Mother Box

Mother Box
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	The Forever People#1 (March 1971)
Created by	Jack Kirby
In story information
Type	Computer, Technology
Element of stories featuring	New Gods

Mother Boxesare fictional devices inJack Kirby'sFourth Worldsetting in theDC Universe.

The Mother Boxes appeared in the feature filmsJustice LeagueandZack Snyder's Justice Leagueof theDC Extended Universe.

History

Created byApokoliptianscientistHimonusing the mysteriousElement X,they are generally thought to be sentient, miniaturized, portablesupercomputers,although their true nature and origins are unknown.They possess wondrous powers and abilities not understood even by their users, the gods ofNew Genesis.These range from teleportation (they can summonBoom Tubes) to energy manipulation, and Mother Boxes have even been seen healing the injured, includingDarkseidhimself, after he was beaten byDoomsday.Metronstated that each Mother Box shares "a mystical rapport with nature". They provide their owner with unconditional love and self-destruct when their owner dies.

Mother Boxes have sacrificed themselves for causes they have believed in and are greatly respected by the people of New Genesis. In physical appearance they are most often in the shape of a small box, but they can also be much larger (as is the one carried by theForever People), and do not always need to be in the shape of a box at all (Mr. Miraclehad Mother Box circuitry woven into the hood of his costume). They usually communicate with a repetitive "ping!" which can be understood by their users.

Powers and abilities

Superman uses a Mother Box to get to Apokolips inSuperman/Doomsday Hunter/Prey#1.

• Mother Boxes can access the energy of theSourcefor various effects; they can change the gravitational constant of an area, transfer energy from one place to another, sense danger, sense life, create force fields, rearrange molecular structure of matter, absorb or project powerful shock blasts, create electro-webs, control the mental state of a host, communicate telepathically with a host or other life form, manipulate the life-force of a host to sustain it past fatal injuries, open and closeboom tubes,take over and control non-sentient machines, evolve non-sentient machines, merge sentient beings into a single more powerful being, sustain a life form in a hostile environment such as space, and do many other things. Mother Boxes can be seen as a computer that links man to God.
• To the New Gods, they are common appliances (used much like aPDAorsmartphoneon Earth), insofar as a sentient device can be called an "appliance". Other DC characters are given access to them at specific times, when they are in need of aid. Notably,Supermanwas given one when he went in pursuit ofDoomsday.
• Mother Boxes can only be manufactured by a being born either on New Genesis or Apokolips, and not all of them can do it (at least one on Apokolips failed). This is accomplished through much training. It is implied in the books that the maker's character influences the successful construction of a Mother Box. This quality applied to all theFourth Worldbooks (Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen;Forever People;New Gods;andMister Miracle) at the time of their original run by Jack Kirby. In later versions of the previously mentioned books, and in other stories where elements from the Fourth World books (such as the Mother Box) were used, other writers altered the crafting and abilities of Mother Boxes to allow for their making and usage by humans and entities from other planets (such as Superman or Batman).

Interpretation

In a 2008 article,John Hodgmanobserved: "Mister Miracle, a warrior of Apokolips who flees to Earth to become a 'super escape artist', keeps a 'Mother Box' up his sleeve — a small, living computer that can enable its user to do almost anything, so long as it is sufficiently loved. In Kirby's world, all machines are totems: weapons and strange vehicles fuse technology and magic, and the Mother Box in particular uncannily anticipates the gadget fetishism that infects our lives today. TheBluetoothheadset may well be a Kirby creation ".Similarly, Mike Cecchini onDen of Geekdescribed the Mother Box as "an alien smartphone that can do anything from heal the injured to teleport you across time and space",and Christian Holub inEntertainment Weeklycalled it "basically a smartphone, as designed by gods".Motherboxes have also been interpreted as a symbol of the "ideal mother" and an example of the role of motherhood in Jack Kirby's Fourth World stories.

