Hank Henshaw

Hank Henshaw
Family	Terri Henshaw (wife)
Occupation	Astronaut
Status	Alive

Commander Hank Henshaw is a pilot who after an accident became a cyborg.

Early life

At some point in his life, Hank married Terri Henshaw.

Season Eleven

In a press conference, Lex Luthor announces that "our very own super man," former NASA pilot Commander Hank Henshaw, would pilot the LexCorp shuttle that would launch the first Guardian orbital defense platforms into orbit.

Clark interviews Hank.

Clark interviews Hank one last time before flight, as Hank eats a large meal, claiming it's apart of a superstition that pilots like him share. Hank then makes a passionate quote about piloting and how it helps him appreciate what he has on Earth, then says Lex has given him a greater purpose, allowing him to pilot the Guardian platforms into space. Clark claims that the world isn't as dark as Lex claims, and Hank mockingly asks if Clark is a Superman fan. Hank then claims that Superman is doing a good job, but should do more. Clark says that it's best that Superman not impose his ideas on all. Hank says it's a good idea, but sometimes people need to be forced. Clark thanks him for the interview as Hank goes off to get ready.

Hank flies the spaceship.

During takeoff, Clark claims that Hank is trustworthy, but Lois claims that Lex is still dangerous. Aboard the shuttle, Hank leads the crew, as it is leaving orbit, when the ship begins experiencing problems. In mid-air, it explodes.

Hank realizes that something is wrong.

Superman and Hank reach an agreement.

Superman soon caught up to the shuttle, put out the fire caused by the explosion and removed the last fuel tank before it exploded. Using his gamma vision, he was able to see that there was a radiation leak. Superman then had Watchtower contact Hank through LexCorp mission control, where he informed them that he could save them, but needed to pry open the shuttle as it would depressurize, but Hank insisted that Superman save his crew members first so he could pilot the shuttle into orbit as the shuttle was leaking radiation. But before Superman left to save the crew, Hank revealed a secret. Superman saved the crew and returned to the shuttle as the oxygen levels reached zero and Hank passed out.

Hank awakens after the explosion.

Hank woke up on a stretcher, with radiation burns. As the paramedics began to transport him, Superman instructed them to send him to Dr. Emil Hamilton at S.T.A.R. Labs.

Emil and Terri try to figure out a solution for Hank.

In S.T.A.R. Labs, Lois visits Emil in order to check on Hank, who is being watched over by his wife Terri. Emil explains to Lois that Hank is not in a coma, but has lost all motor skills due to the radiation yet is fully aware.

Emil attempts to comfort Terri as she mourns her husband's condition when Lex walks in. Emil alerts him that he does not have clearance to enter, but Lex dismisses his protest. He offers to help save Hank, but says he requires one of Emil's H.E.D. drones.

Hank attacks Lex.

Emil asks Terri to come into the operating room as her husband wants her, but is kicked out by Lex's security guards. Hank's robotic body goes online, and his wife tries to comfort him as he begins to grieve his condition. Lex congratulates him on his second chance, but Hank angrily grabs him and lifts him into the air, asking why Lex did it. Emil quickly reaches for and activates his signal watch.

Hank destroys his human body.

Hank starts to blame Superman.

Superman stops Hank.

Hank sees his lifeless body and his memories comes back to his "mind", while Terri tries to calm him down. He says that he feels like he wants to cry but he can't and then angrily destroys his human body with a laser beam. Hank, blaming Lex for his current situation, goes against him but Terri says Superman is the one to blame as he didn't come to save him in time. When Superman arrives, Hank starts to loses his common sense and put all of his anger on the superhero. Hank says that Superman should have saved him but Clark says that he can't save everyone so Hank says it's time for someone to take Superman's place and attacks him. During the fight Superman tries to bring Hank to his senses and even though at first he doesn't succeed, at the end he manages to stop him.

Henshaw apologizes to Superman.

Later, Superman speaks to Terri about the special arrangements made for Hank and then Hank apologizes to him after coming to his senses.

Hank gives an advice to Tess Mercer.

Hank reveals that Tess visits him very often.

Months later at the S.T.A.R. Labs, Tess visits Hank to get some advice from him about her obsession for revenge, feeling that he is the only person who can understand her due to his state as a newly artificial intelligence too. He says that he knows how she feels, stating that the anger and the instability he felt when his consciousness was first moved to a cybernetic body were long there before Luthor used him as an experiment. He also tells Tess that the fact that she recognizes that she actually has a problem makes her be ahead of the curve and that he was in lot more difficult place than her because due to his instability he even fought with Superman, making him tear apart his robotic body. Hank encourages Tess saying that she has a second chance to do right by herself and the people she cares about.

When S.T.A.R. Labs are under attack by Lex's forces and Emil gets shot, Tess decides to take action and do whatever she can to save Emil's life so Hank advices her to keep her emotions in check.

Hank decides to take action.

Hank finds a new body.

Hank saves Emil and the rest of the scientists.

