WARNING: The following contains spoilers for "Run, Red Hood, Run," in Future State: Dark Detective #4 by Joshua Williamson, Giannis Milonogiannis, Jordie Bellaire, and Troy Peteri, on sale now.
In Future State: Dark Detective, the Red Hood's back-up story has put Jason Todd in an awkward place. The ex-Robin has flipped on vigilantes, hunting them down with Ravager, albeit he does them the small mercy of bringing them in alive. Still, he's clearly stricken by guilt for seemingly turning his back on those who he once served alongside.
And in Future State: Dark Detective #4, a lot of things change in Jason's mask-hunting life as he gets a new costume that he has some serious history with, along with a mysterious new boss to answer to.
Jason has been investigating the Red Hood gang, eager to find out who placed Mad Hatter's mind-control equipment in their old-school Red Hood helmets. But while trying to get insight from one of the young men working in the gang, Ravager murdered the teen. However, Jason's inaction triggered the Magistrate's drones, and they're now hunting him down for trying to aid the criminal.
He bolts, thinking Ravager would want to cash the bounty in too. However, his priority is getting into the belly of the beast, because as a teen who was once at-risk, Jason doesn't want to see anyone exploited. He puts the helmet on, and it leads him to White Rabbit's lair. She betrayed the Hatter and retrofitted the gear before selling it to the Magistrate. However, she cut ranks after upgrading the tech as she just couldn't stand authority, which is why Peacekeepers want her dead now.
She's got evidence linking back to the corrupt Magistrate, and Rabbit orders Jason to kill Ravager once she tracks him down. He can't resist, with the helmet also unlocking combat skills he didn't have. Despite the circumstances, it's fitting seeing Jason wearing the helmet he first stole from the Joker and turned into part of his first Red Hood costume.
But Ravager's as resourceful as ever, cracking the helmet and freeing him. The Magistrate's drones attack, though, killing Rabbit and her crew, but Ravager claims him as her bounty, just as they're about to shoot up Jason. She then clears the issue up with the Peacekeepers, and Jason goes free as they think he was playing a game all along to get to Rabbit. While Ravager heads out to wrap up loose ends and sneak off to Deathstroke's island, Red Hood's called over to an alley.
He talks to a mysterious presence in the shadows who makes it clear he has to stay undercover until the job's done. So just like Spoiler, Jason wasn't a traitor; he was a double agent, planted to infiltrate pro-Magistrate forces for information. While it's not entirely clear who he's working for, Nightwing was running the show for the other sidekicks since everyone thought Bruce Wayne was dead. But when Jason jokes about the sun coming up and the person not being able to be in the light, it suggests maybe Bruce trusted him alone to know that Batman was still secretly operating.
While the Future State era might be over for most of DC's heroes, this Jason Todd will continue to ride on in an upcoming series where his mysterious commander my be unveiled.
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