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As Levi Kamei faces the truth behind his ascension as the DC Universe’s new Swamp Thing, an archenemy intimately close to him has resurfaced.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Swamp Thing #8, on sale now from DC Comics.
The new Swamp Thing Levi Kamei has not only had an especially turbulent family history but one in which this familial dysfunction has directly informed Kamei’s ascension to become the latest champion of the Green. At the heart of this drama was Kamei’s dynamic with his father and his brother, resulting in tragedy and loss before Levi claimed his superhero destiny and, as Levi returns to his native India for a showdown with the Suicide Squad, one long-lost family member resurfaces having claimed a destiny of his own as Swamp Thing’s new arch-nemesis in the form of Levi’s estranged brother Jacob.
The return of Jacob had been teased ever since the start of the series, with Levi’s troubled visions of his past while acclimating to his new role as Swamp Thing implying that Jacob led an occult ceremony in India to access the full power of the Green for himself. Levi’s family drama would take a backseat as the elemental superhero was drawn into various supervillain showdowns, culminating in a confrontation with the Suicide Squad through the jungles of India after the nefarious corporation Prescot Industries called in an old favor from Amanda Waller to bring Swamp Thing in. And as Nightmare Nurse revealed that Levi’s guilt over his past role working with Prescot to develop his family’s ancestral lands and resulting death of his father fueled his redemptive mission as Swamp Thing, Jacob makes his grand entrance in The Swamp Thing #8 by Ram V, Mike Perkins, Mike Spicer and Aditya Bidikar.
Just as Swamp Thing neutralizes the last of the Suicide Squad dispatched to take him down, his battle against a Parasite completely engorged and empowered by the Green attracts the attention of Jacob, who decides to emerge from the shadows. Announcing himself under the new moniker “Hedera” — itself an Ancient Greek term for “clinging plant” — Jacob dismisses humanity as little more than monsters before reminding Levi that both he and his brother were both anointed by their parents in the same ritual as children to defend the Green. Giving them latent access to the elemental forces, it was this ritual that set them on their super-powered collision course years laters as hero and villain, respectively.
While Jacob was jealous that the Green appeared to favor Levi and make him its Swamp Thing, he still possesses a connection to the elemental force, empowered further by rituals he conducted himself after Levi’s ascension. As Hedera, Jacob demonstrates that he has dominion over the Green on par with Swamp Thing, using Parasite as something of a scapegoat to showcase his abilities. And most frighteningly, Hedera reveals he is spreading his ideas about humanity being absolute monsters that need to be taught lessons through pain and fear throughout the Green and Parliament of Trees, setting up a conflict between humanity and plants.
Future State revealed a vision of the DC Universe that was completely overrun with plants, with only a small pocket of humanity surviving at the North Pole where it was harder for plant life to literally take root. While it was unclear what generated this plant-fueled apocalypse, Levi’s reunion with Jacob suggests that Hedera’s corrosive influence on the Green may be leading to this potential outcome. And with Jacob on the loose and last seen arriving in New York City, even more of Levi’s personal life may soon be visited by his brother in the very near future.
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