Warning: spoilers ahead for Suicide Squad #2!
In the latest issue of DC Comics' Suicide Squad, the clone of Superman and Lex Luthor known as Conner Kent, aka Superboy, has been infected with Kryptonite. Having been forcibly recruited into Amanda Waller's Task Force X against his will, Superboy is under orders alongside incarcerated criminals to do the bidding of the US Government, despite not being a criminal himself. However, due to his status as clone, it seems as though Waller feels justified in using him however she sees fit, and her means to keep him under control is incredibly deadly.
Thanks to DC Comics' recent Future State event, fans know that this new series from Robbie Thompson and Eduardo Pansica is sowing the seeds for the potential future that was depicted for Task Force X, one where Amanda Waller abandons Earth-Prime in favor of saving Earth-3, a world in such disarray and turmoil that it welcomed Waller's new Justice Squad with open arms, completely tolerant of her brutal and often immoral methods due to its desperate desire for peace. Future State also saw Superboy leading Waller's team as a new Superman, and Suicide Squad #2 shows just how much control she already has over him years prior, in the present.
In the new issue, Waller is forced to send reinforcements to aid Peacemaker's team and their infiltration of Arkham Asylum, as they happened to break in at the same time as the attack on the facility Gotham has since referred to as A-Day. While Superboy is among the support team, he tries to ignore Waller's orders, wanting to save the innocents trapped by the Joker gas flooding the asylum. However, Waller reveals her means of keeping Conner in line, and it's not the traditional neck bomb that's usually implanted in members of her task force. Instead, Conner's device sends a jolt of kryptonite-charged electricity coursing through his body, incapacitating him and requiring an injection from Waller herself to keep him alive.
Sadly, it looks as though Conner Kent has no choice but to follow orders as an agent of Waller, despite his wishes to be a hero. It's a dark situation that he never asked for and definitely doesn't deserve, though it's one he'll hopefully be able to escape before the events of Future State come to pass, where Waller forces him to be a Superman to an incredibly dark and chaotic world with no way out. Thankfully, that future is only a potential one and not yet set in stone, so there's currently still hope for Superboy in the present.
Amanda Waller injecting Conner Kent's Superboy with kryptonite is incredibly dark, and it also implies that she could technically use this same method on any Kryptonian she might get her hands on such as Supergirl, Jon Kent's Superboy, or even the original Man of Steel himself. Here's hoping Superboy will be able to find a way to break free from the Suicide Squad's control in upcoming issues from DC Comics.