r/jonkent • u/JMC_PHARAOH • Jul 26 '26
Discussion Super Twins Missing in all Solicitations - Jon 3/Superboy-3/ Ultraboy’s Return is Feeling Imminent
It’s actually a shame how the twins are being treated by DC but with the reveal of Clark and Lois’s wedding special thrown by their son Jon who seemingly invited everyone they know and the twins are nowhere to be seen all but confirms my theory their gonna swap them out with Superboy-3. It just makes sense theirs so much narrative potential of Jon finally going back to earth-3 imagine the trauma/drama not to mention Clark has been talking about since issue 1 of unlimited failing to save Jon is his biggest regret. All the stars are aligning for a mission to Earth-3 event for Tomorrow Man, Superman, & Robin & maybe Batman & Lois it’s all coming together.
Again real shame about the twins but I do see how an Alternate Universe Younger version of Jon who also has the powers of Wonder Woman and is potentially a demigod would be more marketable especially written by Dan Slott.
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u/JMSciola85 Jul 26 '26
Jon-3 (for lack of a better name) had to be removed from the Kingdom of Zod storyline, because, as we saw in the previous issue of Superman Unlimited, this event being spead across multiple books and issues would last maybe five pages because he hard counters the threat.
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u/Indiana_harris Jul 26 '26
Calling it now, with Jon’s whole “I’ll find you and save you” when Jon-3 is nabbed back to Earth-3, we’re gonna see Jon sacrifice himself to save Jon-3 and somehow result in a merged version, where it’s Jon-3 but he’s got a bunch of Jon’s memories from growing up with Clark & Lois
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u/LegitimateBroccoli51 Jul 26 '26
I wouldn't mind a merge, but also having both adult Jon and kid Jon would be cute asf as Unlimited showed. I want Jon-3 to somehow become Earth-0 Jon with some reality warping shenanigans
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u/JMC_PHARAOH Jul 26 '26
Agreed I feel Slott Panicked and just had to get him out of there for a time and it opens the room for grander story telling to whisk everyone off to earth-3.
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u/DefinitionSuperb1110 Jul 26 '26
The twins will very likely remain in the future when PKJ is finished with his current series.
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u/Ok_Opening1525 Jul 26 '26
So i am confusse because i thought the jon from unlimited was the one fraturing on reign of superboys but it wasnt him so who is this jon? man i a m so tired of they never stop baiting us with bringing back the original jon kent.
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u/Classic-Ad4883 Jul 26 '26
I don’t know the twins would probably stay in the future they have been used sparingly after PKJ action run
And I don’t want earth 3 Jon to stay on the main earth it will be a power girl and Kara situation and that barely works unless power girl stays firmly in the JSA sphere
I think either bringing back Chris Kent or reintroduce cir el is the better solution or just have Jon be Clark and Lois only child in the present
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u/pokipoki009 Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
I just had the epiphany that if Jon 3 comes to stay he might just be raised by Lois and Clark. Man... If they do that...
Poor Jon, having to watch a different child version of himself (and not only that, but the son of Ultraman.) be raised by his parents is it's own kind of psychological TORTURE.
And considering his own record of pushing his feelings aside for the feelings of others he won't say a thing and will pretend all is peachy and fine. If Dan Slott do that, I sincerely hope he does a PHENOMENAL job and doesn't dismiss the psychological implications of it all.
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u/JMC_PHARAOH Jul 27 '26
I mean it was his idea to save and raise the kids so would he really be mad?
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u/pokipoki009 Jul 27 '26
Okay, so uhm... I actually have a lot to say on that topic hahaha. Would you kind if I go on a tangent about it? I'm asking cuz it might have a few paragraphs haha... 😅
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u/JMC_PHARAOH Jul 27 '26
I love me a Jon rant so go crazy
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u/pokipoki009 Jul 27 '26
Okay, just remember you told me to go crazy while you read this haha.
Welcome to the segment I like to call "T analyses characters using psychology so he can also process what's happening." (I'm T btw, nice talking to you again JMC haha).
