Project Cadmus

In Superboy (vol. 4) #57, the Project was put under new management, following the Newsboys' retirement. The new project head is Mickey "the Mechanic" Cannon, a former Suicide Slum resident with a reputation for being able to "fix" anything, a car or a country. The new head of genetics is Dr. Serling Roquette, a teenaged genius with a crush on the Guardian and Superboy. Dabney Donovan is also brought back, under armed guard. Cannon made Cadmus more open to the public.[9]

Shortly after this the Project temporarily came under the control of the Evil Factory, now revealed to be part of an organisation called The Agenda. This is run by Lex Luthor's ex-wife, the Contessa. The Agenda concerns itself with cloning for its own purposes. One of its operatives, Amanda Spence,

murders Superboy's girlfriend Tana Moon. The Agenda suffers setbacks at the hands of multitudes of superheroes, including mutinous superpowered beings from within their own ranks.[10] Other characters form another resistance cell and ultimately defeat the 'Evil Factory'.[11]

When Luthor becomes President of the United States, Cannon and the Guardian became uncomfortable with the amount of government pressure on the Project. Following the Imperiex War, the entire project vanishes. The abandoned facilities, three miles below Metropolis, are later seen. Lex Luthor (no longer president) and several of his associates have appropriated the buildings for their own uses.[12]

During the Seven Soldiers maxi-series, it is mentioned that Cadmus had shut down and sold off the rights to the Guardian name and likeness to a New York-based newspaper called The Manhattan Guardian. The newspaper ended up using the name and costume to create its own superhero. During 52, Project Cadmus is shown to be still in existence.

It wasn't until Countdown to Final Crisis Week 33 that the Project actually resurfaces, and it is still led by Mickey Cannon. He chases down Jimmy Olsen, eventually offering the boy a chance to work with Cadmus to help Olsen discover the mysteries of his new superpowers. Upon arrival at the Project, Olsen is greeted by Dubbilex and Serling Roquette. Roquette takes Jimmy aside to help him learn about his powers. However, when his powers start going out of control, he flees the Project rather than risk hurting someone.[13]

In the Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen one-shot (Dec 2008), Jimmy discovers Cadmus was involved in the creation of Codename: Assassin, and returns to the Project. He discovers the facility abandoned, except for Dubbilex. Dubbilex explains that all the Project's assets have been reassigned by the Government to a new military project with an alien-killing agenda. He tells Jimmy the origin of Codename: Assassin, and asks him to find the Guardian. He then dies of his injuries.[14] In Teen Titans (vol. 3) #83, two married scientists named Vincent and Rochelle Barnes are introduced as Cadmus liaisons to the Titans, and are assigned to help the team track down Raven after she is kidnapped by a demon named Wyld. During the course of the ensuing storyline, Vincent is killed by a possessed Miss Martian. In Teen Titans (vol. 3) #87, Cyborg and Rochelle take Miss Martian and Static to Cadmus Labs after the former is rendered comatose and the latter loses his powers following a battle with Wyld.

Later troubles lead to Cadmus concentrating its power in a Vietnam facility. They take control of the Creature Commandos. The villainous Maxwell Lord is using the resources of Cadmus for his own ends.[15]

In 2011, "The New 52" rebooted the DC universe. Project Cadmus is located beneath Cadmus Industries. Kevin Kho worked for Project Cadmus as a genetic researcher under Martin Welman. Kevin's co-workers at Project Cadmus include Tony Jay and Kevin's fiancé Jody Robbins. One day during Kevin Kho's employment, Brother Eye activated Kevin's OMAC side and nearly had him level Cadmus Industries to steal its mainframe.[16] It was also revealed that Mokkari had infiltrated Project Cadmus as a researcher on DeSaad's behalf.[17]

During the "Convergence" storyline, the Pre-Zero Hour Superboy has lost his powers shortly after claiming his super-identity. In addition to their support for the Metropolis citizens trapped under the dome, the Pre-Zero Hour Cadmus keeps track of the now-human Superboy who is undergoing deep emotional problems.[18]

Cadmus assets are caught up in a war against worldwide intelligence organizations. Batgirl uncovers evidence that Cadmus has been overtaken by a hostile group calling themselves Leviathan.[19]

• Dabney Donovan - A genetic scientist and former founder, who provided Intergang with weapons and experiments.
• Amanda Spence - A scientist and the daughter of Paul Westfield.
• Guardian - The head of security, he was cloned from the original Guardian.
• Kevin Kho - A genetic researcher who is secretly OMAC.
• Master - Robby Reed's villain form previously worked at Project Cadmus and had learned how to make his own supervillains from the cell samples of unnamed humans.[20]
• Mokkari - He infiltrated Project Cadmus on DeSaad's behalf.
• Newsboy Legion -
  • Anthony Rodriguez - A scientist.
  • John Gabrielli - A scientist.
  • Patrick MacGuire -
  • Thomas Thompkins - A scientist and co-founder of Project Cadmus.
  • Walter Johnson -
• Paul Westfield - The former Director of Project Cadmus and the father of Amanda Spence. He was killed by Dabney Donovan.

