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Born at the turn of the twentieth century,
Divis Mal was present at the "Hammersmith" incident in 1922. The incident turned him into something beyond human.. the first of a new breed of creatures known as "Novas". His early life was spent adventuring with the Aeon society, defeating larger than life villains and crazy schemes. By the 40's however his incredible powers and arrogance had formed a wedge between the society and Divis Mal. His oldest friends turned on him in a battle that sent him into hiding for another 50 years. Worse, it alienated his one beloved, the time traveller Max Mercer.
By the 1990's Divis Mal had completed his master plan. Humanity was obsolete, he would create the new gods. Other beings like himself. He flooded the world with Quantum energy and acted as the shepherd to the new generation of Novas that emerged.
Divis Mal was incredibly powerful. His quantum energies had pushed him beyond human in every conceivable manner. His mind was smarter than the greatest of humanity, his charisma was enough to sway nations, and his physical prowess was enough to shake continents. Beyond that, he had incredible powers, he could create energy fields out of startling green plasma, fly faster than sound, freeze opponents in stasis. With effort and time, he could do almost anything. While the new Novas played the part of Superheroes, Divis Mal knew that they were truly becoming gods.
EDIT: Divis Mal has a thing about free choice. He doesn't kill unless it's really necessary, he hates overriding the wills of others and he will happily engage in debate rather than combat. Smiling Jack may actually primarily be helpful to keep him focussed.