Chapter Summaries

Ian learned how Superman’s repeated failures to save Lois led him to become a tyrant, and discovered that Superman had locked the timeline against time travel. Unable to return to the past, Ian confronted Superman and revealed that he was Ian Kent, the Son of Superman.

• Batman showed Ian photographs of Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, and Green Lantern, who Superman had killed for resisting his rule.
• Joker explained that Superman went mad after Lois died in fifteen different attempts to save her, eventually killing an innocent person and embracing power.
• Ian tried to travel back in time, but Superman’s time lock stopped him from leaving the era, so Ian promised to handle Superman himself.
• Ian confronted Superman outside the bunker and withstood his attack, catching both of Superman’s fists without moving.
• Ian released Superman and identified himself as Ian Kent, the Son of Superman.

Ian confronted the tyrannical Superman, who died after Batman secretly exposed him to a Kryptonian-targeting virus. Ian carried Superman’s body to the Fortress of Solitude, then flew to the Dictator Hall, where he found the badly wounded Lucifer Morningstar waiting for him.

• Ian revealed that he was Superman’s son and endured Superman’s furious assault without fighting back.
• Batman released an airborne genetic weapon, and the dying Superman rejected Ian’s attempt to save him and died after apologizing to Jonathan, Jordan, and Lois.
• Ian confronted Batman and learned that Batman had poisoned Superman both for revenge and to push Ian to repair time; Ian let him go and carried Superman’s body away.
• Ian placed Superman’s body on the crystal platform in the Fortress of Solitude and vowed that this was not the end.
• Ian flew to the Dictator Hall and found the severely wounded Lucifer Morningstar hanging on its wall.

Ian rescued Lucifer from Superman’s hall and learned that God had chosen Ian as his successor, leaving his throne in the chair at Ian’s school. Ian went to the ruined school to find the throne and began rebuilding homes for the people living there.

• Ian found Lucifer embedded in the wall of Dictator Hall and learned that Superman had imprisoned him after God stripped away his power.
• Ian freed Lucifer from the wall and gave him food, and Lucifer explained that God had left his throne and power to Ian.
• Lucifer told Ian that God’s throne was the chair delivered by Madison and left at the school.
• Ian traveled to the ruined school, where ordinary people lived in shacks amid the wreckage.
• Ian used golden power to rebuild houses, startling the people living among the ruins.

Ian fed the starving inhabitants of a ruined settlement, and the act revealed the hidden Throne of God and transported him to Heaven. As Ian neared the throne, The Batman Who Laughs appeared and prepared to attack him.

• Ian conjured bread, fish, and other food for the people in the ruins, who ate and showed their gratitude.
• A golden light revealed a throne beneath the ruins, and the people knelt as Ian approached it.
• Ian touched the throne and was transported to Heaven, where the Black Box told him that sitting on the throne would make him God and let him restore the Angels and turn back time.
• As Ian reached for the throne in Heaven, space split open and The Batman Who Laughs entered using divine power taken from Lucifer.
• The Batman Who Laughs demanded the throne, argued that true salvation meant ending all suffering and the story itself, and began charging an attack on Ian.

Ian defeated The Batman Who Laughs, who escaped through a green rift, then claimed Godhood by sitting on Heaven’s throne. He discovered the Time Lock was gone and began restoring the wasteland and remaking his twisted timeline.

• Ian fought The Batman Who Laughs across the palace and nearly captured him, but The Batman Who Laughs escaped through a green rift.
• Ian sat on Heaven’s throne, heard the lives and timelines of the multiverse, and learned from Black Box that he had become God.
• Ian slept on the throne, then woke and told Black Box that he could see the Time Lock from above it and that it was gone.
• Ian descended to the wasteland and used golden light to restore its ruins, cities, rivers, oceans, and sky.
• Ian found his timeline and began straightening its twisted sections, reconnecting its broken parts, and remaking everything.

Ian restored the timeline and returned to his family and ordinary life in the Kent home and at school. Madison sensed that a long time had passed and told Ian the Angels in her factory were working abnormally hard, leaving him to keep the truth to himself.

