John Corben/DCAU

Animated[edit]
Metallo as he appeared inSuperman: The Animated Series

Superman: The Animated Series[edit]
Metallo appeared in Superman: The Animated Series, voiced by veteran actor Malcolm McDowell.

John Corben was an English criminal-for-hire, who was involved in a plot to steal Lex Luthor's exoskeleton the LEXO-SKEL SUIT 5000 and sell it to Kasnian terrorists (secretly arranged by Luthor, who knew that the Pentagon would want him to design something bigger and better to combat the suit the terrorists had "stolen"). Corben was caught by Superman and jailed, but while in jail he contracted a rare and lethal disease. Luthor offered him a chance at new life, as a cyborg, by having his brain transplanted into a robotic body; a Dr. Vale assisted in the procedure. Corben's new body, made of a revolutionary new metal called Metallo, was powered by a kryptonite "heart", which Corben was eager to use against Superman in revenge for taking him in. Metallo is also almost as strong as Superman in the series.

At first, Corben reveled in his new body, but when he learned it had no sense of touch, taste, or smell - no way to sense even a simple kiss or the taste of an apple - the sensory deprivation drove him insane and he took to referring to himself as Metallo. When Superman later revealed to Corben that Luthor himself had arranged for Corben to contract the virus that made him terminally ill while in prison, Corben turned on Luthor, but in the battle he was thrown off of Lex's yacht, and his non-buoyant body sank.

Metallo walked across the ocean floor, eventually reaching the shore of a small island that Superman was helping to evacuate due to an impending volcanic eruption. Initially, Metallo had no memory of who he or Superman were, and befriended two children on the island (the son and daughter of one of the seismologists studying the eruption). Metallo did eventually regain his memory and attacked Superman, but was caught in the lava flow. It cooled around him, leaving only part of his head and one arm exposed, the rest trapped in rock. Unable to free himself, he began to recite his name and history to himself, so he would not forget again.

Metallo resurfaced again, having been rescued and repaired by Intergang, who modified him with Kryptonite Vision, and he returned to plague Superman once more. Metallo seriously weakened Superman but Steel (John Henry Irons) came to his aid and prevented Metallo from finishing Superman off. Metallo fended off Steel's attacks but Steel ultimately prevailed when he tossed his hammer into Metallo's chest, smashing his kryptonite heart.

Metallo reappears once more in the final season, when he uses Jimmy Olsen's new-found fame as Superman's friend to lure the latter to a junkyard in order to take revenge. Jimmy saves the day however, when he sprays battery acid in the direction of Metallo's heart and disconnects the kryptonite energy source from his body, thus rendering him defenseless.

Justice League[edit]
Metallo has also appeared in the Justice League episode "Hereafter", voiced by Corey Burton. He appears as a member of the Superman Revenge Squad. After briefly struggling with the Martian Manhunter, he was removed from the battlefield byWonder Woman and the Flash, who use the former's lasso to catapult him into the ocean.

Justice League Unlimited[edit]
Malcolm McDowell reprised his role as Metallo in Justice League Unlimited as a member of Gorilla Grodd's Secret Society. He, along with Silver Banshee, were sent on a mission to Skartaris (an area in the center of the Earth) to obtain a large kryptonite rock, but were thwarted by the Justice League when Supergirl removed his kryptonite power supply. He was coerced to give them information in exchange for his power source, but just before divulging the information, he was forcibly shut down by an outside source. He was taken to the Watchtower so that his mind could be probed for information.

In the Superman DVD sets, the producers noted that the character was difficult to write for since his kryptonite power source would logically enable him to kill Superman easily. As a result, plots had to be carefully contrived to give the superhero believable means to fight him.