"Captain Atom"
The film opens with a flashback about five years ago. A woman's voice tells us that Nathanial Christopher Adam was a military Captain, he served in the US military's attempt to cease the war between Kahndaq and Bialya, he is highly respected for his leadership skills and determination. However, Adam was emotionally tormented when Bialyan radicals tortured and killed several of Adam's men in front of him. Feeling powerless and witnessing the rise of superheroes, Adam was the first to volunteer when General Wade Eiling started "Project Atom". Along with several other military officers, Adam was sent underground to research an alien craft that landed on Earth back in the 1950's. The rest of the crew is killed by the ship's defenses and only Adam and Clifford Zmeck reach the ship's engine room. Zmeck accidentally activates the engine and the ship explodes. Adam wakes up one year later, his skin appearing to be metal. Doctor Susan Megala tells Adam that "he's been in an accident". As we see Adam looking into a mirror and going through shock, the voice-Megala's voice-tells us that when the government officials pulled Adam and Zmeck out of the wreckage, they discovered the immense radiation shaped the ship's metal around their bodies. Though their bodies were vaporized, their consciousnesses transferred into the radiation inside the metal suits. As such, Adam and Zmeck became beings of living energy, living in metal suits.
Captain Atom is walking through the ruins of Coast City, absorbing the radiation spread throughout. After the events of "Supergirl: Power Couple", Coast City was bombarded by radiation and Cap was sent in to absorb the radiation, allowing construction crews to start rebuilding the city. Dr Megala speaks to Cap over his communicator and informs him the president wants to personally thank him tomorrow at The White House. In the meantime, Megala has some diagnostic checks to run on Captain Atom, but Cap has a detour to make first.
Captain Atom flies to Austin, Texas to visits his parents Allen Adam and Nicole Adam. As he walks up to the house he sees his old neighbors stare at him in fear. Nicole offers to make Nate some food, but Nate reminds her that he doesn't eat anymore. Allen slowly starts to be annoyed by Nate, and when Nate mentions how afraid the neighbors are of him Allen tells him they're smart to be afraid. Allen berates his son for being what he is, instead of being a respectable war hero he had to go and get himself killed. And when God showed mercy and gave Nate another chance at life, he spent it parading around like another ridiculous superhero. Nicole snaps back, but Nate tells her its okay. Nicole reminds Allen that Nate is their son, but Allen believes his son died. "He isn't my son anymore" Allen says, "He's a holocaust waiting to happen". Nicole walks Nate outside and tells him he will always be her son, Nate thanks her and flies away.
Captain Atom meets with President Lex Luthor the next day at The White House. As he's walked through the halls of the White House, Cap notices the framed Kryptonite bullet that killed General Zod in "Supergirl: Children of Krypton". Cap thinks it's morbid, but Luthor sees it as a symbol of his evolution. Lex thanks Cap for cleaning Coast City and has a new mission for him. After The Justice League destroyed The Brother Eye satellite in "Justice League: Checkmate" the United Nations decided it would be in the best interest of the world if the blueprints for Brother Eye were to be split into chunks and given to every country. Without the other pieces of the blueprints, Brother Eye cannot be recreated by any government. However, the U.N. has received notifications that some country's portions of the blueprints have gone missing from their files. The only countries not hit by the theft are the United States and a majority of Asian countries. Lex is assembling a team to investigate every technological genius in the U.S., but he needs Captain Atom to go to China and make sure they aren't the ones trying to rebuild Brother Eye. Cap admits he isn't much of a history buff, but he thinks sending a man made out of warheads to China isn't a wise move. Besides, Cap is a soldier and not a spy. A woman dressed in black walks into the room by phasing through the door. Lex introduces Captain Atom to his new partner Eve Edens/Nightshade. While Captain Atom visits China on a peace tour, Nightshade will hang in the background and investigate China's esteemed Science Committee. Though hesitant, Cap agrees and shakes his new partner's cold hand.