• Ian returned to the day before his time travel and reunited with Jonathan, Lois, Jordan, and Clark at the Kent family home.
• Ian joined Clark for a walk, hid the memories of his long journey, and then went to school.
• A classmate told Ian about strange reports in Metropolis, including blue lights and sightings of Angels.
• Madison sat beside Ian, shared her strange homemade dessert, and told him the Angels in her factory were working overtime without complaint.
• Madison said she felt that a very long time had passed, and Ian did not explain what had happened.

Ian spent an ordinary school day with Madison before joining Clark on a grocery run. When Clark sensed trouble in Metropolis, he left Ian with the shopping and transformed into Superman to respond.

• Madison chatted with Ian at school, shared her unusual food, and gave him drawings during their classes.
• Ian finished school and walked home, then went with Clark to the supermarket to buy groceries.
• Clark sensed something happening in Metropolis and handed Ian the car keys and shopping bags.
• Clark ran into the supermarket restroom and emerged as Superman, flying toward Metropolis.

Ian returned home after Clark handled a bank robbery, and the family shared a warm dinner together. Later, Lucifer visited Ian and agreed to investigate the Supreme Alliance and the Chronos Guardians in exchange for Ian granting him the rank of an Archangel.

• Ian drove home with groceries and joined Lois, Clark, Jordan, and Jonathan for dinner after Clark returned from stopping a bank robbery.
• The family talked about school and Jonathan’s soccer game before Jordan, Jonathan, and Ian went upstairs for the night.
• Lucifer appeared in Ian’s room and said Godhood had healed his injuries, then warned Ian that he was in trouble.
• Ian reminded Lucifer that he owed him a life and asked him to investigate the Supreme Alliance and the Chronos Guardians.
• Lucifer explained that the Chronos Guardians had sought his power and that the Batman Who Laughs possessed a piece of it.
• Ian offered Lucifer the rank of an Archangel, and Lucifer agreed to investigate, holding out his hand as if waiting for the power.

Ian restored Lucifer Morningstar as an Archangel of Heaven and sent him to investigate the Supreme Alliance and the Chronos Guardians. Unable to sleep beneath the flood of prayers, Ian went to Heaven’s throne and summoned three high-performing Angels from his factory to serve as new Archangels.

• Ian gave Lucifer Morningstar Archangel rank, healing his injuries and restoring his golden wings.
• Lucifer agreed to investigate the Supreme Alliance and the Chronos Guardians, then flew away after teasing Ian about his cracked ceiling.
• Ian lay awake as countless prayers flooded his mind, then opened a golden door to Heaven and sat on the throne to steady himself.
• Ian used his Godhood to find Angels working in his factory and selected three high-performing workers as assistants.
• Golden light summoned an old Angel, a young Angel, and a female Angel from the factory to serve as new Archangels.

Ian restored Yanar, Cassiel, and Sariel as Archangels in Heaven, gave them authority to help manage prayers, and let the other exiled angels know Heaven had reopened. Ian returned to school while the newly appointed Archangels began their work, and the former Archangels remained in exile, fearing their ranks were gone for good.

• Yanar, Cassiel, and Sariel regained their angelic glory in Heaven, recognized Ian as the new God, and agreed to help him sort prayers.
• Ian welcomed the three angels back, named them Archangels, and bestowed golden transformations and Superman family symbols on them.
• Ian entrusted Yanar with part of Heaven's authority, assigned the angels prayer duties, and left three Archangel positions open for other returning angels to earn.
• Ian returned to the mortal world to sleep before school, while Sariel divided the work among the three Archangels.
• An angel announced Yanar, Cassiel, and Sariel's recall at the factory, and the exiled workers cried with relief that God remembered them.
• The former Archangels remained in their places of exile and feared they had permanently lost their ranks.

Ian returned to the Marvel Universe and spent the day resting instead of answering his believers. When he saw Ironheart fighting three criminals, he walked toward the battle as she struggled to withstand their combined attack.

