MAwS Hank Henshaw fans, help me to see it.

[u/Financial-Touch3840]

I’ve seen a lot of people say MAwS Cyborg Superman is a great adaptation of the character, and/or their favorite version of the character, and to be honest, I don’t get why.

I wanted to like him, but his motivations and characterization feel so thin to me.

Classic Cyborg Superman is broken. He’s a man who lost absolutely everything, went completely insane, and then started leveling cities. He’s also a cold, clever menace who brought Mongol to his knees, which is insanely metal in every conceivable way.

To me, MAwS Cyborg Superman feels like a worse Lex Luthor. He’s mad because people love Superman, and see him as the future, instead of Hank himself. Because of this, he’s going to kill every on Earth? Why? It feels like a lot of his motivations and evil actions are insanely rushed and slap-dashed, though I will concede that a lot of that is definitely because season 3 crammed way too many story arcs together. I know he tells Lex & Supes he’s mad about being a cyborg too, but that seems to be a lot less of a motivation to him that the whole future thing.

I do think as a threat, he is an absolute BEAST in his final episode, his design is really cool, and Max Mittleman’s voice acting is great!

[u/randygmkds]

Hank Henshaw is obsessed with being important in the world, which also makes him someone who constantly craves validation from others.

Episode 4 shows how beloved he was before becoming Cyborg Superman, being regarded as an important figure for the future. However, once Superman arrived, everyone began praising the alien far more than him, severely damaging his ego. I see this as a contrast with Lex Luthor, as Lex does not seek validation from the public.

His reputation quickly plummeted when he became Cyborg. Even though he had all the power to perform heroics like Superman's, he chose to use more extreme methods when dealing with criminals, which ended up instilling fear in people (in Episode 3, he throws a thief, putting him at risk of severe injury). Lex reproaches him for this, telling him he isn't being a hero, but Hank completely denies it because his obsession with becoming important again blinds him from seeing that his "heroic acts" are accomplishing nothing.

Eventually, he begins to lose his mind as he obsessively monitors videos where people question whether he is truly a good person or a threat including a clip of Lois Lane, who was his friend, denying that he is a hero, which deeply wounds his ego.

In Episode 10, he continues to show an inability to face reality by blaming Superman for everything that has happened in his life (in all his dialogue, he never once says he cares about humanity, only about himself). By the end, he begins to accept reality upon realizing that what he hates most will continue to exist and even leave behind offspring, meaning aliens will never truly disappear from Earth.

In an interview, the showrunners clarified that Hank Henshaw's greatest fear is being left out of the future:

Henshaw definitely fits the bill, but that “severe effect” the showrunners mention cuts both ways. After Superman rips the Kryptonite out of him, Hank sets his heart to explode in the hopes that it takes his enemies and the city with him. It’s only when he learns Jon is half-human that he’s stopped, shattered by the revelation that he truly won’t be the man who bridges the gap between humanity and space. 

“I’m supposed to be the future. But they chose you, the aliens,” Henshaw says in shock. “They made peace with you. Fell in love with you. You’re the future now.” His imagination of history moving on without him is enough to make him cry, and more importantly, shut down just seconds before the countdown finishes.

Both MAWS!Hank and Comic!Hank take their rage out on Superman because he was the beginning for their tragedies (Comic!Hank due to the deaths of his friends and wife, and MAWS!Hank due to the destruction of his reputation in the world).

It feels like a lot of his motivations and evil actions are insanely rushed and slap-dashed, though I will concede that a lot of that is definitely because season 3 crammed way too many story arcs together.

He could be an excellent villain if season 3 was about him :c

[u/bearamongus19]

Hank Henshaw just wasnt given enough time for the character to get fleshed out. One of the biggest issues with season 3 is that they tried to fit so much into it

[u/Awest66]

He just didn't have enough time like a lot of things in Season 3. It was also a real missed opportunity to not bring back his wife, Terri. She's mentioned in his very first appearance and than never again ever.

[u/HearingOrganic8054 → u/Awest66]

well he is single by the end of the 2nd season and he was all about trying to do "grand romance gestures" instead of the stuff that actually makes relationships work. i don't really need more to know what happened there but this could have been just him this whole season. i just think they were too worried about not getting a season4 to wait on some of this.

[u/Individual_Dream_213]

I wonder what would happen if he had a Debbie.

