After JUSTICE LEAGUE #44, there was no telling where the rest of Darkseid War would go. With issue #45, we see the story is far from over. The second act has begun and we're seeing some big changes for the team.
We've seen teams go through changes time and time again but not quite on this scale. The change is so big it's resulting in six Darkseid War one-shots.
We've seen a change with a couple members already. Not all members go through a change here but the ones that do go through pretty big ones.
There will be some spoilers for JUSTICE LEAGUE #45 below!
The Flash
Last issue, during the fight between Darkseid and Anti-Monitor, Darkseid called forth the Black Racer, an aspect of death. In order for it to be summoned, it needed to have a sentient host. That honor was thrust upon Barry Allen.
Barry Allen is now the God of Death. It turns out he's actually kind of okay with this. He told Mister Miracle that he's not like the past hosts of the Black Racer. He doesn't want to escape death, he wants to control it.
Superman
Superman and Lex Luthor were separated from the team. Because of Apokolips' atmosphere, Superman was cut off from the rays of a yellow sun. Lex had a bright idea on how to get Superman powered up and he's probably regretting it now. The energy from the pits of Apokolips are deeply affecting Superman.
He gives Lex a pretty good beating and plans to leave Apokolips. If Superman is now the God of Strength, at least he won't have to worry about power fluctuations.
Batman
Batman is the other character we've already seen start his change. When he say upon the Mobius Chair, he gained knowledge about pretty much anything and everything. With the "war" supposedly over, Batman is ready to return to Gotham as...
The God of Knowledge. Batman is planning on focusing his energy on his personal battle against evil. He wants to be the Batman that "Gotham needs."
We still need to know what the heck the the Chair told him when he asked about Joker.
Shazam
It seemed like things were pretty calm. With Darkseid and Anti-Monitor gone, the team was left to regroup. Suddenly Shazam started painfully hearing voices. What was interesting is there was more than one. There was talk about using him as a vessel. There also seemed to be a fight among these voices as to who got to use him. In the end, Billy was transformed.
Shazam is now a God of Gods. What does that mean? We know, as Shazam, he possessed the power of several gods. But being a god of the New Gods, that could mean something entirely different.
Will he be able to handle all this power?
Lex Luthor
After Lex's encounter with Superman, he was discovered by some of the locals of Apokolips. They asked if he was the human savior prophesied that would change everything. Of course Lex would say yes.
In order to test the claim, he would have to get hit by Darkseid's Omega Effect, as it returns to Apokolips. If he was indeed worthy, he would survive.
Looks like Lex was worthy. Pretty scary what this could mean. Lex is now the God of Apokolips.
What about the rest of the team?
Wonder Woman is already a god. Cyborg just gets left out in the cold again. What's interesting is Hal Jordan is getting his own Darkseid one-shot but hasn't been proclaimed as a god. Batman told him he'll need to go back to Oa since the Parademons would be drawn to places of power and the brightest is Oa.
We have a lot to look forward to in the next chapter. We won't want to miss the one-shots to find out more about these transformations and how they might affect their humanity.