Can someone please explain "Cadmus"

[HarleyFan#1]

Hi all, I've been trying to keep up with the new JLU episodes, but work and school has been preventing me from doing so.
I've been seeing episodes out of order and I keep hearing about Cadmus.
I understand that its a plot to destory the justice league by the government, but can someone please explain it a little more in depth?

[Dens Maris]

Cadmus is a shadow organization formed in response to the threat of the Justice Lords- to gain Luthor's pardon in "A Better World", Superman had to tell the government everything about their adventure. Hearing about what the Justice Lords did caused the government to distrust the Justice League, fearing a repeat of what happened with the Justice Lords (in their dimension, The Flash was killed, presumably by Luthor, who as President instigated a world war; before he could literally touch the red button, though, Luthor was killed by Superman in the Oval Office, and the Justice Lords overthrew the United States government and installed their own fascist regime).

The government has allegedly been conducting experiments on metahumans "for decades" (General Hardcastle confirmed this in "Fearful Symmetry"), but whether Cadmus stems from that or not, I don't know. Cadmus comprises a huge amount of projects, though. From what we've seen, they were behind the creation of the Ultimen, the cloning of Supergirl (Galatea), Doomsday, Task Force X and the theft of the Annihilator, and a wide number of secret projects designed for "defense" against the Justice League. It seems that they go for the "best defense = good offense" approach, though, if "Clash" is to be any indication.

Some of the higher-ups in Cadmus include Amanda Waller, General Eiling, Dr. Hamilton, Hugo Strange, Tala, and Lex Luthor (apparently?). Waller is the one with the most muscle to it, though- at least, she's the one who seems to be calling most of the shots. We don't know who the leader of Cadmus is or if there even is one. Some people speculate it's Vandal Savage behind the whole thing, but that's mere theory, and isn't he incarcerated in Kasnia still?

Hope this helped- if there are any holes in there, I'm sure some kind sage can fill them in.

[Bones Justice]

You've got the basic idea right. Project Cadmus is a government organization but they have their fingers in a lot of questionable activities:


They created the Ultimen, a group of super-powered beings created in a lab. In that particular episode, the Ultimen themselve do not know they are not human beings until they overhear that they are dying and new copies of themselves are being created to replace them. The project leader, Amanda Waller, has as much as stated she knows Batman's secret identity but hasn't played that card -- yet.


Also:


The incorporate a lot of villains to do their bidding. This ranges from the super-powered being Doomsday (who they may have also created in a lab and brainwashed into wanting to destroy Superman) to "mad" scientists, to wizards, many of whom have tangled with the League or individual heroes before. Other evil deeds include cloning an unwitting Supergirl and training the clone to be an assassin, nearly nuking an inhabited island, and successfully stealing a magically powered killing automaton from the JLU Watchtower.


Where their funds come from and how much endorsement Cadmus has from the official government has yet to be seen. Some of the members of Cadmus have good intentions even though they themselves are not above committing illegal actions, ie. "the ends justify the means". Other members of Cadmus are outright criminals or villains who are only co-operating because the alternative is death-row / execution for previous crimes.

And lest I forget:


In the latest episode, Clash, it appears that Lex Luthor has teamed up or even joined Project Cadmus. I personally think he is only trying to use them to become president of the United States. Likewise, I think Cadmus is only helping Luthor because they want the president in their pocket.

[HarleyFan#1]

Thanks Den Maris and Bones Justice for clearing that up, I cant wait to see the rest of this season.

[Raven2099]

Wasn't Dr. Hamilton helpful to Superman at STAR Labs in S:TAS?

[Dens Maris]

He was. The events of "Legacy" led to a falling-out between the two, though.

[JLU Dude]

Some people speculate it's Vandal Savage behind the whole thing, but that's mere theory, and isn't he incarcerated in Kasnia still?
In Hereafter, the future Vandal Savage said that he'd steal a piece of white dwarf star matter from Ray Palmer. Shortly after Superman returned to the present and saved Batman from Deadshot (And kicked Lobo out of the League:p ), they went off to stop the robbery, which was successful since A) We saw time change at the end with the wasteland replaced with a more hi-tech Sci-Fi setting and B) The matter piece put to better use since Palmer is the Atom.