Why did Hamilton hesitate to help Supergirl anyway? STAS Legacy to JLU

[Antiyonder]

The reason he gave was that it would be considered an act of treason, that just didn't hold up to me. Surely he knew that Superman is capable of being controlled (Especially with Darkseid involved), and if he considered Superman a friend, he would've given him the benefit of the doubt.

Only reason I can think of is the instance with out of control Kryptonian (Jax-Ur and Mala) and that Lois might have told him about her time in that other dimension (Brave New Metropolis).

Any opinions?

[Livy1213]

I don't think it had anything to do with if Superman was responsible for his own actions or not. Hamilton was only worried about his own butt in regards to the government prosecuting him if they found out he helped Superman while he was a wanted man.

[Anwar]

Supes could've just told Hamilton to tell the cops he did it under threat of force or something. Seeing as that's what happened...

Then Hamilton wouldn't have had to worry about treason.

[Wonderwall]

Supes could've just told Hamilton to tell the cops he did it under threat of force or something. Seeing as that's what happened...

Then Hamilton wouldn't have had to worry about treason.

I don't think that would've flown. Superman's word wasn't exactly trustworthy at the time. Hamilton would have still been prosecuted, he's still breaking the law afterall. Im guesing he struck some sort of deal by helping with the foundation of Cadmus.

[Livy1213]

I don't think that would've flown. Superman's word wasn't exactly trustworthy at the time. Hamilton would have still been prosecuted, he's still breaking the law afterall. Im guesing he struck some sort of deal by helping with the foundation of Cadmus.
I don't think so. In Question Authority Superman asked Hamilton when Cadmus recruited him. Hamilton said he volunteered.

After Legacy the government must have decided to give Superman the benifit of the doubt (considering the fact he's saved the world a lot) and pardoned him. But really Hardcastle had no right to capture Supergirl in the first place since she didn't do anything. If the government tried to prosecute, with a good lawyer, I'm sure Hamilton could get off since he helped Supergirl not Superman would was the criminal at the time.

[sdp]

I remember reading/hearing maybe ona commentary how hamilton became a 'traitor' to superman, he trully was afraid of metahumans. This all started unintentionally but they liked it.

[Livy1213]

I listened to the commentary of Legacy Part 2 and apearantly the creators have all hated Hamilton since the begining. :anime:

[1D_]

Hamilton was only worried about his own butt in regards to the government prosecuting him if they found out he helped Superman while he was a wanted man.
I agree. Hamilton's a coward(or at least he became one in Legacy). I think Legacy flows perfect with Cadmus. Supergirl is out on a table with a mask on while Superman is is sitting up and they are talking to him. I guess they knew there was no point talking to Supergirl. Your right they had no reason to capture Supergirl. Supergirl was the only hero trying to stop the invasion.

[Antiyonder]

1. So in other words, his befriending of Superman was more of a benefit than true friendship (i.e. Jimmy and Lois).

2. After Superman flew off in Questioning Authority, Hamilton shows a bit of sadness. Would it be guilt, or was he hoping Superman wouldn't have found him involved with Cadmus.

[Donomark]

Livi1213 makes a good point. Supergirl toom it upon herself to try and reason with the brainwashed Superman, yet Hamilton still refuses to help her. This seems out of character, since not only has he seen Superman fight Jax-Ur and Mala before, but he's seen Superman throw a fit after Darkseid killed Dan Turpin. (He may not have been in Metropolis at the time, but it was all over the news. And IIRC, he did attend the funeral.) It really shows that Hamilton is either:

A) A wuss who looks out for himself,

B) A Metahuman-phobe,

C) He thought Superman could still have been under Darkseid's command when he threatened him at Starlabs, or...

D) Had his world blown when Superman attacked Earth and permanently believed that Metahumans were a threat.

Now the obvious answer is that the writers just didn't like Hamilton at all and wrote a way for him to come off as a coward. But it's illogical since in the past he had tried to help Superman on a number of occasions before. He helped him with the Prometheon, and I think Jax-Ur and Mala, though I haven't seen that episode in a while. The main thing is that Supergirl tried to stop Superman, and when she got shot he refused to help her.