In the solitary stasis, Henshaw determines he has to do something to help with the situation as it is his chance to redeem himself and his wife along with the rest of Metropolis need him. He manages to sneak past the possessed civilians into a storage room filled with drones and then he takes control of one of them with a huge body armor. Inside the room the scientists have confined themselves, Emil is ready to defend himself so when the door opens he gets out holding a piece of metal. Hank, who is in his new body and has the "S" symbol on his chest, calms Emil down and asks him if he was expecting Superman instead.

Henshaw, Superboy and Supergirl volunteer to find Bryce Gordon, and luckily enough, Tess has a lock on his position and sends them where he is.

Hank battles the Eclipsos.

Hank learns about Eclipso's origin.

In Metropolis, at street level, Hank Henshaw battles another swarm of Eclipsos. The possessed civilians say that even though Hank wears the false god's symbol, he is not like him. They also tell him they can not understand what exactly he is and Hank says neither does he. Hank then utilizes probing cables that are part of his body to probe the minds of the Eclipsos and get a better idea of what they're dealing with. He learns that Eclipso has existed for many generations, many times as a deity both worshipped and feared by ancient cultures. Henshaw suggests that Superboy and Supergirl offer themselves to Eclipso, which will likely draw the entity out of all the normal humans in order to manifest itself in super-powered beings.

Hank has an idea on what to do with the gem.

Supergirl, Superboy, and Hank Henshaw continue battling Eclipso, who has now been transformed into a big humanoid made by the Eclipso gem, after emerging from his numerous hosts throughout Metropolis. Supergirl and Superboy discover that their respective abilities aren't stopping Eclipso, and they look to Henshaw for suggestions. Henshaw says sound vibrations might just force Eclipso to condense himself even further into a single diamond, and Supergirl grabs two giant church bells and bangs them together. When she sees that it works, she tosses another bell to Superboy, who follows the same strategy. Eclipso reverts to a single diamond that Henshaw and Supergirl catch in mid-air. Then Henshaw says there's only one way to make sure the diamond never falls into human hands again.

Hank watches his wife.

Hank decides to leave.

Hank Henshaw checks in on his wife and stays in the shadows, relaying to Tess that he just wanted to be sure Terri would be okay before he left. He has decided to leave Earth with the Eclipso diamond to protect the people from its influence, and hopes his actions will in some way make up for how things initially turned out between him and Superman. In space, Hank with the help of the Green Lantern, John Stewart, soars into an unknown destination.

Notes

• Chaos ends with Hank Henshaw heading into deep space on an adventure of his own. This mirrors the ending of Adventures of Superman #468 (July, 1990), where Henshaw did the same. Hank Henshaw returned three years later in Superman (Volume 2) #78 (June, 1993), as Cyborg Superman.

Appearances

• Season Eleven: Guardian, Hollow
• Smallville Miniseries: Chaos

In the Comics

Cyborg-Superman as he appears in the comics.

Henry "Hank" Henshaw appeared as the Cyborg Superman during the Reign of the Supermen storyline following the death of Superman. He has also been referred to as the Man of Tomorrow or, simply, the Cyborg.

Hank Henshaw's origin.

Henshaw was a member of a doomed space flight on a LexCorp shuttle, where his body rapidly aged as a result of the flight (a pastiche of the origin of Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four). Before he seemingly died, he successfully saved his wife, a fellow astronaut on the flight, who had been fading from existence. It was later revealed, however, that Henshaw's consciousness survived with the ability to manipulate computers and machinery, and had transferred himself into LexCorp's mainframe, then into Superman's Kryptonian escape shuttle, which he used to explore the universe. Henshaw returned as an incomplete Superman lookalike, with mechanical parts over large sections of his body, and blamed Superman for his exile. With Superman dead after his battle with Doomsday, the Cyborg claimed to be Superman reborn; DNA tests matched Superman's and his technology was identified as Kryptonian.

Cyborg-Superman VS Superman.

Allied with the alien warlord Mongul, Henshaw was responsible for the destruction of Coast City. Naturally, Superman returned from the dead after a long, controversial period. He returned without his superpowers, yet still tried to defeat his cyborg counterpart. Henshaw attempted to kill Superman using kryptonite energy, but the Eradicator, an ally of Superman, intercepted the blast, at the expense of his own life. However, as the kryptonite energy passed through the Eradicator, it re-powered Superman. Superman grabbed Henshaw, stuck his arm through his chest and vibrated his arm at a great rate, dispersing Henshaw's molecules.

However, Henshaw managed to reform himself. During the Superman/Doomsday mini-series, he returned, a result of successfully installing a device on Doomsday's back of when he dispatched him into space. With Doomsday unleashed on Apokolips, Henshaw seized the opportunity to try and take control of the planet, but was eventually stopped by Superman, Waverider and Darkseid, with Darkseid delivering the killing blow with his Omega beams. This, however, did not kill Henshaw, as Darkseid had merely stored his consciousness in a small orb, with which to use whenever he needed.