At an airport in Hong Kong Secretary-General Tsung, Madame Wu Mei-Xing, and a group of soldiers await the private jet bringing Captain Atom. On said jet, Captain Atom is told on his communicator that Eve arrived at the airport successfully twelve hours prior. When the jet lands, Tsung welcomes "America's Great Hero, Captain Atom". Tsung introduces Wu as one of China's superheroes and Cap teasingly comments on how elderly she is for a superhero. Wu assures Cap that her abilities are quite devastating. The three of them get into a limo-driven by a disguised Eve Edens-and during the drive Cap sees advertisements featuring China's many superheroes, heroes he never knew existed. Tsung brings Cap to "The Second Great Wall" which is a building in the center of Hong Kong that resembles the stone texture of The Great Wall of China. This building is the home base of The Great Ten, a now retired superhero team. Tsung shows Cap around the building, but Cap stops when he sees some kind of monster destroying lab equipment in another room. He rushes in and fights the monster, but seems to match him in strength. Tsung informs Cap that the monster is actually the only remaining member of The Great Ten, Fang Zhifu and he was simply running some training exercises. Known as "The August General in Iron", Fang was the only member of the team to continue fighting crime for his government. Fang stomps off, cursing under his breath. Tsung planned on introducing Cap to Professor Chang Zhu as well, but Zhu seems to be unavailable at the moment. On the car ride to a hotel, Tsung explains that he and Zhu helped form "The Great Ten" shortly after The Justice League was first formed. However, Zhu was a genius and recognized that having a team of superpowered men and women could get out of control and so The Great Ten was restricted from making decisions without the permission of their government. Eventually, the team became tired of this dependence and either retired or became vigilantes. Fang Zhifu was the only one who stayed.
Eve Edens meets Cap in their hotel room and Cap tells her that Tsung is holding a benefit tonight and has invited him. While Eve uses a laptop to narrow down the longest-standing members of China's Science Committee, Cap takes the opportunity to learn more about her. Eve gives him very short answers, claiming her powers of invisibility and intangibility are part of a magic curse, she was recruited by Argus before being assigned to The Department of Metahuman Affairs, and that he doesn't need to know anything else about her. Cap offers to answer any question she has about him. Eve doesn't seem to care about talking, but is curious about something. Nate Adams and Clifford Zmeck were the only two people to survive "Project Atom", but while Clifford went mad with power Nate stayed good through and through despite becoming a living energy source. Cap can't say scientifically how he stayed stable, but he tells Eve about what he went through in Bialya and figures he had seen enough evil in his life to know the good folk from the bad folk. When it came to his powers, Nate Adams already knew what not to do with them.
At Tsung's party that night, he clearly tries to get himself, Captain Atom and August General in Iron in photos together to keep up appearances. Professor Chang Zhu is present as well and is mingling with Eve Edens-yet again, disguised. Members of the Science Committee pester Captain Ion with questions about his powers, so he goes out to the balcony for some fresh air. Wu Mei-Xing meets him on the balcony and tells him that she personally trained all of Tsung's elite soldiers, earning her the title "Mother of Champions". It is because of this training that she recognizes Captain Atom as much more of a soldier than a superhero. Panic breaks out at the party as a robotic man causes destruction. Cap remembers this robotic man as a "One Man Army Construct" or Omac. One of the functions of the Brother Eye satellite was that it could trigger cybernetic implants in any Brother Eye operative and turn them into a superhuman, hence Omac. However, this Omac seems far different from the ones Cap has seen before. Captain Atom fights Omac and receives backup from August General in Iron and Wu's soldiers. Omac escapes and Cap and August General follow.
