Maxwell Lord

Maxwell Lord

“	Ask yourself, how much harm do they bring about? How many crazed psychopaths spin plots just to entangle or destroy them? It pains me. So much promise. So much power. And it seems to go wrong. That is why I have taken it upon myself to watch them. If they choose to put on these uniforms, claim to protect us, then they should be held accountable.	„
	~ Maxwell Lord

“	I love this world... but something has happened... there has been a change. It seems like I'm the only one who can see that humanity is broken. And the people with the powers to fix it don't know how.	„
	~ Maxwell Lord

Maxwell Lord is a powerful DC universe supervillain and an enemy of the Justice League Of America.

Lord was abducted by an alien supercomputer buried near the center of the Earth. This computer somehow managed to convince him to establish a benevolent worldwide peace organization that the computer hoped to use as part of its own grandiose plot aimed at complete global domination. With the computer's help, Lord was able to operate behind the scenes during the formation of a new Justice League. Eventually, he was freed from the computer’s influence and continued to operate as the Justice League's benefactor and caretaker.

Lord developed telepathic powers himself during the invasion of the Earth that was masterminded by the Dominators, but he remained the Justice League’s chief executive rather than become a hero. He continued to run the team, but over the years his role became increasingly diminished until he was removed when Wonder Woman reformed the League.

Lord, however, was in truth a criminal mastermind who spent years running the JLI gathering sensitive information about the world's superheroes, which he considered a threat to the planet. All along he had been playing the role of the incorrigible businessman. In truth, he held a deep contempt for the meta-human community and sought to take them down by keeping them close. He murdered Ted Kord and brainwashed Superman.

Powers and Abilities

Maxwell Lord IV has the extreme power of mind control. He can mind control people from close range and also great distances. While originally not being a metahuman, Max gained this ability while serving as a leader of the Justice League International. While the mind control ability is useful, he does have a downside to using this great power. The more minds he controls, equals, more blood loss.

Controlling one mind makes him bleed out of his nose, however wiping his entire existence from everyone's mind off of the planet caused Max to loose much blood from his eyes, ears, and nose. Eventually leading to blacking out, Max only uses his mind control ability when needed, however tries not to use it on many people all at once, as it could lead to his own death.

In other media

• Maxwell Lord appears in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Ultimatum". He is shown as a normal human with no special powers. He acts as the manager of the Ultimen, a superhero team that works independently of the Justice League. It turns out, however, that the Ultimen are a series of artificial life forms, cloned and given false memories while interacting with actors portraying their parents. The team was developed with the assistance of Project Cadmus as part of an ongoing project to protect the Earth from the Justice League. As the clones (which are imperfect) die, they are replaced, until one generation of the clones learns the truth and escapes. Maxwell is told by Amanda Waller to get them back, or she will call in the "squad" to take them down. The Ultimen end up attacking Maxwell Lord, demanding answers. He tells them that they were created to be a better superhero team than the Justice League. When he offers to help them when their lifespan ends, they deny his plea and head back to the building to look for Amanda Waller and their as-yet-unactivated clones. After four of the Ultimen are subdued by the Justice League and apprehended by the authorities, Maxwell Lord and Amanda Waller arrived with some Cadmus soldiers and take them into their custody to be there when the Ultimen's lifespan ends.

• Maxwell Lord appears in the Smallville Season 9 episode "Charade", portrayed by Gil Bellows. In this incarnation, he is the Black King of the organization known as Checkmate, and has the ability to extract memories from others, which he uses to try to reveal the identity of "The Blur" (a.k.a. Clark Kent). He is thwarted by Clark, but manages to escape, only to be apprehended by the mysterious Red Queen of Checkmate. In the episode "Charade", he then has him interrogate Tess in a mental illusion to try to find the Book of Rao. However, she intentionally gives him incorrect information that causes Tess to see through the illusion and escape, knowing that the first thing she will then do is to move the book to a new hiding place. He is then incapacitated by a frequency used by the Red Queen for his failure.

Supergirl (2015 TV Series)

Here, Maxwell Lord is portrayed as a tech genius and tycoon who owns his own company, Lord Technologies. Just like anyone else in National City, Lord has taken a shine to Supergirl and has now made it his life's mission to uncover her secret identity. He is one of the main antagonists of the show, alongside Astra.

Maxwell Lord is set to appear in Wonder Woman 1984, portrayed by Pedro Pascal.

Gallery

Maxwell Black Lantern crops.

Maxwell Lord as a White Lantern Crops.