[u/FightmeLuigibestgirl → u/Individual_Dream_213]

What like invincible? I felt like that series runs specifically on “mutual human love and compassion changes everyone and everything,” compared to dc 

[u/Individual_Dream_213 → u/FightmeLuigibestgirl]

I was thinking he has an "apology" scene lile Omniman.

[u/AndyTheSouless]

People who didn't knew who Hank was probably got the funniest versión of him in season 2

Dude who looks exactly like Clark gets introduced, instantly becomes Superman 2nd biggest hater for something he didnt do, throws a tantrum in a dating show, and dies

[u/HearingOrganic8054]

hank always felt like jurgens's parody of Reed Richards. hank in the show does all of it we just get it for little details on the shows. he start the 2nd season married and he was not by the end. he ended season 2 just where hank was when he lost his orginal body in the comics.

he blames superman and says he is the issue but you see hank cannot handle being powerful. how he wish he wa both important and repected. SO when he is not it is superman's fault but really everyone elses too cause it cannot be him.

[u/Zamarak]

It's not a good adaptation, but the thing to adapt isnt good in the first place. Sure, Hank in the comics later has an Hark about being a Broken man. But have you ever taken the time to read his original story from the nineties? I have. It isnt good. 

You summarized the story in one paragraph... except that this is just the last issue. You have 2-3 issues of him pretending to be superman, with no hints of being Hank. Then he reveals he's insane, betrays Mongol, and then continues to be insane. Even his backstory, as originally presented in the comics, makes him sound way more petty in his hatred of superman than sad and broken. His wife died, guy went insane, decided it was superman's fault and now wowowow! Insane robot superman.

If his tragic past had been more a focus in the comics, maybe I'd argue his case, but in the original story this aint the focus, it's own insane and evil and petty he is. 

Basically, MAWS made Hank interesting and someone thinking himself a hero instead of lolz broken man evil. That's why people like him.

[u/adoratheCat]

I do very much think that Hank just was sadly not done the best. He was not given much time when honestly he would have been an amazing fallen hero type that spans a lot of episodes. This was season 3. Hank barely has a presence in the end.

[u/PangolinLogical9772]

I think he had the potential to be a great version of the character, but like you said he was too rushed. He should have been the big bad of the whole season. Felt like they crammed two seasons into this one.

[u/Psile]

The bottom line to me is that being upset that people don't see you as a hero when you're the All American boy makes much more sense as a villain motivation than boo-hoo my shuttle crashed and I lost the Superman lottery.

Cyborg Superman in the comics is, as you said, completely insane. IE he's just there to fuck shit up. I've read death a few times and gun to my head I couldn't say exactly why he teams up with Mongol at the end except for they both hate Superman.

Also bringing Mongol to his knees wasn't a big accomplishment in this era. He was already deep into his jobber arc.

Comics are messy and while I think Death is a great story at it's core it definitely suffers from the chaos endemic to the triangle era. Jumping titles and trying to incorporate a bunch of different stuff they wanted to make happen but never did.

This Hank is borrowing a lot from Metallo and Lex and frankly there's a reason those two caught on a villains and CyborgSuperman never did.

[u/Awest66 → u/Psile]

The comics versions motivation is admittedly very petty but I dont know if this version is that much better.

Losing your humanity and watching your wife die before your eyes is a lot more compelling than "Angry that people arent treating you like a hero when youre giving them no reason to treat you like one". He comes across as a spoiled brat throwing a tantrum more than anything.

I think its really more down to him just not having enough time in this season more than anything.

[u/HearingOrganic8054 → u/Psile]

cyborg superman is on the "joker" crazy where they just can do almost anything and say "he is crazy"

[u/Competitive_Crow_334 → u/Psile]

Cyborg Superman explains his motives word for word Superman ruined his life

[u/Psile → u/Competitive_Crow_334]

He says that's his motivation but his actual motivation is he thinks he's entitled to the acclaim Superman has. He resents Superman well before his injury and his resentment is only amplified once his attempt at glory only ends worse for him.

If Hank had the introspection to correctly assess his motives, he would probably not become a villain.

Luthor projects his insecurities on the world and insists he's being altruistic. Hank uses his perceived grievances to mask his narcissism even to himself. Villains are poor judges of their own character.

[u/Competitive_Crow_334 → u/Psile]

I'm talking about the comic Regin of the Superman he was a normal guy until Superman fight with the Eridcator caused him to watch his family slowly die from mutations and then Superman tossed him in space.

If he wanted fame he wouldn't have given the world to Mongul