The two heroes are led to an abandoned nuclear power plant. They find the Omac collapsed on the ground, August General uses his spear to rip the cybernetic skin off Omac and sees that not only has the man under the skin has died, but that he recognizes him as one of Wu's men. Cap notes how different this Omac is from the one's he faced and August General lashes out at him, blaming him for bringing his problems to his home. During the fight, Cap discovers August General's body is immune to radiation. The fight between them accidentally activates the power plant and triggers an explosion of radioactivity. The explosion blooms outward, but August General opens his eyes to see Captain Atom absorbing the blast into himself. In the ruins of the plant, August General stands above Captain Atom and claims he won't forgive him for bringing Omac to China, but that he will give Cap his trust.
General Tsung and Chang Zhu walk out to a limo and Tsung orders Zhu to research everything he can on this new Omac. Eve hangs back and puts a tracker on Zhu's car. She tries to contact Captain Atom, but his communicator was destroyed. Cap and August General walk back to city, Cap explaining everything he knows about Brother Eye. Against his better nature, August General believes it would best to keep what they know from Tsung. If America has been any indicator, the relationship between superheroes and governmental powers is a delicate one.
The next day, Chinese protestors rally outside Captain Atom's hotel and tell him to go home. Eve claims they probably think Omac came to China just for Cap. On the bright side, Eve was able to access Zhu's personal files. As they dig through Zhu's files they find notes on The Great Ten, Project Dragonwing, The Qinghai Incident, and Mother of Champions. Cap recognizes the last file as Wu's nickname and Eve opens the file. It shows the birth records of a man named "Kevin Cho", but there are multiple birth records that differ one week from each other and death records that differ from each other the same way. Eve suggests some kind of resurrection, but Cap remembers the man under the Omac skin looked exactly like Kevin Cho. Their research is interrupted when General Tsung and a group of soldiers arrive to arrest Captain Atom and Nightshade. Tsung was informed by Chang Zhu of Eve Edens following him and one of Zhu's spies followed her to Cap's hotel room. Believing they are American spies sent to China to distract the public while America's Omac destroys China's heroes, Tsung orders for their arrest. Nightshade uses her magical powers to encase the room in darkness and Cap blows a hole through the wall. He grabs Nightshade and their equipment and they fly out. As they fly away, one of the soldiers asks if Tsung want to call in "The Immortal-", but Tsung cuts him off and calls August General in Iron.
Over a forest the two continue to fly, Cap frustrated that they've become enemies to the nation. August General in Iron rides a horse through the forest and tosses his spear at Captain Atom, stabbing through his suit and causing him and Nightshade to fall. When they hit the ground, Cap tries covering the rip in his metal suit. Nightshade uses her powers to fight August General, but he is too strong. As August General walks towards Cap Atom, Cap claims a tear in hi suit could cause him to uncontrollable explode. August General tears off a chip of his iron skin and uses it to fill the hole. When he leans back up, Nightshade phases through him and grabs his spear, she then stabs the spear through August General's leg and into the dirt under him. She prepares to phase her hand through his head, but August General quickly quotes Sun Tzu's "Art of War" and Cap holds Nightshade back. The two run off into the woods. They make it to a river and Nightshade demands an explanation. Cap tells her that he and August General related over their love of Sun Tzu's "Art of War". They agreed-in private-to use quotes from the book to indicate when one of them is being controlled by their superiors. By quoting "Art of War" August General not only informed Cap that he was on their side, but that staying low would be wise. What does not understand is how August's spear pierced the alien metal of his suit. Nightshade has an idea.
At a radio tower, Nightshade opens Chang Zhu's file on "The Qinghai Incident". In the 1950's an alien craft landed in Qinghai and sunk into the ground. Fifteen years ago, a special-ops team was sent in to investigate the craft under Qinghai. The ship's defenses killed all but one soldier: Fang Zhifu. Fang came face-to-face with the ship's pilot and killed the alien. When he got out of the ship, Fang's body started to deteriorate from an alien virus and the only way to save him was to graft the metal of the ship to his skin. The Chinese government turned Fang into a war hero and gave him a spear made from the same alien metal, but referred to the media as iron. Captain Atom sees way too many similarities, and after seeing pictures of the craft realizes the craft that landed in Qinghai was the front half of the ship that landed in the U.S. That explains why he and August General have similar abilities and why August General is immune to radiation. Wu's soldiers break into the tower and Cap and Nightshade fight them off. One of the soldiers turns into Omac and the fight escalates. August General in Iron is riding back to the city through the forest, wishing Cap the best of luck. He wishes to help Cap stop whatever is happening, but knows how powerful his superiors are. When a black jet flies overhead, August General turns around and runs back to Cap immediately.