Henshaw soon found a means of escape when he was used by a galactic tribunal to help bring in Superman for crimes against Krypton. However, Henshaw attempted to betray them and, when Superman was exonerated from the corrupted trial, was sent to an apparent death. He again escaped this fate, and briefly encountered Hal Jordan in his final days as Parallax, during the Final Night, at the very brim of the Godwave, a nexus of statues that flow Fourth energy vital to the preservation of the Fourth World. Henshaw was imprisoned in the Godwave by the souls and memories of all his victims.

During a crisis involving the Godwave, Superman traveled to New Genesis and encountered Henshaw again. Henshaw had become part of the Godwave's structure and had crafted a small world comprised of his memories, which he used to taunt Superman after seemingly being defeated. However, unknown to Superman, Henshaw had stored his own consciousness in Superman's suit and, upon returning to Earth, split Superman into two beings before his next defeat, also setting off the events that led to Superman's rebirth as one being with his traditional powers and costume. He later attempted to take over Kandor, but this failed when he was defeated by Superman and sent to the Phantom Zone.

Shortly after Y2K, Henshaw escaped the Phantom Zone and attacked Superman, who was suffering from kryptonite poisoning at the time. He was defeated with the help of the Kandorians and sent back to the Phantom Zone, swearing revenge; however, he was not encountered on subsequent visits to the Zone. He eventually made his way to Sector 3601, to Biot, homeworld of the Manhunters. There, he gathered many Green Lanterns who were previously thought to be dead (including Arisia, Kreon, Ke'Haan, Boodikka, Laira and Chaselon) and used them as power sources for his new model of Manhunters, the Highmasters. However, Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner discovered his operation, and Jordan and Arisia combined the might of their power rings with one of the Highmasters, destroying the organic portion of Henshaw's body and most of Biot. Henshaw remained in custody on Oa until he was freed, along with Superboy-Prime, by a strike force of Sinestro Corps members. He was brought to Qward, where he was made into a herald of the Anti-Monitor. When the Green Lantern Corps decided to detonate New Warworld and the Qwardian Central Power Battery of the Sinestro Corps to destroy the Anti-Monitor, Henshaw was trapped behind a shield and exposed to the massive explosion. Before he was finally killed, however, he was able to thank the Green Lantern Corps for their mercy in ending his life.

Hank Henshaw fighting the Green Lantern Corps.

A small fraction of Henshaw's corpse was found after the explosion, and the Manhunters confirmed that he had perished, but were confused without his leadership. Seeking the leadership "programming" of their grandmaster, the Manhunters funneled a massive amount of energy into Henshaw, and he experienced yet another resurrection, crying when he realized that he was alive yet again. During the Brightest Day, Henshaw was seen working with the Alpha Lanterns, working to augment every Lantern, including Ganthet, into an Alpha. While doing so, he declared himself the Alpha Lantern leader. Henshaw later detailed that his purpose in dealing with the Alpha Lanterns was to alter himself, such that he would be mortal again. He began experiments on the Alpha Lanterns to reverse-engineer their cyborg attributes into humans. Despite killing several Alpha Lanterns, Henshaw was ultimately successful in devising a way to reverse-engineer some of the Alpha Lanterns. Before Henshaw could force Ganthet to perform his new surgery on himself, the Green Lantern Corps spoiled his plans and destroyed his physical body. Henshaw then tried to transfer his consciousness into Boodikka, but Boodikka overpowered him with willpower and cut his essence in half, thus destroying him.

Cyborg-Superman VS Doomsday.

However, it seems that even this wasn't enough for Henshaw to be killed. While surveying the remains of New Krypton, Boodikka was attacked by Doomsday, seemingly unprovoked. However, when Supergirl and Batman got her to the JLA Watchtower, Doomsday quickly followed, revealing why he was attacking her – Henshaw was still alive. Taking over the Watchtower, the presence of Doomsday overrode Henshaw's desire to die, vowing to destroy the beast once and for all even with Batman and Supergirl stuck in the crossfire. With one mighty blow, Henshaw tore through Doomsday, ripping his body apart. However, Doomsday recovered and, to the Cyborg's horror, he became "Cyborg Doomsday", took over the Watchtower and vanquished Henshaw, kidnapping him and the arriving Supergirl in the process.

In The New 52 a fully human Henshaw appears as a doctor working for the Advanced Prosthetic Research Centre and colleague of Caitlin Fairchild. He is tasked into reactivating the android Spartan. He was later killed by Deathstroke.

The Cyborg Superman appears for the first time in Supergirl and it is later revealed that he is actually Kara's father, Zor-El.

Other faces of Hank Henshaw

Cyborg Superman in the SNES & Genesis video game The Death and Return of Superman.

Hank Henshaw in DC Universe Online.

Cyborg Superman in Injustice: Gods Among Us.

David Harewood as Hank Henshaw/Cyborg Superman in Supergirl (2015-2017))

Patrick Fabian as the voice of Hank Henshaw in The Death of Superman (2018)

Jerry O'Connell as the voice of Hank Henshaw/Cyborg Superman in Reign of the Supermen (2019)