• Superboy -A creation of Project Cadmus. He was a binary clone who was created by splicing the DNA of Superman and Lex Luthor. Escaped the Project Cadmus facility and joined Young Justice and Teen Titans.
• DNAliens - A group of human beings cloned and then genetically altered with the DNA of other lifeforms to discover superhuman potential while also giving them a more "alien" appearance. They have also been called Genetix and Genomorphs. Dubbilex is a known DNAlien.[2]
  • Adam - A binary clone of Guardian and Dubbilex.[21]
  • Alex - A clone of Dubbilex that was enhanced with Kryptonian DNA.[22]
  • Angry Charlie - A DNAlien that befriended Gabby Gabrielli II.[23]
  • Auron - A clone of Guardian whose body contains the code for Superman's DNA in light of his apparent death at the hands of Doomsday.[24]
  • Black Zero III - A clone of Paul Westfield who comes from a Hypertime stream.[25]
  • Gene-Gnome - A DNAlien allied with the Agenda.[26]
  • Hairies - A group listed as "Step-Ups" who called themselves "the Hairies". They are a group of DNAlien super hippies who developed an evolved knowledge and developed transport and defense technology beyond the understanding of modern day humans under the leadership of a Hairie named "Jude".[27]
    • Outsiders Biker Gang - A group of Hairies who make up an outlaw motorcycle club.[28]
      • Yango - A member of the Outsiders Biker Gang.[28]
  • Smother - A DNAlien.[29]
• DNAngels - A trio of genetically-engineered female US government agents that were created by Amanda Spence who spliced the DNA samples of different women with the DNA samples of young superheroes. Their creation cost over $2,000,000,000.00.[30]
  • Cherub - A binary clone created from the DNA of Superboy's deceased girlfriend Tana Moon and the DNA of Bart Allen. She possesses super-speed.
  • Epiphany - A binary clone created from the DNA of an unnamed Caucasian woman and the DNA of Wonder Girl. She has the same powers as Wonder Girl and sports fiery wings.
  • Seraph - A binary clone created from the DNA of an unnamed African-American woman and Superboy. She possesses tactile telekinesis.

In the non-continuity book All-Star Superman, Grant Morrison's modern take on the Silver Age includes the D.N.A. P.R.O.J.E.C.T. which was resurrected by a scientist named Leo Quintum. A comment indicates this organization formed from the military's 'Cadmus' group. Under Quintum, the P.R.O.J.E.C.T. is dedicated to "the engineering of new human forms" including Bizarro worker drones, giants (Voyager Titans) who can travel through space under their own power, and microscopic "nanonauts" unlocking the mysteries of the sub-atomic world. The P.R.O.J.E.C.T.'s ultimate goal is to create a replacement Superman, in case something happens to the original.

It is revealed that the P.R.O.J.E.C.T. created a formula to bestow Superman-level strength and durability onto a non-meta human, but all of their test subjects burned out because they couldn’t transform back in time. Marked with "Do Not Open Until Doomsday", Jimmy Olsen injects himself with the formula and transforms into a hulking, gray skinned figure with bony protrusions. Jimmy succeeds in stopping a black-kryptonite-affected Superman and both are able to come through their ordeal, shaken but healthy.[31]

Later, Dr. Quintum's assistant asks him what people will do if Superman never returns from the sun. The last page of the story is a splash-panel of Dr. Quintum replying "I'm sure we'll think of something" and looking at a large, sealed door labeled P.R.O.J.E.C.T. and with a Superman S-shield modified to resemble the number 2.[32]

Project Cadmus appears in Batman Beyond (vol. 4) #8, run by Amanda Waller and Dr. Thawne, among others.[33]

The name "Project Cadmus" has survived to the 853rd century. They have a position of authority over this era's Superboy, who is the one millionth clone of the original. He takes two assignments for them; hunting down the JLA Bizzaro Clone Terrorist and searching for the traces of 20th Century DNA Cadmus had detected. Though Cadmus believed the DNA was in the arctic region on Earth, it was found floating in the Solar System's asteroid belt. It was a humanoid being in a stasis chamber and is later implied the humanoid is Lobo.[34]