• In Heaven, Yanar, Cassiel, and Sariel became Archangels while the angels continued working after Father failed to answer their prayers.
• Ian returned to his room, slept, and crossed into the peaceful Marvel Universe he had reshaped.
• Ian visited a coffee shop and a park, telling Black Box he would not seek out believers and would return to the DC Universe later.
• After Black Box reported a superpower crime, Ian went toward the city as Ironheart, Morgan Stark, fought three criminals.
• The criminals combined their energy beams against Ironheart, whose shield faltered as her armor's energy indicator turned red.

Ian rescued Morgan after her armor failed, subdued the three criminals, and repaired her suit before she confronted him about the Time Variance Authority. Morgan revealed that she had established it in Ian’s name to bring her father back.

• Morgan exhausted Ironheart’s energy while shielding a building from three superpowered criminals, and Ian caught her as she fell.
• Ian took back the criminals’ power and sent them to his God Kingdom for reeducation through labor.
• Morgan recognized Ian, reunited with him, and joined him at the park, where he repaired her armor and restored its Ark reactor.
• Morgan asked Ian whether he would leave again, then told him she knew he had returned to ask about the Time Variance Authority.
• Morgan revealed that she had established the Time Variance Authority in Ian’s name because she wanted to get her father back.

Morgan revealed that she created the Time Variance Authority to preserve Tony Stark’s existence and asked Ian to help bring him back. Unable to find Tony, Ian traveled to the End of Time with Galacta and reached the nothingness beyond its discarded timelines.

• Morgan told Ian that only she remembered Tony Stark and that she had built the Time Variance Authority to keep his name recorded across timelines.
• Ian promised to help Morgan find Tony, then searched across timelines with his powers but felt a hidden force blocking him.
• Ian entered the Time Variance Authority and traveled to the End of Time to try Morgan’s plan.
• Ian summoned Galacta and persuaded her to guide him through the discarded timelines toward the end of the End of Time.
• Ian and Galacta crossed the junkyard of pruned timelines and arrived in a void beyond time, space, and even the concept of nothingness.

Ian entered the beginning of time to find people erased from history, while Galacta was pulled along through their symbiotic bond. After witnessing the universe form and defeating its first ancient beings, Ian continued searching, leaving them to wonder whether he embodied the law of force.

• Ian entered the universe’s beginning through the End of Time, and Galacta was dragged through their bond into a ball of light in his palm.
• Ian watched space, time, matter, stars, laws, and life emerge as the Marvel Universe formed.
• The Lord of Gravity, the Lord of Electromagnetism, and the Lord of Nuclear Force confronted Ian and attacked him.
• Ian easily shattered the Lord of Gravity’s mist, extinguished the Lord of Electromagnetism’s currents, and crushed the Lord of Nuclear Force’s energy sphere.
• The ancient beings speculated that Ian possessed the law of force, but Ian denied it and said he was simply strong.

Ian walked through the river of time, watched the ancient embodiments of physical laws fade into unconscious rules, and encountered the Four Abstract Entities. He continued upstream toward the severed stretch of time despite their warnings that he might never return.

• Ian left the three ancient beings behind and stepped onto the river of time, explaining to Galacta that he had used only brute strength.
• Ian watched the Lords of Gravity, Electromagnetism, and Nuclear Force lose consciousness and become the rules they had once embodied.
• Ian encountered Eternity, Infinity, Death, and Annihilation, who challenged him for entering the river of time.
• Eternity and Infinity tried to stop Ian with the power of existence and a constricting net, but neither could restrain him.
• Ian told the Four Abstract Entities he was seeking a hidden, severed stretch of time and continued upstream after Eternity let him pass.

Ian traveled through the river of time, witnessed the rise of the Celestials and Asgard, and was pulled into a 2008 New York where Vought and The Seven had merged into the Marvel Universe. After locating Tony Stark in captivity, he went to Pepper Potts and offered to rescue him, leaving her stunned by his ability to fly.

