Contains spoilers for Are You Afraid of Darkseid? #1
The Phantom Stranger is one of the most mysterious characters in the DC Universe, a ghostly figure weaving his way in and out of the lives of Superman and other heroes. Now, a new Halloween story has revealed the Phantom Stranger is the reason why Superman and the rest of the Justice League will always be able to save the world. The Phantom Stranger’s secret is revealed in the short story “The Endless Staircase,” appearing in Are You Afraid of Darkseid? #1, on sale now in print and digital.
Are You Afraid of Darkseid? is a special one-shot celebrating the Halloween season, featuring the heroes and villains of the DC Universe in a variety of horror-themed stories told by the Teen Titans. In “The Endless Staircase,” writers Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing, along with artist Jesus Hervas, colorist Eva de la Cruz and letterer Clem Robins, shine a light on one of DC’s most enigmatic figures: the Phantom Stranger. For nearly 70 years, the Phantom Stranger has assisted Superman, the Justice League and the rest with supernatural threats. Very little is known about the Phantom Stranger; his origin is shrouded in mystery, with contradictory accounts circulating. “The Endless Staircase” greatly expands the Phantom Stranger’s role in the DC Universe, making him its greatest equalizer.
Throughout the story, the Phantom Stranger appears to seemingly random people and groups throughout space and time. He escorts them up the Endless Staircase, taking them to some unspecified fate - presumably a form of afterlife, given he invites many to "Come home." As the story develops, it becomes clear that every person the Stranger is taking up the Staircase was on the path to becoming a grave threat, whether they realized it or not. For instance, the Stranger comes for a comic book artist with the power (totally unbeknownst to him) to destroy the multiverse. In another example, a small town develop abilities (through no fault of their own) that would have greatly upset the balance of magic in the DC Universe, so the Stranger escorts them all into oblivion. It's made clear he operates throughout reality, even guiding an insectoid alien queen up the staircase.
The suggestion is that the Phantom Stranger deals with those who would pose an unassailable threat to DC's superheroes - the beings who would actually succeed in destroying reality - and has an accurate idea of likely future events. But the fact that the Phantom Stranger didn't deal with Joker, Lex Luthor, or Darkseid before they became major threats implies that while they're incredibly deadly to individual people, even planets, they'll never actually succeed in utterly destroying reality - not because they're not capable of doing so, but simply because they'll be stopped before they can.
The story hints that for the threats the Phantom Stranger is dealing with, there is no hope that Superman and his allies can stop them, thus necessitating his intervention. Many of the people the Stranger takes to the Staircase are not even aware of how dangerous they are, and some are taken as children. Such a mysterious modus operandi fits with a character such as the Phantom Stranger, who in many of his appearances deals with dire threats to existence, ones beyond the capability of other DC heroes. But if the Stranger really does take on the burden of preventing these unconquerable threats, that implies that Superman and DC's other heroes are left to deal with the challenges and villains they can actually handle (something that actually meshes with their comic history - Crises and retcons aside, reality remains intact.)
It's a tantalizing suggestion, positioning DC's magical heroes as the true protectors of reality, though the story isn't so explicit that other conclusions can't be drawn. Crucially, the short story is presented as a fireside tale, though the rules of DC's magic mean that it's still eminently possible it's true (knowledge of the Phantom Stranger tends to be shared in weird ways, given he can never truly be known or understood.) Superman is undoubtedly a hero, but "The Staircase" suggests that the Phantom Stranger is his greatest unseen ally, quietly dispatching those threats that the Man of Steel wouldn't be able to handle.