Cap defeats Omac and watches as another Kevin Cho is under Omac's skin. He goes to find Nightshade and finds her covered in the blood of the soldiers she's killed. Cap is horrified, but feels something. He pushes Nightshade to the group and hops on top of her. At first she is offended, but then she sees a black jet drop a bomb on the area. From a cliff, August General watches as the bomb goes off and is then absorbed by Captain Atom. August General finds Cap collapsed on Nightshade-who was protected from the bomb thanks to Cap. Nightshade decides to trust August General and the two carry Captain Atom away.
In his dream, Cap hears the negative voice of his father and the encouraging voice of his mother. He wakes up on horseback and with Nightshade and August General leading the way. August General claims the jet belonged to "The Immortal Man-In-Darkness", a former member of The Great Ten. The Man-in-Darkness piloted "The Dragonwing", a craft created from the remains of the alien ship in Qinghai. August General leads the two to The Great Wall of China, where the secret base of The Great Ten hid under and where The Man-in-Darkness landed. As August General takes point to check the area for soldiers, Cap asks Nightshade about what happened back there, about the soldiers she slaughtered. Eve Edens admits to Cap that she was on Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad, while with them she learned disciplin and the horrible lengths one must go to survive. The three of them enter the underground facility and fight more of Wu's soldiers. They finally make it to a room featuring a ready-to-launch missile. Chang Zhu and Wu Mei-Zing await them. The missile contains a new Brother Eye satellite that Chang Zhu created from the files of Brother Eye he stole and from his own genius. He designed a smaller Brother Eye antenna and attached it to The Dragonwing so that he could turn Wu's soldiers into Omacs whenever he pleased, whether to create distrust or distract his enemies. When Chang Zhu and Wu Mei-Zing researched the alien August General killed fifteen years ago, they were infected with a virus too. However, Chang developed a cure that made the alien virus rewrite their biology, giving them strange new powers. While Wu Mei-Zing was not as powerful as Wonder Woman, she could create people of equal strength. The rewrite in her biological code gave Wu the ability to birth super-soldiers. Fast aging offspring with super strength and speed, obedient until their one-week expiration date. Hence "Mother" in "Mother of Champions". Chang Zhu gained incredible brain processing abilities that complimented his genius.
Chang Zhu injected the Omac system into every adult in China via a yearly flu shot and will use Brother Eye to turn every Chinese citizen into an Omac, whether they like it or not. August General claims how much he honored Chang Zhu and does not know why he has gone this far. Chang Zhu notes how every invasion of Earth is caused and prevented by American superheroes, how the constant bickering between the U.S. government and U.S. superheroes causes damage to other countries. America's heroes make all other countries weaker by comparison. No to mention nations like Themyscira, Atlantis, and Kahndaq, who have superpowered leaders. Zhu will protect his nation at all costs, even if that means making everyone a superhero. The missiles prepares to launch as Captain Atom, August General in Iron, and Nightshade fight Wu's soldiers. As the missile blasts off, Captain Atom attaches himself to it.
