Ra’s al Ghul is one of Batman’s deadliest and most iconic villains. He is the Demon’s Head, the founder of the League of Assassins and League of Shadows, and the master of the Lazarus Pits. He has run a shadowy group of killers and unmatched resources for hundreds of years without anyone being any the wiser, all with the intent to “cleanse” the world by removing as much of humanity from it as possible. In the main DC Universe, Ra’s battled the Dark Knight time and again, but in the Absolute Universe he has moved from being one of Batman’s rogues to Superman’s greatest enemy. You’ve never seen Ra’s al Ghul like this before, and he’s deadlier than ever — complete with another major title change.
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Ra’s is the Head of the Lazarus Corporation
The mysterious and incredibly evil Lazarus Corporation has stalked Superman since Absolute Superman #1, even chasing him off the Kent farm that he so briefly was able to call his home. The vile megacorporation owns a good portion of the world, pushing eternally growing profit by forcing people to be wage-slaves and enforcing their will with their Peacekeepers. They’ve chased Superman all over the planet in his bid to find a home and help the oppressed, the corporation obsessed with getting Superman under their thumb. We learned a few issues ago that its leader, like I’m sure many people guessed based on the name alone, was Ra’s al Ghul. Worse yet, Ra’s has partnered with the unimaginably intelligent Brainiac to get the advanced weaponry and technology he needs to complete his takeover and eventually cleansing of the world, but this Ra’s is unlike anything we’ve seen before.
Ra’s al Ghul has completely reinvented himself from the faux-noble yet insane villain that fought Batman in the original DC Universe. Don’t get me wrong, he very much is still both of those things, but this new version of the character has thrown away his secret bases and army of assassins in favor of boardrooms and his League of Shareholders. The new Ra’s wears a business suit and tie, and gives speeches to his shareholders about how much more money they’ve made this quarter. In all actuality, he looks a lot more like Vandal Savage in his muscly physique than the lean Ra’s we know, but that only adds to his terrifying nature. He’s not just impossibly skilled, he also has a silhouette made to intimidate at a glance. Every part about him has been reinvented to make him the perfect corporate monster.
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Of course, not everything about Ra’s is different than we know. He still holds his mission to rid the world of humanity at any cost, and he demonstrated his fighting skills and ruthlessness when he snapped an Omega Men agent’s neck on call with his shareholders to demonstrate the power they possessed. Then he deaged the other Omega agent into a baby with the Lazarus Pit and threw him off the roof. Needless to say, this Ra’s is just as deadly as his mainline counterpart, but now has the resources needed to take on his new target, Superman.

Ra’s is obsessed with bringing Superman in, and maybe wants him captured even more than the deranged Brainiac. Just like his main universe counterpart, Ra’s is obsessed with gaining a son, an heir to rule in his place and complete his mission when he is gone. He’s already existed for centuries as the Demon’s Head, but over the last two hundred years he changed his name. He now called himself God’s Head, and has named his company after the biblical story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Ra’s used his influence to build up Metropolis into the City of Tomorrow, and now he wants his true heir to take over and finish his mission of destroying humanity.
Ra’s Plans for the Man of Steel to be His New Heir
Instead of convincing Batman to join his side and lead the League of Assassins into a new golden age, directed to unimaginable heights by the Caped Crusader, Absolute Ra’s will not settle for anything less than the most powerful being in the world as the one to take over his empire when he is gone. Ra’s must know that Superman has the goal of saving Earth, which Ra’s would say is his own goal as well, in his own twisted sense. Despite his new coat of paint, Ra’s must hate how he operates more than anyone else. He despises the wealthy corporations that bleed the planet dry for their own greed, except in the Absolute Universe he is employing the same strategy to help him reach his goal of ending humanity all the faster.
Ra’s will likely try to recruit Superman to his side with the promise of this being the only way to save the world. He will want to make Superman his son, because Superman truly has the power to bring down everything in the way Ra’s can only ever dream of. Of course, Superman will reject him and continue to fight. Not for some concept about what the world should be, but because there are people in pain, and they need someone to ease their burdens. Ra’s al Ghul has taken on all the trappings and power of late stage capitalism to bring the world down, but Superman will have to fight as he always has; a man trying to do the right thing, no matter what the world tells him otherwise.
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