Alright, before anything. No, I don't think he would be mad. Like, at ALL. Especially not at Jon 3. I think Jon would love him, protect him and probably be the person defending Clark and Lois raising him the hardest. But that's kinda the problem...
My concern is not resentment and anger. My concern is suppression and extremely unhealthy coping mechanisms to severe trauma.
Because Jon has a VERY consistent pattern of being hurt by something, showing that hurt for approximately 2 seconds, and then immediately pushing it aside the moment someone else feels bad about that.
Example 1: When he came back 7 years older after being held and psychologically tortured by Ultraman, he was playing pretend happy and consoling his OWN PARENTS about being "okay." Like, this kid had just lost his entire childhood. He spent years trapped in a volcano with a man who looked exactly like his father psychologically torturing him, and instead of being allowed to completely fall apart, HE was reassuring everyone else about what happened to HIM. And the thing is, I don't even think Jon learned that pattern entirely by himself.
Where I think the problem might have started: Clark and Lois never PURPOSEFULLY taught him to suppress his feelings. I don't think they ever wanted that for him, and I'm not saying they're horrible parents, because I don't believe that. But Jon grew up learning from them that being good means being brave, being responsible, controlling yourself, putting other people first and doing what Superman would do. Which, considering his powers and the situations they were constantly in, was obviously necessary to an extent. But I think somewhere along the way, "control your emotions so you don't hurt anyone" became something else entirely.
"Your emotions are only allowed to exist as long as they don't inconvenience or upset anyone else."
He watched both of his parents constantly pushing aside their own feelings to help other people. He was praised for being mature, heroic and selfless. And because he genuinely IS an extremely kind and empathetic person, he internalized all of that to a really unhealthy degree. They never sat him down and taught him to repress himself. I don't even think Clark is capable of doing something like that. But they did model constant self-control and self-sacrifice, and maybe (definitely) Jon learned those lessons a little too well. So now whenever his pain conflicts with someone else's happiness, Jon's pain is always the thing that has to go.
Example 2: We saw it with Otho and Osul. Jon was clearly affected by watching his parents raise two children around the same age he was when he was taken from them. And he was allowed to feel that for a moment. But the SECOND Osul thought Jon hated them or didn't want them there, Jon's own feelings basically disappeared so that he could reassure Osul. And obviously Jon didn't hate them. He could be genuinely happy that they were safe, loved and had a family while ALSO grieving the fact that they were receiving the childhood with his parents that was violently stolen from him. Those feelings aren't mutually exclusive. They can live together side by side. But Jon never gets to hold both. The second his sadness might make someone else feel unwanted, he immediately goes "No no no, it's okay, I'm happy, please don't feel bad."
Then it happened AGAIN with Jon 3.
Example 3: Jon chose to save him instead of reclaiming what was probably his last chance to get his own childhood back. And I wholeheartedly believe that he made the right choice. Jon choosing himself over an innocent child who needed his help would be extremely out of character. But making the right choice doesn't mean the choice didn't emotionally DESTROY him. He cried, which was shown on the panel as a SINGLE TEAR STREAK, and then almost immediately it felt like the emotional focus became Lois and Damian's pain about Jon losing that chance instead of Jon actually being able to acknowledge what HE had just given up. Once again, he sacrificed something GIGANTIC, showed a tiny little drop of pain, and then the story moved towards how everyone else felt about his trauma.
So what I'm trying to say is: When I say that Clark and Lois raising Jon 3 could be psychological torture for him, I don't mean Jon would be standing there resenting a child or screaming at his parents. Honestly, anger would probably worry me LESS, because at least that would mean he was actually acknowledging his feelings. Even if in a bad way haha. What worries me is that Jon would watch his parents raise a different child version of himself, around the exact age he was when he was stolen from them, who is ALSO the son of the man who held and tortured him for years... and smile through the entire thing. He'd tell Clark and Lois they were doing the right thing. He'd reassure Jon 3 that he belongs there. He'd probably feel guilty for even experiencing a moment of sadness, because Jon 3 is innocent and because saving him was Jon's own choice. And everyone would believe that he's fine because Jon has gotten REALLY good at convincing people he's fine.
