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He was an infamous mercenary and hit man who would later become the cyborg Metallo after he was unknowingly infected with a rare disease by Lex Luthor's scientists. Metallo then becomes one of Superman's deadliest foes as well as for the Justice League, joining Gorilla Grodd's Legion of Doom.
John Corben was originally a top-tier mercenary who, at one point, led a team of mercenaries to steal the Lexo-Skel Suit 5000 from LexCorp, a theft staged by Lex Luthor for the benefit of the Regent of Kaznia. When Lois Lane tracked the thieves to their ship in Metropolis Harbor, Corben caught her and prepared to kill her, but Superman intervened. To give himself a fighting chance, Corben mounted the Lexo-Skel himself and engaged Superman in a fight that raged across Metropolis, ending when Superman tore the suit apart. Although Luthor represented to the Regent's lawyer that he had fulfilled his part of the bargain by letting "the Regent's men" take possession of the suit, Luthor subsequently acted as though Corben had been working for him.
Corben was sent to Stryker's Island Prison, where he refused to give details on his employers. For this reason, his cell featured ample creature comforts and gourmet meals, supplied by an apparently-grateful Luthor.
Superman: The Animated Series[]
A few months after his imprisonment, John Corben is shocked to be told that he is suffering from a rare and terminal viral disease called Aroscoe's Retro Virus found only in a small island in the South Seas. Despite not being native to the tiny island where the only cases are known, he is presumed to have caught the 100% disease on his travels around the world although it later revealed Lex infected him deliberately. After hearing of Corbern's despiration through his doctor, Luther helps Corben escape and, in exchange for his discretion, offers him a way to avoid death: LexCorp scientists would transfer his mind into an indestructible android body made of metallo, possessing strength equal to Superman's and powered by a Kryptonite heart. Feeling he had nothing to lose, Corben agrees and, upon the completion, Corben's android body is covered with a layer of artificial skin, which, aside from a rectangular seam which can expose his Kryptonite heart, allows him to pass himself off as his original body. At first, Corben is thrilled with his new abilities, which allows him to fight Superman nearly to the death but, when he realizes that he can no longer smell, eat or feel, he becomes disenchanted and abandons the fight.
Corben seeks out LexCorp scientists, demanding that they make the "adjustments" they talked about when he awoke in his new body. However, the scientists confess that they really meant Corben himself had to adjust to his transformation, which is irreversible. Upon hearing this news, Corben goes insane, ripping away part of his artificial skin and officially adopting the identity "Metallo". Metallo angrily confronts Luthor on his yacht, who tries to reassure him that his condition can be fixed, given time and that, even if Metallo kills him, it will not satisfy him given his "practically immortal" nature, making him reconsider killing Luthor. Luthor then drives his yacht to a lab to repair Metallo's skin. On the way, Luthor tells him that while he'll repair Metallo's skin, he still needs to kill Superman to which the cyborg advises his boss to be patient as they both need to be given time. Just then, Superman arrives and reveals that Luthor had deliberately arranged for Corben to be infected with the disease, just so Luthor could use him as a guinea pig for the Metallo experiment. Metallo turns on Luthor, but Superman intervenes and Luthor's yacht was destroyed in the battle, leaving Metallo stranded beneath the sea, but still alive.
Metallo resurfaces from the ocean on a volcanic island, having suffered amnesia after the explosion. His clothes and artificial skin have been completely disintegrated following the last battle, leaving him as nothing but a skeletal featureless android. He is found by two children, Sarita and Bobby Felix, who decide he is a "hero" because of his resemblance to their action figures. This idea of him as a hero is reinforced when Metallo does indeed perform a heroic act by shielding the two children from dangerous pyroclastic flows when the volcano unexpectedly bursts. However, everything comes back to him eventually, faster after Bobby shares his Superman toy with him. When Superman appears on the island, helping with the evacuation from a volcanic eruption, Metallo attacks and nearly kills him. When the kids protest however, Metallo is distracted enough to allow Superman to throw his Kryptonite heart into the flowing lava. Metallo desperately goes after it, but winds up encased in the cooled lava unable to move or even see. Instead, he focuses his mind on his identity, determined not to lose it again.
Metallo is eventually extricated by Intergang, who repair and even improve his android body, in exchange for which he assists in a series of bank robberies. When Superman triees to stop him, he severely weakens the Man of Steel with Kryptonite lasers. John Henry Irons, a former employee of LexCorp, dons a suit of armor and helps Superman defeat Metallo which marks the beginning of Irons' own superhero career as Steel.
Metallo later enlists Tina, an intern at The Daily Planet, to kidnap Lois Lane in order to help him lure Superman into a trap. Fortunately, Jimmy Olsen learns of this and gpes to the Metropolis Junkyard to rescue him. Metallo and Superman battle again in a demolition machine, resulting in Metallo apparently being crushed by falling debris.
Justice League[]
Metallo survives once again, however, and returns to Metropolis to join a group of disgruntled villains who had all been previously defeated by Superman including Livewire, Toyman, Kalibak and Weather Wizard. In their fight with the Justice League, Metallo is beaten by J'onn J'onzz, though Toyman seemingly succeeds in killing Superman but this later turns out not to be the case.
When Grodd founds his expanded Secret Society, Metallo joins its ranks. One of his missions is to accompany Silver Banshee to the underground world of Skartaris and assist the dictator Deimos in exchange for a large chunk of Kryptonite. However, a League team composed of Green Lantern, STRIPE, Stargirl, and Supergirl, intervene on behalf of Travis Morgan's resistance. He surprises Stargirl and beats her senseless after she defeats Deimos but, in battle with Supergirl, Metallo loses an arm when Supergirl stabs his shoulder with Stargirl's staff. He continues battling Supergirl, who eventually grabs a knife and removes Metallo's Kryptonite heart, leaving the mercenary paralyzed. Metallo is taken to a cave where he is briefly interrogated by Green Lantern. At first, he refuses to talk, but Lantern points out that without his Kryponite heart, his body will shut down within the next few minutes, even seconds. Metallo is about to talk, but his mind is mysteriously shut down by Gorilla Grodd, who shuts down the minds of anyone who betrayed him). His motionless body is later taken to the Watchtower, to see if J'onn can probe what was left of his mind for information. However, as Metallo is never seen ever again after this, his ultimate fate is unknown, leaving it unclear if he ever recovered or if he stayed offline from that point onwards.
Powers and abilities[]
Strength: Metallo could punch with the force of well over 250 Newtons, destroy the machine with a second punch, stop a speeding train with his bare hands and wrestle Superman into a stalemate.
Durability: Due to being made of a nearly indestructible metal, Metallo was seemingly impossible to destroy; being shot with a missile and rammed by a speeding high-speed train but nothing left a scratch.
Bulletproof: Being made of metal, bullets from pistols and even machine guns bounced off of him.
Regeneration: Metallo could always reboot and return from apparent defeat due to his synthetic body and Kryptonite batteries.
Kryptonite Blasts: Metallo could fire concentrated green beams of Kryptonite energy from his chest.From his chest, he could also project concentrated Kryptonite energy blasts.
Kryptonite Beams: When Intergang fixed Metallo, they gave him the ability to fire Kryptonite energy from his eyes.
Weaknesses[]
Mental Attacks: Although immune to physical attacks, Metallo could be stopped with mental attacks such as by Gorilla Grodd.
Arsenal[]
Fists: Metallo typically used only his bare hands in battle but he was formidably strong.
Kryptonite Core: Metallo's Kryptonite battery could be utilized to attack Superman by opening a panel in his chest and exposing him to its radiation.