• Ian witnessed the Celestials’ creation, their war against ancient cosmic beings, and the rise of Asgard under Buri, Borr, and Odin.
• A pull from Destiny drew Ian into the birth node of Iron Man, and he fell through a fissure in time into 2008 New York.
• Ian found The Boys merchandise and Vought International advertisements throughout the city, confirming that the universe had been eroded by the Outer Universe.
• Ian used his enhanced vision to locate Tony Stark imprisoned in a cave in Afghanistan, where Tony’s Arc Reactor kept him alive.
• Ian went to Stark Tower and told Pepper Potts he could rescue Tony within five minutes if she gave him something of Tony’s.
• When Pepper questioned whether he was a fraud, Ian floated into the air and silenced her.

Ian convinced Pepper Potts that he could rescue Tony Stark, then traveled to Afghanistan and reached Tony’s cave. Tony recognized his watch and accepted that Ian had come to save him, and Ian led Tony and Yinsen out.

• Ian demonstrated his ability to hover, promised Pepper he would bring Tony back, and took Tony’s watch as proof of his connection to Pepper.
• Ian appeared in Afghanistan and walked unharmed through gunfire, turning the militants he passed into ash.
• Tony Stark and Yinsen prepared to defend themselves when they heard someone approaching through the cave.
• Ian entered Tony’s workshop and proved Pepper had sent him by showing Tony’s watch.
• Tony questioned Ian about the guards, and Ian said they were gone before leading Tony and Yinsen away.

Ian rescued Tony Stark and Yinsen from Afghanistan, revealing powers that Tony mistook for Compound V before Ian explained he came from another universe. Ian brought them to New York, where Tony reunited with Pepper and began questioning how Ian's powers worked.

• Ian introduced himself as Ian Kent and stored Tony's unfinished armor as golden dust so he could return it later.
• Ian stopped the weapons fired by the armed reinforcements and used Heat Vision to destroy them and their vehicles.
• Ian told Tony and Yinsen that his powers came from being Superman and that he was from another universe.
• Ian carried Tony and Yinsen from Afghanistan to Stark Tower in less than a minute, where Tony reunited with Pepper.
• Tony asked Ian whether he had a Bio-field that protected passengers from the forces of high-speed flight.

Tony returned to Stark Tower, reunited with Pepper and Yinsen, and announced that Stark Industries would end weapons production and shift to clean energy. Vought International reacted by investigating who had rescued him and reconsidering its plans to gain influence over Stark Industries.

• Tony confirmed that he had a Bio-field and agreed to let Tony study it the next day before leaving through a window.
• Tony offered Yinsen a medical consultant position at Stark Tower, and Yinsen accepted.
• Tony held a press conference, announced the immediate closure of Stark Industries' weapons division, and said the company would pursue clean energy using the Arc Reactor.
• Tony rejected Obadiah Stane's objections and dismissed Vought International's offers to acquire or cooperate with Stark Industries.
• Coulson reported Tony's return to his director and was told to keep investigating.
• Madelyn Stillwell learned that Tony was back and shutting down weapons production, then ordered The Deep to investigate who had rescued him.

Madelyn planned a public campaign to undermine Tony Stark’s Arc Reactor while asking Homelander whether he could destroy Stark Industries’ breakthrough. The Deep investigated Tony’s return and, after hearing he had flown from Afghanistan to New York, suspected Homelander had secretly rescued him.

• Madelyn ordered Vought International to attack the Arc Reactor’s reputation through media, politicians, and paid experts, spreading fear about radiation and safety.
• Madelyn asked Homelander whether he could destroy Stark Industries’ technology, and Homelander claimed no one could stop him.
• Madelyn sent The Deep to investigate who had saved Tony Stark, and he went to Stark Tower to question employees.
• The Deep learned a vague report that a barefoot young man in black had brought Tony back, then heard from an employee’s contact in air traffic control that a person had flown from Afghanistan to New York in minutes.
• The Deep concluded that Homelander might have secretly rescued Tony Stark and wondered if Homelander was a traitor.