The missile flies upward and Cap opens a panel of the missile, planning on destroying the satellite along with the missile. However, Chang Zhu appears on the missile wearing a mech-suit. Captain Atom fights Chang Zhu, but the suit Zhu wears is made of the same alien metal from the ship. Captain Atom taps into the radio frequency of the radios Wu's soldiers carry and requests August General's spear. August doesn't think he can throw the spear that high, but Nightshade focuses her magic to teleport the spear into Captain Atom's hands. As she does, she passes out and August General shields her from the soldier's bullets. Zhu and Cap battle again, this time ending with Cap stabbing through the suit and into Zhu's stomach. Zhu claims even if he dies, Captain Atom can't disable the missile while it's in orbit. Captain Atom begs to differ. Cap stabs the spear through Zhu's stomach and into the missile, as the missile flies deeper into space he generates waves of energy through the spear and into the missile. Zhu asks what Cap is doing and Cap claims he is using the spear to funnel his powers through. Captain Atom destabilizes the atoms of the missile and the missile explodes. August General and Nightshade defeat the soldiers, but Wu escapes them.
General Tsung and the Chinese military lock-down the bunker and August General fills them in on everything that happened. Tsung still wants to arrest Nightshade for snooping around classified information, but August General vouches for her by pointing out how all of China would be under Chang Zhu's control if not for Captain Atom and Nightshade. In space, a cloud of energy surrounds Captain Atom's empty metal suit. After destroying Chang Zhu and the missile, Cap breached his suit and leaked out of it. Captain Atom-as a cloud of energy-remembers his parents, he remembers his troops, and he remembers that the mission is not over. The energy cloud begins filling the suit once again.
Nightshade stands atop the Great Wall looking up at the night sky. August General informs her that Tsung is leaving and they should too, but Nightshade knows Cap will return. Just as August General walks with her, Captain Atom flies down and hands August General's spear back to him. Nightshade embraces Captain Atom. The next morning, General Tsung awards Captain Atom, August General in Iron and Nightshade medals for saving the country. All of Cap's naysayers become his new fans and August General in Iron removes of the two prongs of his spear and gives it to Cap as a memento. Cap asks what August General will do next and August General plans on rebuilding The Great Ten, he even offers to call it "The Great Eleven" if Cap is ever in town. Cap tells him only if Nightshade can round it out to twelve, she is his partner after all. As their plane leaves, General Tsung tells August General that if The Great Ten return they will be treated as an ally of the Chinese government instead of a tool of it. While on the plane, Cap tells Nightshade that she isn't a member of The Suicide Squad anymore and that he'll do whatever it takes to protect her, but Nightshade reminds him how she saved his butt enough times to balance the saving between the both of them. Nightshade remembers she had another question, she asks "Do you and The Atom ever hang out".
Doctor Megala meets with President Lex Luthor and Vice President Amanda Waller at The White House, surprising them both because Cap and Eve were supposed to meet with them. Megala tells Luthor that Cap and Eve are celebrating with Cap's parents, both of whom are very proud of him. Megala knows Luthor could care less about China and only wanted Brother Eye out of his nonexistent hair. Unlike Luthor or Waller, Megala cares about Cap and Eve and assures him they won't be needed for any new missions anytime soon. Waller gets defensive, but Luthor agrees with Megala. When the doctor leaves, Luthor informs Waller that they won't need Captain Atom to be the country's poster boy anymore, not when "the new Superman" is out there.
That night at the Adam house, Cap sits on the porch and watches all the neighbors shut out their lights. Allen Adam joins him and regards how Cap doesn't sleep anymore either, but Allen knows it's not just because Cap doesn't need to sleep, it's because he couldn't even if he could. Allen couldn't sleep right for years after the service, he could never imagine what Cap had to go through after becoming a superhero. Allen and Cap bury the hatchet, Cap tells him "I still have a helluva pitch". Our film ends with Captain Atom playing catch with his father.
After the credits, we see a chamber open in dark dungeon. Desaad-the decrepit lackey of Darkseid-opens the chamber and set his eyes on a barbaric beast-man tearing the meat of a humanoid leg. Desaad requests the man's assistance in the coming war, but the man has no interest. Even with the mentioning of the man's father Darkseid he holds no interest. Desaad then mentions that Darkseid let Orion live, this causes the man known as Kalibak to rise from the pile of corpses and offer his services to Darkseid.
Thanks for reading.
The Joker returns in "Death of Family" next.
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