Notable users and usage

• Noted Mother Boxes include those ofMister MiracleandShilo Norman,the Mother Box of theForever People,which can summon theInfinity-Man,and the Mother Box used byCaptain Marvelto access the magic lightning when the wizardShazamwas on New Genesis.
• When tracking Doomsday after his old foe was reborn on Apokolips, Superman was given a Mother Box by Oberon which he acquired from his connections to Mister Miracle. This Mother Box managed to open boom tubes to take Superman to Apokolips,heal Darkseid (when Superman needed his foe's aid against theCyborg Superman) after he'd taken a serious beating from Doomsday,give Superman a power boost to battle Doomsday in the form of various high-tech weapons such as anultrasonicsgun and a laser sword,usedWaverider's gauntlet to send Doomsday to the end of the universe, and healed Superman's injuries (simultaneously restoring his original clothes) at the end of the battle, although this last act drained it of power
• Orionhas a Mother Box which controls his rage and bestial appearance, but it has been removed on various occasions. Once it was used bySteelas a means of blocking a telepathic probe on the planetRannafter several of the JLA were captured by the telepathic En'Tarans. When Steel was examining the Box to reprogram it for his current plan, he sensed that it had actually "wanted" to do this before, but Orion had been unable to use the Box in this manner as he was so enraged by his current capture that the Box was expending so much energy simply trying to calm him down. During the Mageddon crisis, Orion gave the Mother Box to Metron so he could confront Mageddon with his full rage and power, Metron passing the Box on toOracle,who was able to link it to her computers, enhancing her technology so that she could telepathically connect with the minds of every person on the planet, helping to coordinate the counter-offensive against Mageddon's influence.DuringWalt Simonson'sOrionseries it seemingly died, and he used a unique ApokaliptianFather Boxinstead. This box communicated by going "ting!" rather than "ping!", and was designed to turn him towards Darkseid.
• Due to time travel, a Mother Box spent hundreds of years in a Japanese temple, waiting for theForever Peopleto reclaim it.
• Iron Manwas given a Mother Box by Metron in theJLA/Avengersmini-series. He used it to predict the JLA's moves and had it interface with his own armor.
• InGrant Morrison'sSeven Soldiers:Mister Miraclestoryline, only one Mother Box has survived the destruction of New Genesis. It is owned by Shilo Norman, the third Mister Miracle, who sometimes calls it "motherboxxx".
• InBlue Beetle(vol. 4), a story-arc centered around a Mother Box and the New Gods Lonar andMetron.The Mother Box is allegedlymourningits master and teleports the user to the homeworld/trap planet ofDevilance the Pursuer.
• In theStarmanseries, Ted Knight was lent a Mother Box by Orion to be incorporated, along withKitty Faulkner's energy-detecting technology, into the spaceship his son Jack used to track down a former Starman,Will Payton.This Mother Box was destroyed along with the spaceship by missiles fired from Throneworld. A notable feature of this Mother Box was the fact Ted Knight's consciousness, memories and personality were apparently copied and served as the Box's consciousness, as well as creating a holographic image of Knight to aid Jack. Since this specific box was programmed by Orion, it was prone to violent solutions.
• In theInjustice: Gods Among Uscomic, Ares, the God of War, is shown to have a Mother Box in his possession. This box is stolen by Harley Quinn,Hippolytaand Billy Batson while they are trapped in Tartarus. They are shown to be teleported to an unknown place (later revealed to be Apokolips where they are confronted and captured by Darkseid).

Father Box

The Father Box is an Apokoliptian version of a Mother Box, which first appeared in theOrionseries by Simonson in 2000. Darkseid's former aide Mortalla presents Orion with an Apokoliptian Father Box.

• InGrant Morrison'sSeven Soldiers:Mister Miraclestoryline, a Father Box is mentioned as one of the "Seven Treasures" the New Gods left to the Earth's first superhero. It came in the form of two dice. It was called "the Foundation Stone of Manhattan" inManhattan Guardianand "Croatoan" inKlarion.Eventually, it was stolen byKlarion the Witch Boy,who took it to the future.
• InJustice League of America(vol. 2) #1 byBrad Meltzer,a villain namedDoctor Impossibleuses a Father Box to summon "hush tubes".
• InSupergirl(vol. 5) #15 Power Boy refers to and accesses his Father Box.

In other media

Television

• Mother Boxes frequently appear in theDC Animated Universe:
  • InSuperman: The Animated Series,the device is shown in the episodes "Tools of the Trade", "Father's Day", "Apokolips... Now!", "Little Girl Lost", and the series finale "Legacy".
  • A Mother Box appears in theBatman Beyondtwo-part episode "The Call".
  • A Mother Box appears in theJustice Leaguetwo-part episode "Twilight".
  • A Mother Box appears in theJustice League Unlimitedepisode "Question Authority", under the ownership ofMantis.
• Mother Boxes and Father Boxes appear inYoung Justice.Its various uses are shown to include opening Boom Tubes, tracking New Genesis technology, summoningInfinity-Manand healing Sphere. Additionally,Halowas created after a dismantled Mother Box interacted with the corpse of Gabrielle Doau, reviving and taking control of her. In "Another Freak",Victor Stoneis converted into acyborgwhen his father,Silas Stone,uses a combination ofReachtechnology and a Father Box to save his life. However, the Box's programming remains inside him, occasionally taking control. Eventually, Halo uses her powers to permanently purge the Father Box from Victor.
• Mother Boxes appear throughoutJustice League Action,primarily under the ownership of the New Gods. During the episode "Best Day Ever" Joker obtains one fromDeSaadand uses it to break Lex Luthor out of prison.
• A Mother Box appears in theDC Super Hero GirlsTV special "Super Hero High".
• A Mother Box appears in theHarley Quinnepisode "Inner (Para) Demons". One was shown to be inMister Miracle's possession before he was severely injured byHarley Quinn,who stole the Mother Box and used it to travel toApokolips.

