I’ve
decided to stop opening each post with #IStayHomeFor statements. At this point,
it’s plenty clear that we’re all staying home for everyone, including
ourselves.
I’ve
been rewatching the early seasons of Supergirl
lately (in other words, get ready for plenty more Supergirl-related posts in the coming months!), and I’m reminded
anew of how much I love J’onn. I still do, of course, but he’s been less
prominent over the last season or so, and rewatching season 1 brought
everything flooding back (J’onn-related spoilers.)
We’re
introduced to J’onn J’onnz as Hank Henshaw, the brusque, no-nonsense director
of the DEO who perpetually butts heads with Kara when she first teams up with
them. Right from the end of the first episode, though, we’re let in on a
secret: Hank is an alien in disguise. It’s Alex who first learns the truth, and
he reveals himself to her as J’onn J’onnz, the last son of Mars.
A
lone survivor of genocide against the Green Martians, J’onn has been hiding out
on Earth for hundreds of years, and thanks to his shapeshifting abilities, he’s
spent the last decade as Hank Henshaw, using that identity to watch over the
Danvers sisters as he promised Alex’s father years ago. When J’onn first reveals
himself to Alex, it’s when he’s backed into a corner and doesn’t really have
any way out, and for a long time, that’s how J’onn treats his true self, as a
secret to be guarded at all costs. He realizes that the government won’t be
thrilled to find out its extrajudicial organization dealing with alien threats
is run by an alien in disguise, and he knows that the fame and adoration Kara
receives as Supergirl is due in part to her good fortune to look human. In his
natural Martian form, J’onn is more threatening to the human eye.
True
to form, J’onn only “comes out” publically as Martian in a desperate bid to
save Kara at a critical moment. He’s a guarded man who protects his secrets and
his past, but his honor means even more to him, and he’s not about to fail in
his promise to Jeremiah to keep his daughters safe; if outing himself and
bringing the suspicion of the government/public down on him is the only way to
do, he doesn’t even hesitate. It’s an act that also demonstrates how much love
he’s grown to have for Kara and Alex, protecting them as he could not protect
his own daughters so long ago.
J’onn
is smart and tactical, and he leads with integrity and a desire to protect
those who cannot protect themselves. That’s not to say he doesn’t have shortcomings,
and he’s probably harshest on himself than anyone else. At different times,
he’s struggled with the anger inside him, and when he gets to the point where
he sees that it’s driving him beyond his control, he makes the bold decision to
step back from the DEO, instead setting up shop for himself to investigate
crimes against aliens who are afraid to take their issues to the police.
I’ll
be honest – I think the show has had a hard time incorporating J’onn well since
he left the DEO, and the “Martian Angel Investigations” thing has never really
born as much fruit as I’d like it to. I love the idea of it, and it feels like
a great fit for J’onn as he tries to walk the path of peace, doing good in the
world without violence, but it’s wound up being more of an afterthought in the
series. I’m glad that Alex has partnered up with J’onn now in the back half of
season 5, because I’m hoping we’ll get more alien-P.I. plots for J’onn when he
has another regular to share investigation scenes with.
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