User Reviews

Like many of the early episodes of the series, this one is focused on introducing an iconic supervillain into the animated version of the mythos - in this case, Metallo. However, while it's the introduction of the Metallo identity, it's not the introduction of the character himself, as John Corben already appeared, which I think is a pretty smart and interesting way to handle it.

Corben is still in prison after being defeated by Superman in his earlier appearance, but he is shown to be enjoying a fairly luxurious lifestyle, including fine food, behind bars due to bribery. However, he's also experiencing a lot of pain due to an unknown condition. It turns out he has somehow contracted a lethal virus. Thankfully for him, his doctor has a plan - and connections to Lex Luthor. He hatches an escape plot and whisks John to Lex's lab where the "treatment" is put into motion - his brain is transferred to a robotic body that possesses invulnerability and strength comparable to Superman's, and all powered by a heart of Kryptonite.

Lex sends out Corben to get revenge on their shared foe, Superman. Though he revels in his newfound strength, Corben becomes discomfited by what life is like in his new metallic body, as he has lost much of his sense of feeling and can no longer experience physical pleasure. In fact, he is so distracted by this that Superman, with Lois' help, escapes from his rampage.

Corben demands that the doctor who performed the operation "fix" him, but he says it is is irreversible, which causes Corben to snap. Realizing that he has become a truly inhuman machine, he dubs himself "Metallo" after the metal alloy his body is made of. He then goes after Luthor, who claims that he can make the necessary fixes once Metallo kills Superman. At that time, Superman shows up and Metallo begins the task, and at first seems dangerously close to success.

However, while Corben was undergoing his meltdown, Lois and Clark had been doing some investigative work, and through doing so, Clark has discovered that Luthor was actually responsible for Corben contracting the lethal virus to begin with. Superman reveals this to Metallo, causing him to set his sights on Luthor once again. Superman takes advantage of this to defeat both the supervillains. Though Metallo sinks in the water, we are shown at the end that he's still intact on the ocean floor.

Overall, I thought this was a great episode and a compelling way to handle the villain. Highlighting the disadvantages of being transformed into a robot, especially to a pleasure-loving man, added an additional layer of eeriness and a sense of depth that you wouldn't get if Corben only cared about physical strength. It also made sense to bring Lex Luthor into Metallo's creation as he's obviously the person with the genius, resources, and motives to do so, and it's nice when villains are at odds with each other and not just united against the hero. That said, as a consequence of this origin, Corben should be filled with a desire for revenge against Luthor, perhaps even greater than his desire for revenge against Superman. There's nothing inherently wrong with this at all - the problem comes in that Metallo's role as a character is to be an antagonist for Superman, so if he's equally or moreso fixated on antagonizing Luthor, that could potentially prevent him from functioning as a traditional supervillain character as effectively. So unfortunately, future episodes "fix" this by having Metallo mostly go after Superman anyway and seemingly forgetting about Luthor, despite the events of this episode, which is very annoying, but a somewhat predictable consequence of setting things up this way.

An issue I had with this episode is that Superman doesn't actually prove that Luthor was responsible for poisoning Corben - he just shows Corben the vial containing the virus without any context. But I guess it made for a nice dramatic moment, anyway.

Overall, this episode has what it takes to make a quality Superman story - an interesting villain, action and peril, Lois and Clark snooping, and some interesting depth. An entertaining and worthwhile watch.

A Villain fooled by a Villain!

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John Corben, old Luthor's accomplice, and the one we saw using the battle armor in "The Last Son of Krypton. Part III" is comfortably accomodated in an large cell in an island penitentiary, thanks to the benevolence of Lex Luthor, he thinks, and to have kept his mouth shut.

Soon he realizes he has terrible pains and benevolent Luthor offers his help again in the form of mysterious operation that, is not only the only way to save his life but will also transform in a way that will be able to destroy their mutual foe: Superman.

Later, Superman will discover (while he was researching for this case with Lois), the proof that Luthor intentionally infected Corben with a rare viral sickness from a distant southern island.

Through the operation, old John Corben became Metallo, one of the most deadly and famous enemies of Superman, but in the process of creating him, maybe Luthor invented one of his most powerful adversaries himself.

Thanks for reading.

IMDb Review by David del Real.

November 2017.