DC Welcomes a Powerful New God to Continuity, Sparking Debate Over Darkseid's Replacement

Warning! Spoilers ahead for The New Gods #1!There's a new New God in town, but what does it mean in the wake of Darkseid's death? The Lord of Apokolips is gone and the cosmic order in the DC Universe is shifting. A prophecy spells doom for the Fourth World and beyond as a surprising New God finally awakens.

In The New Gods #1 by Ram V and Evan Cagle, Metron receives a dire warning that a New God is set to awaken on Earth, potentially ushering in an age of darkness. Highfather sends a message to Darkseid's son Orion, ordering him to go to Earth and kill the god child as soon as possible.

In India, a young couple with a child is being pursued by soldiers. After witnessing his father being gunned down by the soldiers, Kamal, the son, begins to glow. Kamal transforms into a New God as he uses his power to kill the soldiers.

Darkseid is Gone and a New God Has Arrived in the DC Universe

Is Kamal a Savior or Has He Come to Destroy?

The Flash made a critical sacrifice during Absolute Power and shut the Prime DC Universe away from the multiverse, and it had the unseen consequence of driving Darkseid mad. With his reach across the neighboring Earths hampered, Darkseid sought out and fused with the Spectre to gain more power than ever. However, the Spectre brought their amalgamated body to the Justice League's Watchtower, where Darkseid's physical body was destroyed. However, the New God lived on, and his energy broke through to another, younger Earth and transformed it into one permeating with his energy, the Absolute Universe.

It's hard to tell if Kamal has actually come to destroy everything as Metron's prophecy implies. But Metron is correct that the DC Universe is out of whack ever since Darkseid's death (which has caused aberrations currently being explored in other books). It is interesting because other continuities have explored the idea of who would succeed Darkseid after his death. Kingdom Come, for example, saw Orion tragically take his father's place after he killed him. But in The New Gods #1, Orion is extremely unlikely to follow in Darkseid’s footsteps, possibly leaving the New God Kamal to take Darkseid’s place.

DC's New God Could Be Far Worse Than Darkseid Ever Was

Darkseid Wanted Control, But Kamal Could Bring Doom to the DCU

Darkseid is a horrid entity who spent eons looking for ways to bend the entire DC Universe to his will. However, the prophecy the Metron speaks of is a lot more foreboding, saying that the 'reckoning of all' follows Kamal's awakening. Kamal obviously has a lot of power if he can kill the soldiers with little effort, so what's going to happen when he starts to grow and gain more control over his power? It was expected that things would get bad following Darkseid's death, but now there's a very real chance the DC Universe is facing utter annihilation.

The New Gods #1 is available now from DC Comics.