Warworld Saga

In an alternate timeline, Superman is captured by Mongul and is forced to participate in a gladiator match for near eternity until he is killed.[2] In the present, Superman and his son deal with enemies who enter a portal, where Jon Kent explains that he is not ready to be the next Superman, and soon Superman will disappear where he is killed.[3] Superman and Jon meet up with aliens whom Superman used to know, and after they deal with the problem, Superman deems Jon worthy of carrying the mantle of Superman.[4] When on another adventure and Superman deals with an alien problem with Jon still not ready to be Superman, it is revealed that Mongul is dying and has a secret son.[5]

A mysterious stranger goes to Mongul and brings him the severed heads of his other sons, which Mongul congratulates as there will be no more challengers left to confront his throne. Superman does a test for Batman and Ray Palmer where they tell Superman after his previous encounters with the aliens, there is cellular decay due to radiation poisoning due to the portal. Jon talks to Damian Wayne about how in the future, Superman disappears after he dealt with the breach and is afraid that his father will die. Damian consoles Jon and tells him that Jon will succeed as the next Superman. Superman meets with Lois Lane when he gets a report of an alien ship, and is shocked to see Kryptonian offshoots known as Phaelosians.[6] Superman takes the Kryptonians to the Fortress of Solitude, and he goes with Aquaman, Murk, and Nuidis Vulko where they find out the alien ship is from Mongul and it has a mysterious energy source and violent prisoners. As Superman tries to exonerate the source, Murk and Vulko refused and explained it is against the law to take any unknown property that belonged to Atlantis' domain, especially the fragment.Supergirl helps with Jon Kent on healing the mysterious Kryptonian where she reveals that Kryptonian speaks a dead Kryptonian language called Falkiri, and the Kryptonian was sent by Mongul.[7]

Superman calms the mysterious Kryptonian down, and she reveals her name is Thao-La. Vulko explains the mysterious energy source of the fragment is called "Genesis". Superman realizes that Mongul is dead and there's a new Mongul around. Superman deals with an alien attack, and Steve Trevor arrives to get the Genesis.[8] While talking to the Justice League, Earth and Atlantis are about to go to war, and Superman explains he must go to Warworld to free the slaves. Mongul's forces ambush Thao-La, but Lois Lane saves her.[9] Thao-La kills Mongul's forces after the leader murders her closest friends for Mongul's honor and is about to kill Lois Lane when Superman arrives after taking the Genesis and preventing an upcoming war.[10] Jon Kent and Thao-La battle, while Lois tells Superman that Mongul has her entire race captive. Superman calms Thao-La down and convinces her to earn his trust promising her to save her people, in which she broke her chain causing Mongul to activate the orphan box to kill her and leaving him intrigued by Superman's prevention. While Thao-La is The Justice League arrive and tell Superman that they cannot go to Warworld because Earth needs to be protected. As a result of the political tensions among the entire world, the League decides to resign Superman from the team. Batman tells Superman that his power levels are dropping, but Superman promises he will be okay. After the consoles Jon and Lois, Superman goes with his team (Apollo, Midnighter, Enchantress, Manchester Black, Guardian, and Lightray) to confront Mongul.[11]

An alien named Thalros overhears from an underlying name Thalric that Superman is requesting aid for every alien, but is angered when Thalric mentions Phaelosians and tells Thalric to leave threatening him not to inform the United Planets about this. Upon arriving at Warworld, Superman is angered when sees multiple alien corpses killed and go to Mongul's arena. Superman meets Chaytil, the servant of Mongul, and Chaytil summons the Champions of Mongul. The champions of Mongul reveal Superman's true weakness, which is that he is very old and getting weaker, and Mongol's son appears.[12] Thalros convinces an alien council to not aid Superman due to the power vacuum that will be created once Mongol's son is defeated. During the battle, Lightray is killed, and while Superman mourns her body Mongol's son stabs him in the back with a Kryptonite spear leaving the council shocked by his defeat much to Thalros' satisfaction.[13]

Superman is held prisoner by Mongol's son, and Omac tries to break free but is knocked out by Mongol's son. Mongul's son tells Superman to execute an underling name Khaljo who let Midnighter escape, and if Superman refuses then Mongul's son will come after Jon Kent. Superman refuses and is beaten to a pulp and thrown in jail where he meets and befriends another prisoner name Kryl-Ux. Midnighter tries to help Superman escape by blowing up the planet and destroying the red sun generators, but Superman refuses, saying that he won't give up hope. [14] Superman still fights in the gladiator tournament and gains more respect from the prisoners, except Kryl-Ux. Kryl-Ux explains that his family was killed by Mongul and was taken as prisoners. While traveling in Warworld, Superman sees alien writing on the wall and realizes the Warworld aliens can't read the alien writing and plans to decipher it to free the prisoners. Superman asks Kryl-Ux on how to fight like a gladiator, and Midnighter finds Apollo. [15] While fighting in Warworld, Superman starts to gain more respect from the audience, and Mongul realizes killing Superman will turn him into a martyr. Omac discovers that Lightray is in a coma, and while Superman bonds with prisoners Otho-Ra and her brother in prison he finds out that Midnight is planning to destroy Warworld. Kryl-Ux sneaks Superman out of prison to go to a tomb where Superman can gain power, but just then prison guards arrive to kill all the prisoners as punishment for Superman standing up to Mongul. [16]

Weeks pass, and Midnighter starts killing Mongul's prison guards and plans to blow up Warworld to find Apollo while Omac is taken prisoner and controlled by Mongul. Just when Midnighter is about to give up hope, Superman arrives and stages a rebellion. [17] Jon visits Lois Lane who is taking care of Thao-La until Kelex discovers that the genesis fragment might help recover Thao-La's seizure while Superman defeats OMAC who allies with Mongul after losing hope. Superman learns there is an Orphan Box, an item that controls Mongul's army and Superman takes it from Mongul. After she finds the fragment's hiding place, Lois meets up with John Henry Irons when there's a sudden bright flash of blue light and they hear Superman's voice. [18]