Film

DC Extended Universe

Main article:DC Extended Universe

• InBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,a Mother Box appears briefly in footage thatBatmanobtained fromLex Luthor.The Box is the final component that transforms Victor Stone intoCyborg,thus saving his life in the process. Additionally,Steppenwolfand his Mother Boxes appear in a post-credits scene in the Ultimate Edition of the film.
• InJustice League,Steppenwolf is in search of three Mother Boxes hidden away on Earth. Two are located inThemysciraandAtlantis,while the third is the one that had been seen inBatman v Supermanand was used to activate Cyborg.Previously, Steppenwolf had used the Boxes in his original invasion of Earth, intending to use them to terraform the planet before being driven off by the combined force of the Olympian Gods, Atlanteans, Amazons, humans, andYalan Gurof theGreen Lantern Corps.After the war, the boxes were left on Earth, and the Amazons, Atlanteans, and humans each took custody of one of them. When all three boxes awaken after years of dormancy, Steppenwolf returns seeking to use them to finish what he had started. Eventually, after the Justice League defeat Steppenwolf, the first two boxes are each returned to their respective custodies, whileSilas Stonebegins researching the third box withhis sonto explore the extent of its powers.
• Zack Snyder's Justice Leaguedepicts the Mother Boxes generally the same as in the theatrical version. After a failed invasion of Earth by Darkseid thousands of years ago, the Mother Boxes are separated and hidden away as in the theatrical release. The Amazonian Mother Box "awakens" upon Superman's death at the end ofBatman v Superman,and alerts Steppenwolf to its location. He escapes with it after a short battle with the Amazonians and proceeds to search for the other two by capturing and interrogating Atlanteans and S.T.A.R. Labs scientists. Steppenwolf seizes the Atlantean Mother Box after a fight with Aquaman and Mera. The protagonists resurrect Superman with the third Mother Box, and Steppenwolf is able to claim it after an amnesiac Superman attacks the other superheroes. The superheroes are able to locate Steppenwolf's fortress in Russia thanks toSilas Stone's self-sacrifice which allows them to detect the third Mother Box's location. They launch an attack on the fortress so Cyborg can interface with the Boxes and prevent the Unity. After they fail and Earth is destroyed, theFlashtravels back in time to enable Cyborg to successfully deactivate the Boxes, preventing the Unity and defeating Steppenwolf, who is subsequently killed through the combined efforts of Aquaman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. In the aftermath,DeSaadinforms Darkseid that the Mother Boxes are now destroyed, forcing Darkseid to conquer Earth using "the old ways", through military conquest.
• In the Blu-Ray release ofWonder Woman,the epilogueEtta's Missionis included as an additional detailing of the events that transpired after the events of the film's story.Etta Candy's titular mission involves her, Diana Prince, andSteve Trevorretrieving one of the three Mother Boxes.

Animation

• Two Mother Boxes appear inSuperman/Batman: Apocalypse.
• Numerous Mother Boxes appear inJustice League: War,being used to transport Parademons to Earth. When the Mother Boxes were activated, one of them was in Victor Stone's possession and badly wounded him, leading to his transformation into Cyborg. His newfound cybernetics gave him an intimate link to machinery that allowed him to communicate with Mother Boxes. Ultimately, he uses several Boom Tubes to repel the Apokoliptian invasion forces.
• InReign of the Supermen,Lex Luthor uses the Mother Box to free the Justice League, who were imprisoned in another dimension, and helpSteelandSuperboydefeat the drones.

Video games

• A Mother Box is central in the plot ofJustice League Heroesas it is coveted byBrainiacand used as a way to transform Earth into a "New Apokolips" by Darkseid.
• InInjustice 2,Mother Boxes serve as the game'sloot boxrewards system, offering differing rewards depending on the rarity. Additionally, Cyborg utilizes them in gameplay to create drones that can target the opponent from multiple directions.
• InLego DC Super-Villains,a Mother Box is stolen fromWayne Techand owned byHarley Quinn,who names it "Boxy". It is also revealed that the Mother Box contains the last piece of theAnti-Life Equation,which is then absorbed by the Rookie.