The best thing about DC Comics' Rebirth era has been the return to the feeling of a classic and timeless DC Universe and the return of many characters that didn’t have the best of time during the New 52 era. Whenever someone comes back — especially if they haven’t been around for a good few years — it feels like another piece of the puzzle has been added, showing a bit more of the final picture.

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Wally West, Ryan Choi, Ted Kord -- these are all characters that make the DC Universe feel like a living, breathing place. In a couple of months, another fan-favorite character is making his DC Rebirth return, as Booster Gold arrives in the pages of Action Comics to help Superman deal with his mad dad’s time-bending schemes.

Out of Time

The New 52 was a weird era for Booster Gold, even more than most DC characters. Prior to the relaunch, the character had finally found his niche as The Greatest Hero The World Will Never Know; traveling back and forth through time to make sure everything happens as it was supposed to, while keeping up the facade of the narcissistic, self-absorbed hero everyone knew him to be in the present so that his time-traveling enemies would never suspect he was actually the one foiling their plots. He found a new family in the form of his ancestor Daniel Carter (AKA Supernova), his resurrected sister Michelle (AKA Goldstar) and Rip Hunter, who turned out to be Booster’s own son.

The New 52 did away with most of that and brought back a more traditional Booster as part of the new-for-the-first-time Justice League International. While still a hero, this Booster was seen as a joke by much of the superhero community, and only Batman really saw his true potential. Then, as Justice League International was canceled, a future version of Booster Gold — looking more grizzled and decked out in an ARGUS variant of his costume — arrived to warn the present day Booster that Superman and Wonder Woman had to be stopped from hooking up, but was too late, and both Boosters vanished in the blink of an eye.

This is where things get confusing. During the Future’s End event, it was discovered that the future Booster Gold wasn’t actually from the future, but was a survivor from the pre-Flashpoint universe that was remade into The New 52. He teamed up with his past self and the Zero Hour incarnation of Blue Beetle during the Convergence event, and ultimately sacrificed himself to save the timestream. However, he was reborn as the cosmically powered guardian of space-and-time known as Waverider and played a pivotal role in saving the past and the resurrection of the infinite multiverse.

Whew.

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Daddy Issues

So, what does Jor-El have to do with this? In last week’s issue of Action Comics, Superman’s father — recently revealed as the mysterious Mr. Oz — revealed his plan to take Superman, Lois and their son Jon away from Earth, which he believes to be beyond saving and unworthy of the effort and love that Superman gives it. In the issue’s closing moments, Jor-El revealed to his grandson a plan to take them all to a world much better than Earth, where everyone is special and no-one needs to hide who they are.

Action-Comics-Jor-El-Future

The world shown in Jor-El’s vision immediately brings to mind thoughts of the Legion of Super-Heroes, but there are no recognizable Legion members in the assembled heroes. It is however, recognizable as the future, which is where Booster Gold will likely come in. One of Mr. Oz’s many followers is seen to be overseeing a large energy weapon which will wipe out Metropolis, but there’s a chance it could do more than that. Mr. Oz’s plan seems to be to change history itself to create a better Earth — or something in its place — where the House of El can live happily together, though it’s unlikely his son is going to see it that way. It seems that the future will play a large role in Jor-El’s plan but it’s a future we’ve never seen before in DC Comics, one that could have a major impact on the larger mysteries of DC Rebirth.

No Future

The future in the DC Universe is in flux, particularly the 31st century. Currently in DC continuity there are two competing 31st centuries that are both canon, but cannot exist simultaneously. There’s the traditional Legion of Super-Heroes future which has links to the present through the currently incarcerated in Arkham Asylum Saturn Girl, and Phantom Girl, who is about to make her Rebirth debut as a member of The Terrifics. However, there’s also the world of Justice League 3000 where future versions of the classic Justice League are reborn in new bodies, and currently have a link to the DC present as The Flash and Robin of that timeline are currently supporting characters Blue Beetle.

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Booster Gold is a character with a link to both of those futures. One of his main weapons is a Legion Flight Ring, stolen from the museum in which he worked at as a janitor. But the classic late-eighties incarnation of Blue Beetle and Booster Gold were featured in Justice League 3000, which leads leads us to the inevitable question of, “Which Booster Gold is this?” Is it the classic Blue and Gold version from Justice League International and Justice League 3000? Is it the The New 52 version, who hasn’t been seen since — of all places — a crossover with The Flintstones? Is it a surviving pre-Flashpoint version that didn’t become Waverider? Or, is it a new version that — in the vein of DC Rebirth — attempts to streamline all the Boosters into one ur-Booster so readers don’t need to worry about which Booster they’re reading about?

Whatever the case may be, Booster’s mission to save the timestream and the future from Mr. Oz’s machinations could have major effects felt throughout the DC Universe and finally clear up which future is supposed to be the “main” future for Earth-0. With signs pointing to the Legion of Super-Heroes returning in a big way in the near future, it’s likely that their future will win out but anything can happen in the DC Universe and we may even get a Justice League 3000 vs Legion of Super-Heroes clash to settle things once and for all. Whenever Booster Gold is around, things don’t quite go to plan and when time-travel is involved, all bets are off.