Videos by ComicBook.com
The DC Multiverse is 20 billion years old, making it almost twice as old as our own universe. Some of DC’s most powerful heroes are as ancient as the multiverse itself; others are hundreds of millions or even billions of years old.
10) Martian Manhunter
Not only is J’onn J’onzz, aka Martian Manhunter, a founding member of the Justice League, but he’s also their oldest teammate as well. Hailing from the now-dead planet Mars, flashbacks have revealed that J’onn is no less than 225 million years old. This means that when J’onn was an adolescent, on Earth, the first mammals were evolving and dinosaurs were becoming the dominant species. Over J’onn’s lifespan, he witnessed the death of his own planet and the extermination of his race, including his wife and daughter, at the hands of his sadistic brother, Ma’alefa’ak. J’onn spent the next several centuries alone until he was accidentally teleported to Earth by a scientist. Since then, J’onn has made the Earth his new home and the Justice League his found family.
9) New Gods of New Genesis
Outside of the DC Multiverse, the all-powerful deities, the Old Gods, engaged in a brutal war known as Ragnarok that tore their world in half. Around 4.8 billion years ago in the realm of Fourth World, the remnants of the broken world transformed into twin planets: the utopian New Genesis and the hellish Apokolips. Both planets are inhabited by the New Gods, who are the personifications of abstract concepts such as good and evil. Led by the wise Highfather, the New Gods of New Genesis are the first line of defense against Apokolips and its malevolent ruler, Darkseid. Some of the most notable heroes who fight for New Genesis and the multiverse at large are Orion, Mr. Miracle, Big Barda, Lightray, and the Forever People.
8) Guardians of the Universe
One of the first humanoid species to evolve in the multiverse, the race that would become known as the Guardians of the Universe would move from their homeworld, Maltus, to the planet Oa, which lies at the center of the cosmos. It’s here that the Guardians became immortal and began making plans to create a universal peacekeeping force. Unfortunately, the Guardian’s first attempt, the soulless robot Manhunter army, went horribly wrong as they wiped out trillions of lives. Oops. After returning to the drawing board, the Guardians learned to harness the green energy of willpower to create the Green Lantern Corps. Over the eons, countless beings from across the universe were found worthy to don the Green Lantern ring, including members of the Old Gods.
7) Nabu
Ten billion years ago, the first two sentient races – the Lords of Order and the Lords of Chaos – emerged on the planet Cilia and began an eternal conflict for supremacy. One of these Lords of Order, Nabu the Wise, eventually arrived on Earth around 3,500 BCE. After a fierce battle against the villainous wizard Wotan, Nabu put himself in a healing coma inside a pyramid for thousands of years. During the 1940s, Nabu was awaken by the archaeologist Sven Nelson, whom Nabu accidentally killed. Nabu then took Sven’s son, Kent, and trained him to become the Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Fate. With his soul now residing within the Helmet of Fate, Nabu grants Doctor Fate untold mystical might to protect humanity.
6) Spectre
During the war against Lucifer and Heaven, one fallen angel managed to avoid the fate of his rebellious brethren. This fallen angel, Aztar, repented and sought forgiveness from God. For this act, Aztar was transformed into the new Spirit of Wrath, the Spectre, a role once held by the villain Eclipso. As the embodiment of God’s wrath, Spectre punishes the wicked and the unrighteous. To interact with humanity in the modern day, Spectre merged with the deceased Detective Corrigan. Spectre became a founding member of the Justice Society and is one of the most powerful superheroes in DC Comics. With his divine magic, Spectre can warp reality on a multiversal scale and battle cosmic villains like the Anti-Monitor.
