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Livewire (DC Comics)

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"Leslie Willis" redirects here. For the engineer and archaeologist, see Leslie R. H. Willis.
Livewire
Livewire on the cover art of Action Comics #835, art by Kalman Andrasofszky.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceSuperman: The Animated Series
"Livewire"
First comic appearanceAction Comics #835 (March 2006)
Superman Adventures #5 (1997)
Created byEvan Dorkin
Sarah Dyer
Bruce Timm
In-story information
Alter egoLeslie Willis
SpeciesMetahuman
Team affiliationsSuperman Revenge Squad
Supermen of America
Legion of Doom
Secret Society of Super Villains
Abilities
  • Electric and magnetism manipulation
  • Superhuman strength (when fully charged)
  • Radio broadcasting skills

Livewire (Leslie Willis) is a supervillain appearing in multimedia produced by DC Entertainment, and American comic books published by DC Comics. Created for Superman: The Animated Series, the character appeared in March 1997 in Superman Adventures #5 (based on the animated series). Her first mainstream comic book appearance was in DC Comics' Action Comics #835 (March 2006).[1]

In animation, the character was voiced by Lori Petty in Superman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures, and by Maria Canals-Barrera in Justice League.[2] In live-action, she has been portrayed by Anna Mae Routledge in Smallville and Brit Morgan in the Arrowverse series Supergirl.

Fictional character biography

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DC Animated Universe

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Livewire, in Superman: The Animated Series.

Introduced in a self-titled episode of Superman: The Animated Series, Leslie Willis is a popular, yet controversial Metropolis radio shock jock who takes cynical joy in attacking Superman during her broadcasts.[3] On the third anniversary of her career, she hosts a rock concert to celebrate despite a concurrent thunderstorm and public safety concerns. After lightning strikes the stage, Willis is transformed into an electrokinetic metahuman.

Following this, Willis forms a short-lived alliance with Parasite in the episode "Double Dose" and a separate alliance with Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy in The New Batman Adventures episode "Girls' Night Out", only to be defeated by Superman in the former episode and by Supergirl and Batgirl in the latter.

In the Justice League episode "Hereafter", Livewire (voiced by an uncredited Maria Canals-Barrera) joins the Superman Revenge Squad to fulfill their eponymous goal, only to be defeated by the Justice League. In Justice League Unlimited, she joins Gorilla Grodd's Secret Society.

Livewire also appears in the Superman Adventures tie-in comic, where she works with Professor Hamilton to stop Brainiac and eventually reforms.

Comics

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Livewire is incorporated into the main comics continuity in Action Comics #835 (March 2006), written by Gail Simone and John Byrne. This version was born with her abilities, but did not gain her signature appearance until being struck by lightning.[4][5][6][7]

In Superman: Grounded, Livewire attacks Jimmy Olsen and takes hostages in Las Vegas to get the attention of Superman. After being defeated, Livewire reforms and joins the 'Supermen of America' group.[8][9]

The New 52

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In The New 52 continuity reboot, Livewire joins the Secret Society of Super Villains, and her origin is revised to be similar to her DCAU counterpart.[10][11][12]

Powers and abilities

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Livewire is a being of pure electricity able to absorb vast quantities from external sources. She can also manipulate electricity and generate lightning blasts of various intensities, with her strongest being able to weaken or stun Superman. She can also transform into living electricity to travel through anything capable of conducting an electric current, possess/control electronic devices such as computers, telecommunications networks, and an entire electrical grid. In the comics, as stated by Superman in Action Comics #843, Livewire has the ability to broadcast the energy she has stored in the form of a coherent signal without directing the energy at a target.

Due to her powers, her primary weakness is water, as even a small amount will cause her stored energy to go haywire unless she has stored up enough power. At this or any stage, Livewire would have to be completely drenched in water to be fully depowered. Additionally, silicon dust can also render her powerless due to its electrical resistance.[13] When drained of her electricity, she reverts to her solid form and cannot use most of her abilities until she absorbs enough energy.

In other media

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Television

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Animation

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Live-action

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Anna Mae Routledge as Livewire on Smallville.
Brit Morgan as Livewire on Supergirl.
  • Livewire appears in the Smallville episode "Injustice", portrayed by an uncredited Anna Mae Routledge. This version is a small-time crook who, after being incarcerated, is recruited by Tess Mercer and tasked with searching for Davis Bloome alongside Parasite, Neutron, Plastique, and Mercer's assistant Eva Greer. Livewire is later killed by an explosive implanted in her head off-screen.[15]
  • Livewire appears in Supergirl, portrayed by Brit Morgan. This version is a confident yet abrasive CatCo shock jock who acquires her powers after Supergirl is struck by lightning while rescuing her from a potential helicopter crash.[16][17] Introduced in her self-titled episode, Livewire attempts to seek revenge on Cat Grant for demoting her, only to be defeated by Supergirl and turned over to the Department of Extranormal Operations (DEO)'s custody. In the episode "Worlds Finest", Silver Banshee breaks Livewire out of the DEO to help her kill Grant, Supergirl, and Kara Danvers. However, the pair are foiled by Supergirl and a group of firefighters and incarcerated at National City's newly developed metahuman prison. In "We Can Be Heroes", scientist Dr. Hampton kidnaps Livewire in an attempt to steal her powers and create an army of electricity-powered super-soldiers, but she escapes with Supergirl's help and they form a truce.[18] In "Fort Rozz", Livewire agrees to help Supergirl and Psi on a mission to the titular prison to gather information on Reign and later dies saving Supergirl.

Film

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Video games

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Miscellaneous

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 182. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Livewire Voices (Superman)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved October 10, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  3. ^ Greenberger, Robert; Pasko, Martin (2010). The Essential Superman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. p. 213. ISBN 978-0-345-50108-0.
  4. ^ Action Comics #842 (October 2006). DC Comics.
  5. ^ Action Comics #843 (November 2006). DC Comics.
  6. ^ Batgirl vol. 2 #4 (January 2010). DC Comics.
  7. ^ Justice Society of America vol. 3 #41
  8. ^ Superman #711. DC Comics.
  9. ^ Superman #714 (October 2011). DC Comics.
  10. ^ Justice League (vol. 2) #30. DC Comics.
  11. ^ Batgirl (vol. 4) #41. DC Comics.
  12. ^ Batgirl (vol. 4) #42. DC Comics.
  13. ^ Batman: The Animated Series episode "Girls' Night Out"
  14. ^ Fazal, Zehra (July 6, 2023). "Zehra Fazal on Instagram: "TONIGHT!!! My Adventures with Superman premieres tonight, midnight on @adultswim, next day on @streamonmax Super-charged to announce I play Leslie Willis aka LIVEWIRE. ⚡️⚡️⚡️". Instagram. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  15. ^ Al Septien, Turi Meyer (writers) & Tom Welling (director) (2009-05-07). "Injustice". Smallville. Season 8. Episode 21. The CW.
  16. ^ "Newsarama | GamesRadar+". Newsarama.
  17. ^ Prudom, Laura (August 12, 2015). "'Supergirl' Casts 'True Blood' Alum as DC Comics Villain Livewire (Exclusive)". Variety.
  18. ^ "Supergirl - Episode 2.10 - We Can Be Heroes - Press Release". SpoilerTV. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
  19. ^ Eisen, Andrew (October 2, 2013). "DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide". IGN. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
  20. ^ "Lego DC Super-Villains Screens Reveal New Details". GAMING.
  21. ^ DC Universe Online: Legends #9 (August 2001)
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