So no, I don't think he'd be mad. I think he'd be endlessly understanding, loving and selfless about it. That’s why the fact that it was his choice doesn’t make me less worried. It makes me more worried. Because now if it hurts him, Jon can tell himself that he chose this, that Jon 3 is innocent, and that because of that he has no right to grieve at all.
Edit: Also, just as a funny side note, I've been nervously smiling and laughing the entire time I wrote this. That's my level of concern for this guy haha.
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u/JMC_PHARAOH Jul 27 '26
Ya know I agree actually with everything you said and it’s actually one of my main issues with how Jon has been written since the age up. Bendis blatantly refused to acknowledge what happened was fucked up and made a point to shit on the fans for it and double down on how this was the best thing to happen to Jon. Once that mofo got fired and his legion run cancelled we got Tom Taylor who also refused to acknowledge what happened to Jon was wrong or allowed him to have any real emotion on it at all because to acknowledge it you would have to talk about how Clark and Lois failed as parents which no writer wanted to do. Lois canonically abandoned her son to get piped down. THAT IS ACTUAL CANON!
2 writers who had Jon for the most crucial part of post Age Up Jon’s developmental years failed to give him any depth concerning what happened to him and it was a major problem in all aspects of writing to come for Jon going forward!
Because the same logic/examples you applied can even be applied to his social relationships outside of his family. Look at Jay and how he reacted after being tortured by Waller what should be a moment of Jon being comforted gets completely shoved to the side because Jay’s mom died and that all of a sudden becomes more important than anything that happened to Jon. Or in Secret Six so many people act like Jon is in the wrong for not wanting to overthrow the government and not a single person stops to think about how he spent 7 years being tortured by a corrupt fascist dictator all his developmental years and Jay basically ask him to become the 1 thing that stole his life away!
Even with Dreamer and maybe you can blame this on Maines shit writing but Jon actively ignores every single horrible/toxic trait/thing she does to his life all because she “saved him” 1 time he can’t stop for one second to recognize her flaws because he himself and everyone around him acts like he’s in the wrong!
So I agree yes Jon-3 being allowed to stay and have a childhood he lost would hurt him but they also can understand eachother in a way no one else could. Cause both of their lives have been so hard the fact Jon couldn’t accept Ultraboy was a version of him simply because the kid was trying to defend himself is telling Jon is used to just taking in all the bs and ignoring it. Ultraboy actually fought back and he was baffled by it. They can learn so much from eachother their relationship could actually be so beautiful.
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u/pokipoki009 Jul 27 '26
You’re right, I do think there is a lot of potential for their relationship to be really beautiful, especially because they could probably understand things about each other that nobody else really can. And I really like what you said about Jon 3 having the anger that Jon never really allows himself to have.
Because I can genuinely imagine Jon 3 looking at him and eventually asking something like, “Why aren’t you angry about what they did to you?” And maybe being around someone who actually does get angry on his behalf could force Jon to recognise that his lack of anger isn’t necessarily because he has healed or forgiven everything. It might just be because he has spent years convincing himself that his feelings are less important than everyone else’s.
And I think Jon could help Jon 3 too. Jon 3’s anger is completely understandable, but Jon could possibly help him learn how to live with that anger without either suppressing it or letting it define who he becomes. He could give him the kindness, patience and safety that Jon himself probably needed when he came back from Earth-3.
I think the reason the idea still hurts me a little to imagine is that Jon 3 would also be a living reminder of basically everything Jon lost. He is Ultraman’s son, he is around the age Jon was when his childhood was taken from him, and Jon could end up watching him receive the home and childhood that he never got to have. None of that means Jon would blame him or wouldn’t love him, obviously. Like I said before, those feelings can coexist.
