Superman: GET OUT OF MY HEAD! Darkseid: Yes, I shall enjoy killing the Man of Steel all over again, this time with my bare hands! Cyborg Superman: No! Superman's mine to destroy! Darkseid: We disagree, open the gate! Prepare for my arrival!
„
~ Cyborg Superman's desire for revenge sparking his rebellion against his master, Darkseid
“
All you hear today is, "How do we live in a world without Superman?" Well, some of us already had to. Some of us watched as everything we had, everything we loved, was lost.
„
~ Henshaw ranting about his belief that Superman was to blame for his wife's death
“
Superman: Is this what Terri would want?! Cyborg Superman: DON'T SAY HER NAME! You're not allowed to say her name! She's DEAD because of you! ... She was always apprehensive in space. She tried to hide it, but I knew. I told her she'd be okay, we all would; we had Superman... Until we didn't. Until my ship and crew were debris... AND YOU WEREN'T EVEN DEAD YET! Just too busy!
„
~ Superman attempting to appeal to Henshaw's humanity with the memory of his wife, only to fail as it only feeds his vendetta
“
Once we've left the exosphere, you and your gal pal will suffocate and freeze. And it's all. Your. Fault. It's almost poetry.
„
~ Henshaw threatening Superman and Lois with the environment of space beyond the Earth's atmosphere
“
Cyborg Superman: You won't kill me, and I won't stop until I kill you. Superman: You're right. It's not how I'm programmed. But you should know... I've got a wild card up my sleeve. (Superman stabbed a Kryptonian crystal in Henshaw's forehead. Henshaw awakens to find him restored in human form by Terri's grave) Hank Henshaw: What? What is this? Eradicator: Eradication. (Eradicator appears and grabbed Henshaw's head, purging his mind from existence)
„
~ Hank Henshaw's final death
Trivia[]
In the comics, Hank Henshaw was an astronaut at NASA until a solar flare hit his space shuttle and the crew. After returning to Earth; Henshaw, his wife, and the crew had begun to mutate and the entire crew eventually perished or committed suicide. After learning that Superman had thrown the Eradicator into the sun causing the solar flare, Henshaw blamed Superman for the accident. Before his body completely disintegrated due to radiation exposure, Henshaw was able to save his consciousness by beaming his mind into the birthing matrix which had carried Superman from Krypton to Earth as an infant. Using the birthing matrix, he created a spacecraft and a body identical to Superman's, before departing into outer space. He then returned to Earth as Cyborg Superman in an attempt to get revenge on Superman.
During the movie, the complexion of Cyborg Superman’s skin gradually progresses from pink-colored flesh to a sickly, pallor appearance.
Even though Henshaw blamed Superman for the death of his wife and crew, Darkseid was the one actually responsible because he sent the asteroid containing Doomsday crashing through the space station he, his wife, and his crew were on. Although, the seed of his hatred was his belief in Superman - he was so certain that he and his wife, and crewmen, would be rescued by Superman, that the fact the hero didn't save them constituted responsibility for their deaths in Henshaw's mind.
Lois also rightfully points out to Henshaw that his vendetta against Superman over the death of his wife is mostly a pretext to vent out his outrage and irrational hatred at Superman for "betraying" his belief in him as a savior. Especially since his wife would never condone the actions that he has taken in her name, which has resulted in the enslavement and deaths of hundreds.