Future State: what to expect from the next DC event (hint: not a reboot)

DC has told us more about the Future State event in January and February than you may r💃ealize

(Image credit: DC)

DC as a publisher may like to keep their publishing plans close to the vest, but longtime readers and observers know they also love to foreshadow their plans in seemꦓingly innocuous and often seemingly unrelated (but very deliberate) 'installments.'

In other words, DC likes to reဣveal what's coming up on layaway.

Publisher/chief creative officer Jim Lee recently made a news payment in his fan Q&As during part two of DC Fandome. Lee chose a question and answered it in a way to make it very clear the rumored and so-called '5G' reboot that was seemingly to be the culmination of the original incarnation of the 'Generations' event (a fixation of the industry rumor mill early this year) was "not going to happen." 

Whether '5G' was ever a fully-greenlighted publishing plan we may never know. And exactly the reasons why and🐻 sequence of events surrounding the exit of co-publisher Dan DiDio and the subsequent shelving of the 'Generations' project in its original form we may also never know. But for whatever their reasons, DC wants its readers to know this:

THERE. WILL. NOT. BE. A. REBOOT.  

Perhaps the notion of readers drawing an association with the seemingly more-maligned-as-the-years-pass full reboot 'The New 52' put the fear of Dark🍷seid into DC brass, but that's neither here nor there. Because Lee's delivered-on-the-sly 'Future State' preamble𝔍 makes figuring out what the January and February 2021 event is a little easier. 

Let's put it all together, shall we?

What we already know

As clearly stated in the teaser, 'Future State' takes place in January and February. In other words, it only takes place in January and February. Not beginning in January. Not extending past February🥃.

In DC terms, that means it is finite.

- January 5's Dark Nights: Death Metal finale leads directly into 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:the 80-page Generations: Shattered #1 (which looks verꦉy much like it'll be the first of bookend chapters), that same week, which in turn l🐻eads directly into 'Future State.'

Now let's do some house cleaning. A lead-in story by Dan Jurgens in Detective Comics #1027 features Kamandi appearing in the 'original' 1939 Batman's ♑past to recruit him into an Avengers Forever-like team of time-plucked heroes at the behest of Booster Gold (who Kamandi refers to as an "old man"). The story concludes noting it will be continued in Generations: Future State #1.

Newsarama is willing to bet DC changed branding plans after that went to the printer and that there will not be a Generations: Shattered #1 and a Generations: Future State #1, but thaꦛt they're one and the same and will be published as the solicited Generations: Shattered #1.

- Shattered #1 is written by Jurgens, Andy Schmidt, and Robert Venditti, 60% of the writing team of the original incarnation of the Generations event, with the other two absent writers being Brian Michael Bendis and Joshuᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚa Williamson.

In other words, to whatever degree that previous 'Generations' event has been reimagined or reinvented after DiDio's exit, the coronavirus industry shutdown, and mass personal changes that are still occurring at DC, the two incarnations share DNA and ღare relateꦓd to 'Future State.'

What nobody noticed about the December 2020 DC solicitations

Perhaps the key to understanding the likely nature of 'Future State' is to again consider the thin💝gs DC is already trying to tell us all on the down-low.

Recalling that DC has in recent months 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:canceled a large handful of ongoing series like Batgirl, Teen Titans, Suicide Squad (a condition that won't last with a film coming up), and Hawkman, according to澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询: DC's December 2020 solicitations every single remaining core DC Universe series either c𓂃oncludes a story arc in December or isn't in a🦹 multi-month arc. 

For example:

(Image credit: DC)

And recall Aquaman was already without a regular creative team befo𝓀re the December Justice League crossover.

Add to that the surprisingly now small n❀umber of other ongoi💫ng core DCU series like Detective Comics, Nightwing, Red Hood, Superman/Batman, etc, are all in seemingly one-off stories in December.

So every mainstream DCU title has no stoꦰry baggage in January or February. A clean slaꦆte.

Again, if you know DC's M.O.🔥, you know that is no coincidence. 

So what does it mean?

What it means is observing Lee's promise not to reboot, all core DC titles will be suspen𝔍ded (temporarily, mind you) in January and February for two months of 'Future State' limited series and specials, ala the conceit of Marvel's Age of Apocalypse or DC's own DC One Million event.

