As The Boys officially kills off Antony Starr’s Homelander, pop culture already has its new evil Superman, courtesy of Marvel. And while this character recently debuted in Marvel Comics, there’s reason to believe there are plans for them to appear in the MCU in the next couple of years.
The concept of an ‘evil Superman’ is nothing new – DC and Marvel have played with the idea for decades, with characters including Ultraman, Hyperion, Eradicator, Virtue, Overman, Injustice Superman and more. However, the latest iteration is the most compelling and powerful yet.
Avengers: Armageddon just invited David Colton onto the Avengers for the first time, despite the fact he has Sentry-level powers and a body count that’s already approaching Homelander levels.
David Colton Just Became Marvel’s (Evil) Superman
In this week’s Avengers: Armageddon #1 – from Chip Zdarsky, Delio Diaz, Frank Alpizar, Jesus Aburtov and Cory Petit – David Colton showcases his new power level. As part of his mission to end all Super Soldier programs, he’s confronted by the Avengers, effortlessly overpowering Captain Marvel. Thankfully, cooler heads prevail, and the Avengers recruit him to take on Red Hulk’s destructive new Hulk army.
Created by Zdarsky and Valerio Schiti, David Colton was introduced as the Captain America of the 2000s, submitting to Super Soldier experimentation in the wake of 9/11. However, Colton was broken by the responsibility, carrying out a massacre in Latveria that claimed over 70 lives, and only ended when his powers destroyed his heart.
In the recent Wolverine: Weapons of Armageddon, Colton fell once again, and Wolverine chose to use an ‘Origin Box’ to grant him the powers of a hero from another universe. This has rendered him Marvel’s most powerful hero, but with his history of lethality and menacing presence in promo art for Avengers: Armageddon, fans already know they’re looking at the latest version of the Evil Superman/Homelander archetype.
There’s one big difference – David Colton is orders of magnitude more powerful than Homelander has ever been.
What Are David Coltron’s Powers and Limits?
So far, Colton’s powers are ill-defined, though he appears to have the traditional ‘Superman’ power set. Marvel has confirmed – in the summary for Avengers: Armageddon #2 – that David Colton is “as powerful as the Sentry.”
So far, Coltron has shown he can fly and has Hulk-tier strength so powerful, he was able to defeat Carol Danvers’ Captain Marvel with a single punch. However, in the past, the Sentry has flown faster than the speed of light and been strong enough to tear reality itself, implying that David Colton is essentially a living god.
It’s worth noting that due to the nature of the Origin Box that gave David Colton his new powers, he may literally have the Sentry’s powers. The boxes came from Earth-6160, and contain the powers of superheroes and supervillains who were prevented from existing in that reality. Most of Marvel’s biggest hitters have been accounted for in Earth-6160, but Sentry hasn’t.
However, Colton does theoretically have one weakness. Due to his damaged heart, he requires a Stark reactor buried in his chest to live. If and when Colton goes bad, this may be the one vulnerability the Avengers can use against.
Is David Colton Coming to the MCU Under Another Name?
Reading Avengers: Armageddon #1, it’s hard to ignore that Colton is drawn with a similar likeness to the MCU’s Wyatt Russell, who plays Thunderbolts‘ John Walker. While John Walker is already a Marvel Comics character as U.S.Agent, he shares Colton’s basic backstory as a temporary ‘Captain America’ who took the name in the modern era and failed to live up to Steve Rogers’ legacy.
Fans are thus speculating that Marvel may be planning a similar twist for Walker in the MCU, potentially taking the Sentry’s powers during the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers: Secret Wars. Colton debuted in 2025, significantly after Russell’s 2021’s MCU debut in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, making it possible that the new comic character was based on Russell’s planned MCU trajectory from the beginning.
In the past, Marvel has been accused of using comic events as ‘test runs’ for potential movie plots, adding fuel to the fire that Russell may be planned as a ‘Homelander’-type presence in the MCU. Of course, the similarity could also be a coincidence or a simple MCU tribute – only time will tell what Marvel is actually planning for its own take on Homelander.
Avengers: Armageddon #1 is available now from Marvel Comics.