Nightwing’s Phoenix Group Was Gotham’s Perfect Answer to the Justice League
Summary
- Nightwing’s Phoenix Group could replace the Justice League, as seen in
JLA: Act of God
. - Not all DC superheroes have powers, but heavy-hitters do, and they often rely too much on their natural abilities.
-
JLA: Act of God
would serve as a good template for 2024’s
Absolute Power
event.
Nightwing’s shocking team of heroes — not the Titans — would make a perfect Justice League replacement. While not all DC superheroes have powers, the majority of the heavyhitters do. When every powered hero on Earth lost their abilities in JLA: Act of God, Nightwing and Batman took matters into their own hands by forming the Phoenix Group.
The heroes of Earth were forever changed in JLA: Act of God by Doug Moench and Dave Ross when a bizarre black light enveloped the planet, and, just like that, all superheroes lost their powers. Superman, Green Lantern, the Flash, Martian Manhunter, and more became regular humans. But characters like Nightwing and Batman were completely unaffected, which resulted in a new team needing to be formed.
With the technological villains of the world still running wild, Batman and Nightwing began training the former superpowered heroes, transforming them into the Phoenix Group, a team that would rival the Justice League. Appointing Nightwing leader, Batman reinvented the likes of Wally West and Aquaman with the help of genuinely unique gadgets.
In the Dawn of DC era, Nightwing’s long-time team, the Titans, took over duties from the Justice League after the events of
Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths
by Joshua Williamson and Daniel Sampere.
Nightwing Just Solved a Huge Problem at the Heart of the Justice League
As the Titans take over from the Justice League, leader Nightwing makes it clear he won’t be repeating the former team’s mistakes.
Nightwing’s Phoenix Group Is Ready For Action in a World without Powers
JLA: Act of God #3 by Doug Moench, Dave Ross, George Freeman, Kurt Hathaway, and Chris Chuckry
A lot of the time, superpowered beings tend to rely on their powers instead of honed skills. A big fan complaint about Superman is that he often doesn’t know how to fight, relying on his physical strength to win fights. This is shown in Superman vs. Wonder Woman fights, where Diana tends to easily brutalize the Man of Steel. Clark isn’t effective at fighting crime without his powers, and the same is true of many other heroes. To remedy this in JLA: Act of God, they turn to Batman. Under Batman’s teachings, several heroes are completely re-invented as the Phoenix Group, and Nightwing leads them.
The idea of every superhero on Earth losing their powers was once a novelty Elseworlds story, but it seems it’ll soon be a terrifying reality in 2024. DC’s Absolute Power event promises that DC’s new Trinity of Evil will remove powers from all super beings on Earth. It isn’t clear how they intend to do this, but without their powers, the superheroes of Earth will need a new way to fight crime, and JLA: Act of God has already given a pretty good template for how the heroes can still win. Under the tutelage of Batman, characters like Superman and the Flash could still be able to fight crime.
Nightwing Puts Former Superheroes Through Batman’s Training
There will always be heroes and villains in the DC Universe, whether they have superpowers or not. While Nightwing and Batman aren’t nearly as powerful or effective as characters like Superman or the Flash, they have the benefit of always being active because of their genuinely human skills. Nightwing doesn’t have to worry about his powers being taken away; he’ll always be able to jump into action. Meanwhile, when Superman loses his strength, he gives up being a hero entirely. Now that DC is revisiting this idea in Absolute Power, it’s possible fans will see Nightwing’s Phoenix Group again as a plausible Justice League replacement.
JLA: Act of God is available now from DC Comics!
