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| Maxwell Lord | |
|---|---|
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Justice League #1 (May 1987) |
| Created by | Keith Giffen J. M. DeMatteis Kevin Maguire |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Maxwell "Max" Lord IV |
| Species | Metahuman |
| Team affiliations | Checkmate Extremists Justice League Black Lantern Corps Justice League International Project Cadmus |
| Notable aliases | Black King, Lord Havok |
| Abilities | Telepathic persuasion |
Maxwell Lord IV is asupervillain appearing inAmerican comic books published byDC Comics. The character first appeared inJustice League #1 (May 1987) and was created byKeith Giffen,J. M. DeMatteis, andKevin Maguire.[1] Maxwell Lord was originally introduced as a shrewd and powerful businessman who was an ally of theJustice League and was influential in the formation of theJustice League International,[2] but he later developed into an adversary ofWonder Woman and the Justice League.
The character made his cinematic debut in the 2020DC Extended Universe film,Wonder Woman 1984, portrayed byPedro Pascal. A new iteration portrayed bySean Gunn appears in theDC Universe (DCU) filmSuperman and thesecond season of the television seriesPeacemaker (both 2025).
Maxwell Lord IV is the son of Maxwell Lord III, a successful businessman and head of the Chimtech Consortium. Maxwell III set out to be a good example for his son by striving to always do what was right. When Maxwell IV was 16, he came home to find his father dead in an apparent suicide. His father had discovered that his company had produced acarcinogenic product, and could not bear the guilt.
Lord's mother was convinced by her husband to employ a similar practice, cajoling heroicmetahumans to help Lord. Thus, he sparked the plans to bring the Justice League, leaderless and broken after theCrisis on Infinite Earths event, under his exclusive control.[3]
Lord initially worked behind the scenes to establish the Justice League, while under the control of a computer created byMetron. The computer wanted Lord to set up a worldwide peacekeeping organization as part of its plan todominate the world.[4]
Aretcon changed Lord's controller to the villainous computer programKilg%re, which had taken over Metron's machine.[5] A second retcon mitigated Kilg%re's and Metron's influence, stating that Lord already had plans to take over the League and would have pursued them regardless.[3]
Lord's ruthlessness at this time was illustrated when he set up a disturbed would-be terrorist as a villain for the League to defeat, resulting in the man's death. Later, Lord rebelled against the computer's influence and destroyed it.
Once free of the computer's influence, Lord is portrayed as an amoral businessman, but not a real villain. During the time that Giffen and DeMatteis were writing the Justice League, Lord is shown struggling with his conscience and developing heroic qualities, though he would remain a con-artist.[citation needed]
Originally a normal human, Lord is one of many people on Earth who gain superpowers during theInvasion crossover, when theDominators activate their Gene Bomb. This bomb activates Lord's latent metagene, granting him the ability to control the minds of others, albeit at great difficulty.[6] Despite being a metahuman, Lord never identifies as one. Instead, at the urging of his mother to act for the benefit of non-metahumans, he shifts his hatred for the generic "authority figures" who caused his father's death to the metahuman community.[3]
After he is shot and placed in a coma at the beginning ofJLAmerica/JLEuropecrossoverBreakdowns,Dreamslayer takes over Lord's body and supercharges Lord's power, allowing him to control thousands of minds at once. Using Lord's body, Dreamslayer almost forcesJustice League International (JLI) to disband. While possessed Lord forces the JLI to battle itself, the mortally woundedSilver Sorceress contains Dreamslayer and holds him within her mind as she dies, taking him with her. When Lord is freed, his power is burnt out.
Later, Lord is diagnosed with a brain tumor and dies. Kilg%re downloads Lord's consciousness into a duplicate of one of Dreamslayer's allies,Lord Havok. Lord's body later shifts to resemble his original human form.[7]
Doomsday later crash-lands on Earth, easily trounces the League, and killsSuperman.[8] With Earth undefended,Mongul invades and destroysCoast City, killing Lord's mother. This event further fuels his hatred and paranoia against metahumans, as well as leading him to believe that not only can metahumans not be trusted, but that their personal battles and scuffles are enough to shatter world safety.[3]
Lord puts together several former JLI members, includingL-Ron,Captain Atom,Blue Beetle (Ted Kord),Booster Gold, andFire as the Super Buddies, advertised as "heroes the common man could call". The Super Buddies star in the 2003 miniseriesFormerly Known as the Justice League and its 2005 sequelI Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League.[9]
InIdentity Crisis (2004), Lord attendsSue Dibny's funeral and speaks to Booster Gold, further denting his already dwindling faith in superheroes.[10]
Countdown to Infinite Crisis reveals that Lord is no longer a cyborg, and is a criminal mastermind who spent years running the JLI while gathering sensitive information about the world's superheroes, whom he considered a threat to the planet. Simultaneously, he sabotaged JLI efforts to render the superhero team as ineffectual as possible. At the end of the prologue special issue, he shoots and kills Ted Kord.
