One of the coolest and most underrated members of the Justice League has been reinvented as a full-blown supervillain. After the tumultuous events of DC K.O., the DC Universe is in a very weird place. Darkseid’s mission to conquer the past, present, and future may have failed, but not all is right with the world. For one, Superman is missing, and no one has any idea where he is. But before he left, the Man of Steel chose to share the Alpha Energy he had accumulated during the Omega Tournament with everyone else who had fought.

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The Alpha Energy had a two-pronged effect. First, it gave everyone a specific vision of the future, informing the Omega Tournament’s fighters of things they needed to accomplish before Darkseid makes his eventual return. The other is that some have gained new powers, like Guy Gardner gaining a new cosmic vision to keep him in tune with the Emotional Spectrum. We’ve yet to see the full effect on everyone in the post-DC K.O. world, but a new ongoing series is taking one iconic hero in a direction that I don’t think anyone saw coming.

Firestorm Goes Full Villain (And It’s More Complicated Than You Think)

The Fury of Firestorm #1 by Jeff Lemire, Rafael De Latorre, Marcelo Maiolo, and Lucas Gattoni begins with one hell of an opener. Firestorm arrives in the sleepy town of Bedford, Colorado, and after a few days, the hero decides to use his transmutation powers, but not for good. He experiments on the town and its people, and after a brief moment of regret, Firestorm begins to use his transmutation to create unimaginable horrors. Once the Department of Defense catches wind of what Firestorm’s actions, they reach out to his old ally, Lorraine Reilly, aka Firehawk, to bring him in.

Lorraine is certain that, despite how it seems, whatever is in Bedford isn’t Ronnie Raymond. Lorraine and a few soldiers make it to Bedford, where they find Firestorm. He doesn’t seem to recognize Firehawk, nor is he responding to the name ‘Ronnie’. Firestorm transmutates one of the soldiers into water, proving that this being isn’t Ronnie. The comic then cuts to a more idyllic scene, one where Ronnie’s Firestorm is saving the day, guided by his mentor, Professor Stein. However, this dreamlike, Bronze Age world is just a fantasy, or more appropriately, a mental prison designed to contain Ronnie’s consciousness.

Ronnie breaks free from his prison, only to find himself face-to-face with what appears to be the Firestorm Matrix, now a fully sentient being occupying Ronnie’s mind. Sadly, Ronnie is placed back in his mental prison, forced to relive that fantasy over and over again. Back in the real world, Firestorm dispatches the other soldier and fights Firehawk, who thankfully makes it out alive. Firehawk believes the only person who can stop Firestorm now is Professor Stein, who is revealed to be in an undisclosed location, burning notes affirming the Firestorm Matrix’s awareness.

What the Firestorm Situation Means for the DC Universe

The idea of Firestorm being something more is unexpected, but not entirely without precedent. A similar concept was explored back in the ‘80s during John Ostrander’s run, which presented Firestorm as a fire elemental (similar to Swamp Thing as a plant elemental). However, this is the first time we’ve ever seen a comic explore the idea that the Firestorm Matrix itself is actually sentient. Generally, it’s just a means to connect two or more people to operate as Firestorm, but it seems to be fully functional all on its own, and that is horrifying news.

Firestorm has the ability to change the atomic structure of anything, and, as we can tell from the Bedford incident, things can get really disturbing, really fast. Now, Ronnie or Jason or anyone who’s in control of Firestorm knows how huge a responsibility that kind of power is, so when a more noble person is steering the ship, there’s no need to worry. But the Firestorm Matrix isn’t a human, nor does it have any sense of morality or empathy. It’s pure power without anything to keep it in check, and I don’t know who could possibly rein him in.

Seriously, even someone like Superman couldn’t do much against Firestorm, who could easily synthesize kryptonite (assuming he just doesn’t transmute Clark into a puddle of water). Firestorm has never been much of a threat because the person in control of the Firestorm Matrix has largely been a goofball. But with Ronnie trapped in his own mind and Professor Stein in hiding, there’s no one to keep Firestorm from unleashing hell on the world. I don’t know how the heroes of the DCU are going to deal with this, but it’s going to get worse before it gets better.

What do you think about Firestorm’s sudden turn to villainy? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts on the ComicBook Forum!