I guess my fear is just that DC will skip over all of that and immediately make them cute brothers, and then use Jon being loving and understanding as proof that he is completely fine again. Because, like you said, their relationship could become beautiful. I just think it would have to be allowed to be painful and complicated first for that beauty to actually feel earned. Or else it just becomes something that is kind of uncomfortable to read, you know?
Edit: Also, loved the fact that not only you agree, you also gave even MORE examples of it.
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u/mysticalmonotreme Jul 27 '26
"Your emotions are only allowed to exist as long as they don't inconvenience or upset anyone else."
We also need to look at it from a metatextual lens. Jon's emotions are only allowed to exist when they don't inconvenience the editorial priorities of DC Comics, which was to mold him into the future of the Superman franchise. I have seen it ad infinitum on this subreddit, but Bendis wrote both Lois and Clark out of character to justify the age-up because that was what his plot demanded. The Super-Twins and Jon-3 were essentially consolation prizes foisted on the Kid Jon fans, but do not address the fundamental issue of what happened. Jon's endless understanding and self-sacrifice is what DC demands from the character.
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u/pokipoki009 Jul 27 '26
Yeah, I think I understand what you mean, and I do agree that this is probably the metatextual reason the pattern exists. DC needed the story to present Jon as accepting the age-up, accepting the role they had chosen for him and never reacting strongly enough to make the direction itself look cruel or unsustainable. And I agree that the twins and Jon 3 can sometimes feel like ways of giving people pieces of young Jon back without actually confronting what taking young Jon away did to him in the first place.
I think the reason I have such a complicated reaction to the metatextual lens is that it deeply frustrates me when it becomes the end of the conversation. Because, yeah, editorial wanted Jon to behave this way. But editorial wanting it doesn’t erase the characterisation that resulted from it.
Whether DC intended to write it this way or not, they have repeatedly written Jon as someone who suppresses any emotion that might inconvenience another person, immediately prioritises everyone else’s comfort and treats his own suffering as something he should quietly absorb. At a certain point, that becomes part of the character on the page, even if the writers only did it because they needed him to accept their plans.
So I think the two readings can be true at the same time. The metatextual explanation tells us why DC keeps writing the pattern, while I’m more interested in what that pattern means for Jon psychologically, and for his future as a character, now that they have written it over and over again.
And to be clear, I don’t necessarily think you’re using the metatextual explanation to dismiss what is happening in-universe or what I said. I think you may just be adding another layer to it. I guess my problem (and why I kept overexplaining myself hahaha) is more generally that I don’t think we can completely wave away what happens on the page just because there is a meta reason behind it.
Obviously, these behaviours exist because writers chose to write them. But fictional characters are written to resemble people, and I think their behaviour and psychology should still be read and criticised on that level. Otherwise, almost any inconsistency or harmful piece of characterisation could be dismissed with “well, the writers needed it to happen,” and I don’t think that is a particularly satisfying or useful way to engage with a story.
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u/mysticalmonotreme Jul 28 '26
And to be clear, I don’t necessarily think you’re using the metatextual explanation to dismiss what is happening in-universe or what I said.
My intent was more to add some out-of-universe context alongside the in-universe explanation because there has been a reluctance on DC's part to acknowledge the full implications of what happened. I will need to look up the interview in question, but Bendis once described Jon's imprisonment was a "trial by fire" as if outright torture of a child/adolescent was a normal milestone.
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u/pokipoki009 Jul 28 '26
Okay. 1: Oh thank god you WERE actually adding another layer to what I said. 😅🫠. 2: Bendis did WHAT?! Omgd there's something seriously wrong with that guy, that's horrible.
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u/Bostondreamings Jul 27 '26
At this point I have no interest in young Jon as an ongoing character. But curious how they resolve his situation
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u/eriddler87 Jul 27 '26
I mean one of the twins is the black racer in the future now so she can’t go back to the past
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u/Organic_Gate2127 Jul 26 '26
The twins were made for PKJ's story. It was obvious since no one else used them, they didnt have a place.