Here's one thing though: Take into account that despite a number of superheroes that have appeared in Metropolis, none of them BUT Supergirl went to stop Superman. Steel, Dr.Fate, Flash, Green Lantern, Batman, and the New Gods. Now, once again using logic, the only one who could have likely shown up was Steel since he was the only one who did live in Metropolis. Kyle Rayner may have been immediatley recruited after he became a Lantern, and Dr. Fate was never explixcitly stated to have lived in Metropolis. So that may be another reason why Hamilton disliked the metas so much.

[Anwar]

Superman's attack was worldwide, not just in Metropolis. The other Metas were probably fighting off the forces elsewhere. Lik ehow the JLU members were fightign Thanagarians elsewhere.

[thanos28542]

Steel still shouda shown up since he's from Metropolis & Flash coulda zoomed in from Central city as well.

As for Hamilton, he just got scared of Supes & figured he'd get in trouble if he helped Supergirl.

So yeah, he's a wimp!

[CBright7831]

1. So in other words, his befriending of Superman was more of a benefit than true friendship (i.e. Jimmy and Lois).

2. After Superman flew off in Questioning Authority, Hamilton shows a bit of sadness. Would it be guilt, or was he hoping Superman wouldn't have found him involved with Cadmus.
He was probably a little scared of Superman. That seemed like a "Thank God that's over and he's gone" sigh.

[John Cage]

He was probably afraid of aiding and abetting Superman, even if that meant helping Supergirl who was technically innocent, but since she's Superman's "cousin" and for all intents and purposes Kryptonian coupled with the fact that Superman seemed to be rampaging on his own accord -- Lex could've easily convinced folks that this was Superman's plan all along -- she was probably assumed to have been in league with Superman save for the handful of people who saw her try and stop him.

And as much as I wish there was some follow-up with Hamilton in JLU's final season, having him show up in "Fearful Symmetry" like "Legacy" didn't happen and then reveal it was all an act more than makes up for it.

Have a good day.
John Cage

[murmur]

Like Donovan suggests in his fourth theory, Hamilton's world view certainly did get blown wide open. And what about the notion that Hamilton is just a really conservative, law-abiding guy? He probably could get off on criminal charges by blaming Superman (self-defense), but that doesn't mean he would avoid doing what he believed to be illegal (not to mention that he could easily also be blacklisted by the government or his collegues). One gets the impression that Hamilton was never really turned on by the excitement of Superman's world and preferred to be a stereotypical reclusive scientist, but nonetheless helped Superman because it was generally the right thing to do and was a major scientific opportunity. Any indication that Hamilton was associated with someone going off the deep end would certainly throw him.

All that being said, I think he probably would have done the right thing and chosen to help Supergirl anyway without threats if Superman explained the situation better and asked for his help as a friend. Hell, even if Superman just flew off, I somehow just don't see Hamilton letting her die on the table. It's not like Hamilton was being truly antagonistic, or said he had decided not to help, he was just being honest with his issues. In fact, Hamilton may not have ripped off Kara's DNA without Superman's threats. But Supes had neither the time nor the patience to communicate properly and wound up scaring the bejeezus out of Hamilton.

I'm not defending Hamilton's actions in JLU, which appear the result of his fearful obsessions running amuck. But I don't think I'd pan the guy too terribly for hesitating in Legacy, and give him the benefit of the doubt that he would have saved Supergirl in the end, regardless. And getting a little Kryptonian DNA just in case after getting threatened by Superman is just good sense. Making clones with that DNA is where I draw the line!

Oh, and I do think we saw a bit of remorse in Hamilton at the end of "Question Authority," even if it was mixed with a bit of relief at being alive after an enounter with an angry Superman. The guy gave in to his fears and did some really foolish and destructive things, but he still has a conscience. He had felt betrayed by Superman, but at the end of that encounter, even Hamilton's narrow but brilliant mind may have started to realize that he betrayed Superman far more delibarately.