Meaning the ongoing series and their numbering will be paused (not aban🌳doned) for the two months, likely to be replaced by a repurposed version of the rumored '5G' concept to some degree - 'future' versions of DC's core characters and teams, maybe set in the 'old man' Booster Gold's timeline of a not-too-distant future, or the next 'generation,' not unlike its prev♛ious 2014 event 'Future's End.'

(Image credit: DC)

Consider John Ridley and Nick Derington's Batman four-issue limited series debuting in Ja൩nuary. The project features the family of Lucius Fox and stars a Batman who is very likely a person of color, and artist Ladrönn's cover art seems to suggest a slightly more futuristic Gotham City. 

This seemingly ties into the previous rumors th🍎at the 5G B൲atman would be Luke Fox, the former Batwing. 

And not for nothing, but 🅘Batman Beyond was canceled in December. Perhaps DC has second thoughts about the idea of two future Batmans💞 in different but similar timelines co-existing.

With such stars aligning it begs the question of whether Ridley's project is in fact Future State: Batman? &🅷nbsp;

And we wouldn't put exploring past timelines during this evenꦅt past DC either. The inclusion o🃏f the 'original' 1939 Batman will almost certainly have a longer tail than just the Shattered title or titles.

🧸Then the core titles in the core timeline will resume in March with their original numbering intact with several high-profile series like Superman, Action Comics, Aquaman, and probably more (if not all) sporting new creative teams along with a likely bevy of new and/or returning ongoing titles.

Remember what♏ we said about how DC makes news in installments and everything they say publicly is deliberate. Check out this response by Batman group editor Ben Abernathy in a ♈recent about Batman post-'The Joker War' when asked when DC might reunite Batman and Robin...

"A return of Batman and Robin as a duo? Hmm…let me think on tha🔜t… " 💯he replied.

That's DC language for "expect it soon." If you know a bookmaker that will take some action on a Batman and Robin series launching in 2021, probably as early as🌊 March, consid✃er investing heavily.

(Image credit: DC)

Jim Lee's specific callout of Cassandra Cain/Orphan during another Fandome fan Q&A and her and Spoiler's story in the recent Batman: The Joker War Zone special make them characters to look out for as well.

In summary, 'Future State' won't be a precursor to a reboot (which DC really wants you to know isn't happening), but a lead-in to coordin♚ated refresh/line-wide jumping on point the publisher can market heavily without alienating existing readers and throwing the continuity bab🐼y out with the bathwater as it did with 'The New 52.' 

We should also note here, DC continuity - which during its history has been its Achilles heel and at the same time perhaps its most distinguishing feature - looks pois🅺ed to be rethought of as 'timelines.'

DC's latest narrative meta-fix seems to abandon trying to conjoin its 80-year-old history into one constantly rewritten timeline that makes 'sense,' (air quotes implied), but to embrace 'generational' 'timelines' that fully recognize their rich history as itꦇ occurred. Meaning Earth-Prime, Earth-Two, etc. will be rethought as by g💖enerational dividing points in which multiple versions of their core characters and concepts co-exist. 

So is that all?

So does that mean 'Future State' 🧜will just be a repurposed 5G-ish premise shrunk down into a two-month 'illusion of change'-style event withou♔t a long tail?

Probably not. Because there is a key aspect to DC's long-term plans we haven't mentioned yet - its 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:digital publishing strategy, now even more important with the relaunch of the repurposed DC Universe Infinite digital subscription service.

We've heard chatter, though unc🔯onfirmed, that the original designation of '5G' was something of an ironic linguistic nod to the importance of digitaꦿl to DC's future.

With the meta-machinations of Death Metal firmly e🍸stablishing multiple generational timelines can co-exist, it would make a lot of sense for the 'Future State' versions of characters to live on in a shared-continuity universe, ala Marvel's former Ultimate line, but as a digital-first/exclusive entity and compliment to the core timeline, rather than a replacement of it. 

But hey, time will tell.

(see what we did there?)

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Michael Doran

I'm not just the Newsarama founder and editor-in-chief, I'm also a reader. And that reference is just a little bit older than the beginning of my Newsarama journey. I foundedꦓ what would become the comic book news site in 1996, and except for a brief sojourn at Marvel Comics as its marketing and communications manager in 2003, I've been writing about new comic book titles, creative changes, and occasionally offering my perspective on important industry events and developments for the 25 years since. Despite many changes to Newsarama, my passion for the medium of comic books and the characters makes the last quarter-century (it's crazy to s൩ee that in writing) time spent doing what I love most.