One rarely explored question in superhero stories is why someone would choose to work for a supervillain. The 2025 Superman movie briefly examined this, establishing the DC Universe LuthorCorp employees as “cultish acolytes” of Lex Luthor and his worldview. Peacemaker brought back one of these followers as a comic book character who proved even more evil than his boss.
The penultimate episode of Peacemaker Season 2, ‘Like a Keith in the Night,’ continued the story of Lex Luthor teaming with General Rick Flag. In exchange for a transfer to a non-metahuman prison, Luthor agreed to help Flag with tracking the technology Peacemaker was using to travel between dimensions. This help entailed using a scanner in Luthor’s command center and the aid of Sydney Happersen.
Sydney Happersen was one of scientists who assisted Luthor in his war on Superman. A graduate of MIT, he was described as the leading expert on dimensional interconnectivity. Notably, Happersen refused to help Flag until the general threatened to tell Lex Luthor that Happersen was refusing to follow Luthor’s orders. Such is Luthor’s apparent hold on Happersen that, even with them both in prison, he was still ready to obey. Such slavish behavior is also typical of the comic book version of Sydney Happersen.
How Lex Luthor’s underling proved more evil than his boss
Sydney Happersen first appeared in 1987’s Superman Vol. 2 #2. This version of Happersen was a medical expert, rather than a physicist. Lex Luthor chiefly employed him in various illegal enterprises involving cloning. It was Happersen who created the first clone versions of Bizzaro Superman. He was also responsible for creating a new clone body for Lex Luthor after Lex developed cancer from repeated Kryptonite exposure. Unfortunately, the clone body was unstable, and its deterioration made Luthor even more erratic.
Happersen’s loyalty would prove to be his undoing. During the 1994 Fall of Metropolis storyline, a dying Lex Luthor decided to take Metropolis with him. He planned to destroy the city with a barrage of ultrasonic missiles.
Superman appealed to Luthor’s vanity and what little reason he had left. The Man of Steel pointed out that Luthor would be remembered as a mass murderer rather than the man who built Metropolis. However, Sydney Happersen refused to let Luthor stand down in what he saw as a moment of weakness. He launched the missiles and ruined large sections of Metropolis despite the best efforts of Superman to stop them.
The introduction of Sydney Happersen into the DCU does not seem to be a coincidence. General Flag is happy enough with Happersen’s aid in Peacemaker that he declares, “I may keep you around.” The trailer for the Peacemaker Season 2 finale confirms that Flag is good to his word, showing Flag and Happersen exploiting Peacemaker’s portal generator. It is possible that the DCU will follow the comics, with Happersen betraying Flag and ARGUS according to what he thinks Lex Luthor would want. This, in turn, could trigger the crisis at the heart of Man of Tomorrow.
