The youngest Superman film will be willing to share the spotlight with Man of Steel, as Shapeshifter makes his film debut, proving that he is one of the DC Comics' most underrated characters. Appearing in the first Superman teaser trailer and a new solo series in the works, 2025 is about to be the year of Metamorpho.
Metamorpho used to be decently popular as a character, but he slowly fell out of favor. He's appeared in several comics, even as a headliner – like the new Shapeshifter: The Elemental Man by Al Ewing and Steve Lieber, which includes a commemorative variant cover by Erica Henderson – and has appeared in several cartoons, most notably Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
But right around the time of the New 52, ​​Metamorpho slowly but surely became less and less important in DC comics. It's a little surprising that DC lost interest in him, considering how long he's been around. Shapeshifter first appeared in The brave and the bold #57 by Bob Haney, the legendary Ramona Fradon, Charles Paris and Stan Starkman.
Shapeshifter: The Elemental Man #2 Variant cover by Guillem March
Metamorpho's first appearance revealed the incredible origin of his powers. He was originally a mercenary known as Rex Mason, who was hired by Simon Stagg to retrieve the legendary and powerful Orb of Ra. Although he managed to track down the orb, he was betrayed by one of his companions, who left him near the same radioactive meteor from which the orb was created. Due to this exposure, Rex was transformed into Metamorpho, a being with the power to transform your body into any element on the periodic table.
Metamorpho is a perpetual outsider – and not just because he's often associated with DC's Calassic team of Outsiders. When he gained his powers, his first immediate thought was to ask the Justice League for help. Although the Justice League was completely unable to cure him, they offered him membership due to his incredible powers. Surprisingly, Metamorpho declined the offer. The closest he came to being a member of the Justice League was Justice League Europe and the Justice League Task Force, but the original version of the character was not in Justice League appropriate.
Although he's not exactly a household name, Metamorpho went on many adventures and was a fairly popular character during the mid-century AD. He often teamed up with Batman to help him solve crimesand at one point, in The best in the world #217 by Bob Haney, Dick Dillin and Murphy Anderson, Metamorpho gained the powers of Batman and Superman, becoming one of the strongest beings on Earth. While these effects were only temporary, it shows how important Metamorpho was, as DC wouldn't have made any random character the center of such a story.
He was even one of DC's strongest heroes at one point
Metamorpho's powers may not be as impressive as characters like Superman, at least at first glance, but Metamorpho is incredibly powerful. Originally, Metamorpho was only known for his ability to transform his body into various chemical compositions. At first, he was limited to manipulating the chemicals found in the human body, but over time, he not only overcame this limitation, but his powers gained even more variety. Not only can Metamorpho alter his body's chemical makeup to whatever he wants, but he is also fully capable of stretching and shape-shifting, creating complex shapes like a fully functional tank.
Metamorpho will finally be in the spotlight again…
Despite how variable Metamorpho is, it really hasn't been used much in recent years. He was an important character in the Bronze Age and even in the Modern Agethen appeared intermittently during the New 52. He was rarely seen in DC's Rebirth or Infinite Frontier eras. The most important story Metamorpho has had recently was a short segment by Mark Waid and Dan Mora The best in the world where he was accused of a murder.
Right where the man element belongs
But it looks like Metamorpho will finally be getting the spotlight again, as he will not only make an appearance in James Gunn's next film Superman film as a major supporting character, but he's also starring in his own ongoing DC Comics series from two critically acclaimed and fan-favorite creators. Anyone wanting to know more about Metamorpho after his appearance in Superman trailer needs Check it out Shapeshifter: The Elemental Man by Ewing and Lieber.
The DC Universe has so many characters worth exploring. DC has mostly stuck with just Trinity and other standard Justice League characters because they sell more, but there are so many more characters that the DC Universe has to offer, which is one of the most hopeful things about the new DC cinematic universe: It doesn't seem to be shy about introducing darker characters. Shapeshifter has only appeared sparingly in comics in recent years, but we hope this character returns to his former popularity with a little help from Superman and DC Comics' newest series in progress.
Shapeshifter: The Elemental Man #1 is available December 26, 2024 from DC Comics!