The last son of Mars made his debut on Supergirl season 1, episode 7, “Human for a Day.” But just who is he?
Warning: This story contains major spoilers from last night’s episode of Supergirl, “Human for a Day.”
In “Human for a Day,” Hank Henshaw revealed that he is not, in fact, Hank Henshaw. Rather, he is J’onn J’onzz, the last Martian, wearing the form of Hank Henshaw. He explained to Alex that Jeremiah Danvers and Hank Henshaw were sent to South America to track him down, but they discovered J’onn was not a threat. Jeremiah wanted to leave him alone but Henshaw wanted to terminate him. Jeremiah attempted to stop the mission, and both he and Henshaw were killed. J’onn, however, promised to take care of Alex, so he took Henshaw’s form, returned to the DEO to reform it, and eventually recruited Alex.
Source
“It’s the secret of Supergirl: Within the body of the series of Supergirl, there is a Martian Manhunter series rolling throughout it,” executive producer Andrew Kreisberg tells The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s the thing that makes us giggle the most.”
The Hank Henshaw of the DC Comics has quite a different identity than the Martian Manhunter. So, just who is J’onn J’onzz?
Backstory
He first appeared in 1955’s Detective Comics #225. A scientist, Dr. Saul Erdel, accidentally brought J’onn to Earth from Mars with an experimental teleportation beam, and the shock caused a fatal heart attack. This left J’onn with no way to return home, so he took the name John Jones, assumed a human form, and became a detective while waiting to be rescued.
The Justice League of America formed in 1960, and J’onn was a founding member. He was rescued from Earth in 1968 and returned to New Mars. He would only appear sporadically for the next 15 years or so. After a few run-ins with his Justice League allies, J’onn returned to Earth in the mid-1980s.
Later continuity established that when Erdel brought J’onn to Earth, J’onn had just survived a holocaust on Mars, caused by his twin brother, Ma’alefa’ak. On Mars, J’onn was a police officer — a Manhunter — and he had a wife, M’yri’ah, and a daughter, K’hym. Both died of a telepathic plague that fed on the Martians’ telepathic gifts and exploited their fear of fire. J’onn had nearly gone mad by the time Erdel accidentally brought him to Earth. Erdel helped J’onn recover his sanity and suggested J’onn become a great champion. Thus, Martian Manhunter.
Green and White Martians
This continuity also established the existence of both Green and White Martians. The Green Martians were peaceful philosophers and White Martians were warriors, though both were originally of the same Martian race.
This is noteworthy because in Supergirl season 1, episode 11, “we have a visitor from another planet who is a White Martian,” David Harewood teases. “The White Martians are responsible for the death of the whole of the Green Martians. There was a fire, and they burned them. We’ll get to see that, and it’s very emotional. Genocide, people being burned alive.”
Abilities
J’onn’s powers include telepathy, super strength, flight, super speed, regeneration, shape shifting, intangibility, and invisibility. His greatest weakness is fire, as Martians have an innate fear of fire, born of the manipulation that split the Green and White Martians.
“He’s got such tremendous powers,” EP Ali Adler says. “We really want to show off what he can do, and we’re definitely going to do that in upcoming episodes.”
Upcoming stories
One obstacle J’onn will face now that he’s told his secret to Alex is his fear. “In a way, J’onn is closeted. He’s afraid,” Kreisberg says. “In an upcoming episode when Alex is actually encouraging him to use his powers, she says, ‘What’s the difference between you and Kara?’ And he says, ‘Your sister looks like a cheerleader and I look like a monster.’
“It’s that soulfulness and that sadness, the one who is the most frightening-looking of all the Justice Leaguers and yet is the one with the purest heart.”
The show will also explore the promise J’onn made to Jeremiah. And the relationship that develops will be informed by J’onn’s history. “He promised her father he would protect her like his own child, and having lost his own child, Kara and Alex almost become his children,” Harewood explains. “He loves them. Having lost his own children, he’s got a lot of pain. He’s got a lot of melancholy.”
“Watching this relationship that’s growing between him and Alex and him and Kara that started out in a very gruff place and then by the time you’re getting into the meat of the season, they’ve become this little family unit,” Kreisberg previews. “He’s become a surrogate father for them, and at the same time, they’re helping him become more human. It’s one of the great surprises of the show.”
Supergirl airs Mondays at 8:00 p.m. ET on CBS.
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