This alternate dimension features a Project Cadmus that becomes the focal point of the characters Buddy Blank, Kamandi and Brother Eye.[35]

In the Elseworlds story JLA: The Nail, Cadmus Labs appears as an "Alien Research" testing-ground that holds many metahumans both good and evil. Known captives are Eclipso, Silver Banshee, Firestorm, Hawk and Dove, Creeper, Chemo, Black Orchid, Congo Bill, Man-Bat, Animal Man, Dolphin, Star Sapphire and Freedom Beast.[36]

In Justice League 3000, a 31st Century version of Project Cadmus has survived for over a millennium featuring clones of the original Justice League members Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Flash and Green Lantern.

• Project Cadmus appears in series set in the DC Animated Universe (DCAU),[37] consisting of Amanda Waller, Professor Hamilton, Tala, General Wade Eiling, Professor Milo, Maxwell Lord, Hugo Strange, and Doctor Moon. Primarily appearing in Justice League Unlimited, this version of the organization was originally created to counter Superman after he was brainwashed by Darkseid during the series finale of preceding DCAU series Superman: The Animated Series before extending their goal to countering the Justice League due to the discovery of the Justice Lords during the events of the Justice League two-part episode "A Better World". Moreover, Cadmus originally received funding from Lex Luthor, employed Task Force X, and genetically-engineered or attempted to control metahumans and monsters such as Galatea, Doomsday, the Royal Flush Gang, Volcana, and the Ultimen. After Luthor uses their technology to fuse himself with Brainiac, only for them to be defeated by the Flash, Cadmus ceased operations against the League, though various members refused to accept this and break off to defeat the League in other ways. Furthermore, Cadmus remained active into the future setting of Batman Beyond, most notably mounting a semi-failed attempt at creating Terry McGinnis to become the new Batman.
• Cadmus Labs appears in Smallville.[38] Introduced in the second season, this version of the organization was initially a financially and legally struggling company owned by father and daughter, Henry and Victoria Hardwick, before Lex Luthor acquired Cadmus on LuthorCorp's behalf following a hostile takeover and added Steven Hamilton and linguist Dr. Frederick Walden. In the tenth season, Cadmus's genetics division work to develop clones of Lex, though one of them goes on to become Superboy.
• Project Cadmus appears in Young Justice, led by their board of directors the Light and consisting of Dr. Mark Desmond, Dubbilex, Amanda Spence, a brainwashed Guardian, and a group of varying genetically-engineered creatures called Genomorphs. Most notably, Cadmus created Superboy and Match, both as part of a failed attempt at cloning Superman, and held Roy Harper captive so the Light could clone him for their purposes.
• Project Cadmus appears in Supergirl,[39] led by Lillian Luthor. Introduced in the second season, this version of the organization has a longstanding relationship with the U.S. government and works to eliminate alien threats. In pursuit of their goal, they convert John Corben, among others, into Metallos, go rogue from the government to supply a group of criminals with advanced alien weaponry, convert Hank Henshaw into Cyborg Superman, hold Jeremiah Danvers captive so they can turn him into a brainwashed mole to infiltrate the Department of Extranormal Operations (DEO), attempt to spread a virus designed to kill all alien life, detonate a nuclear weapon and fusion bomb in National City, and enact "Project: Exodus" to exile several kidnapped aliens to another planet, only to be thwarted by Supergirl and Superman while Danvers betrays Cadmus to rescue his family. After joining forces with the DEO to thwart the Daxamites' invasion of Earth, Cadmus eventually disbands during the third season.
• Cadmus Labs appears in Titans. This version of the organization is led by Mercy Graves and created Krypto in addition to Superboy.[40]
• Project Cadmus appears in the My Adventures with Superman episode "My Adventures with Mad Science",[41] consisting of the Brain, Monsieur Mallah, and OMAC robots. This version of the organization is a branch of Task Force X based in a forest facility outside of Metropolis that was betrayed by their superiors for working on projects to help mankind instead of weapons.

• Project Cadmus' genetics technology appears in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.
• Dr. Leo Quintum's DNA P.R.O.J.E.C.T. appears in All-Star Superman.[42]
• Cadmus appears in Lego DC Super Hero Girls: Super-Villain High.

• Cadmus was set to appear in a cancelled Flash game, in which its soldiers would have wielded Speed Force technology capable of slowing down the eponymous character.
• Cadmus Labs appears in Superman Returns.[43]
• Project Cadmus appears in DC Universe Online.