Alexander Luthor Jr., the son ofLex Luthor from an alternate Earth, gives Lord control ofBrother Eye, a satellite systemBatman created to monitor superhumans worldwide. Lord uses his powers to influenceSuperman's mind, causing him to brutally beat Batman in the belief that he isBrainiac. Lord subsequently sends Superman to attackWonder Woman after making him believe that she is his old enemy Doomsday. Lord justifies the resulting destruction as proof of his argument about the dangers of superhumans, pointing out the devastation that Wonder Woman and Superman could cause if they fought in a crowded area, and arguing that the fact that Superman can be brought under another's control is evidence that superhumans cannot be relied upon. In the midst of her battle with Superman, Diana realizes that even if she defeats him, he would still remain under Lord's control. She creates a diversion lasting long enough for her to race back to Lord's location and asks that he release Superman. Lord, bound by her lasso of truth, complies but states that he'll use Superman again to kill people. When she demands to know how to free Superman from Lord's control, Lord replies "Kill me." Wonder Woman then snaps his neck.[11][12]
At the "Crisis Counseling" panel atWizard World Chicago,Dan DiDio explained DC's reasoning in using Lord's character inInfinite Crisis. After going through several possible characters who could be the "new leader for the offshoot of Checkmate", Maxwell Lord was suggested. Many of the editors thought that the idea made sense, as Lord had been shown to have a mean streak and to have killed previously. The idea was dropped due to the continuity errors, such as him being a cyborg, but they went back to it later after deciding none of the other possible characters were suitable. DiDio explained: "We thought about that aspect of the story [where Maxwell was turned into a cyborg] some more. And then asked, 'Did anyone read it?' No. 'Did anyone like the idea?' No. So we moved ahead with Max as being a human, and having been a human, and not letting that small part of the past stand in the way of this story. We wanted what was best forCountdown [to Infinite Crisis], and for us, that meant that Max had to be a human".[13]
InBlackest Night andBrightest Day, Maxwell Lord is resurrected as aBlack Lantern. Targeting Wonder Woman, he lures her toArlington National Cemetery with a trail of corpses. When Wonder Woman arrives, he springs a trap, usingblack rings to revive the bodies of fallen soldiers. Wonder Woman uses her lasso to reduce Lord and the soldiers to dust, but as she leaves, the dust begins to regenerate. Some time later, Lord resumes his attack on Wonder Woman, who had recently become aStar Sapphire. Wonder Woman encases Lord's body in crystal, then shatters him to pieces.[14] He is later brought back to life by the power of the White Light. ThoughGuy Gardner attempts to restrain him, Lord uses his mind control abilities to make Gardner let him leave.[15]
In the seriesJustice League: Generation Lost, Lord is the subject of an unprecedented international manhunt. He is found hiding in the old Justice League International embassy byBooster Gold, whom Lord is able to defeat. Lord then uses a device to amplify his mind control powers to unprecedented levels. With these, he erases the world's memory of his existence.[16]
Lord is later contacted by theLife Entity, who tasks him with killingMagog. Lord uses his powers to force Magog to kill himself, framing Captain Atom for Magog's death. The Entity proclaims that Lord has completed his task, and his life is fully restored.[17]
In theDC Rebirth relaunch, Lord is depicted as the leader ofProject Cadmus.[18] With the aid ofKiller Frost, Lord acquires the Heart of Darkness from a vault, using it to enhance his powers to take control of the Justice League. Lord uses the infected Justice League to achieve "peace" across America, and hasAmanda Waller kidnapped and taken before him. Waller forces Lord to recognize that the Heart is manipulating his perceptions, using Lord's powers to spread chaos and evil across the world, and twisting Lord's perception of what is transpiring. When Waller is able to bring him to his senses, Lord tries to remove the Heart of Darkness, but it consumes him and transforms him intoEclipso.[19]
Eclipso is driven out of Lord when Killer Frost is able to use her powers to create a prism of ice, channeling Superman's heat vision at just the right frequency to disrupt Lord's mental control, with Lord subsequently being immobilized by Killer Frost. Lord awakens in a cell specially designed to hold him, with injectors pumping so muchblood thinner into him that he would bleed to death if he attempted to access his powers. He mockingly asks Waller if she set this whole thing up just to 'justify' the Squad to the League, but Waller declines to reply, and simply informs him that he is to prepare himself for service in "Task Force XI".[20]
Maxwell Lord is ametahuman with the ability totelepathically influence people's minds, typically in the form of pushing a subconscious suggestion to others. Using his power causes Lord's nose to bleed, and requires great mental strain. Over time, Lord's powers grew to the point where he could take full control of other beings, evenSuperman, although it required a great deal of time and patience for him to establish control over Superman. In his original depiction, Lord was born a human and had his metagene activated by the Dominators' Gene Bomb, but he is later depicted as having been born a metahuman.[21][18]
Maxwell Lord appears in theDC Universe (DCU), portrayed bySean Gunn.[30] This version is the CEO of LordTech and sponsor of the Justice Gang. According to DCU co-creatorJames Gunn, Lord is based on the "morally grey" depiction from his early comic appearances, but is not outright villainous like in later depictions.[31][32]
Maxwell Lord appears as a character summon inScribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.[36]
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