After the crossover event Dark Nights: Death Metal finishes up, the DC Universe will be consumed by a two-month, line-wide publishing initiative Future State. The upcoming event will see a whole host of comic book creators crafting a line of anthologies, one-shot specials and miniseries that has the next generation of heroes step up to take on the iconic mantles of the DC Universe and provide a look at its possible futures.
Now, here is a quick overview of all the major possibilities provided in the first wave of information about DC's ambitious new event, grouped by what's in store for the corners of the DCU defined by Batman, Superman and the rest of the Justice League.
Batman Family
A villainous totalitarian regime known as the Magistrate has taken over Gotham City, outlawing all vigilantes with Batman evidently killed as this ruling power rose to form a new police state. While the oversized anthology The Next Batman features new and reimagined heroes taking on the Magistrate, led by the brutal Peacekeeper One, a separate anthology Dark Detective reveals that Bruce Wayne has indeed survived to continue the fight for his city.
The four-issue The Next Batman will feature a lead story by John Ridley, Nick Derington and Laura Braga, an Outsiders story by Brandon Thomas and Sumit Kumar headlined by Katana, "Arkham Knights" by Paul Jenkins and Jack Herbert, "Batgirls" by Vita Ayala and Aneke featuring Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown and "Gotham City Sirens" by Paula Sevenbergen and Emanuela Lupacchino. The four-issue Dark Detective features a lead story by Mariko Tamaki and Dan Mora, "Grifters" by Matthew Rosenberg and Carmine di Giandomenico and "Red Hood" by Joshua Williamson and Giannis Milonogiannis.
Two-issue miniseries for the Bat-Family include a Batman/Superman title by Gene Luen Yang and Ben Oliver, Catwoman by Ram V and Otto Schmidt, Harley Quinn by Stephanie Phillips and Simone Di Meo, Nightwing by Andrew Constant and Nicola Scott and Robin Eternal by Meghan Fitzmartin and Eddy Barrows.
Superman Family
After becoming involved in an international incident, Clark Kent is ousted from his adopted home while his son Jon takes on the mantle of Earth's Superman. While Jon controversially bottles Metropolis to keep it safe, his father continues to keep the cosmos safe by taking on Mongul as the new leader of Warworld. Meanwhile, a Brazilian faction of the Amazons finds their own Wonder Woman in Yara Flor to serve as their champion.
The two-issue oversized anthology Superman of Metropolis features a lead story by Sean Lewis and John Timms, "The Guardian" by Lewis and Cully Hamner and "Mister Miracle" by Brandon Easton and Valentine De Landro focused on the Shilo Norman iteration of the New God escape artist tying Clark's adventure to his son's. The four-issue anthology Superman: Worlds at War has a lead story by Philip Kennedy Johnson and Mikel Janin, "Midnighter" by Becky Cloonan, Michael W. Conrad and Gleb Melnikov, "Black Racer" by Jeremy Adams and Siya Oum and another Mister Miracle story by Easton and De Landro. The two-issue anthology Immortal Wonder Woman contains a lead story by Cloonan, Conrad and Jen Bartel and a Nubia story by L.L. McKinney, Alitha E. Martinez and Mark Morales.
Two-issue miniseries released as part of Superman Family titles include Kara Zor-El, Superwoman by Marguerite Bennett and Marguerite Sauvage, Legion of Super-Heroes by Brian Michael Bendis and Riley Rossmo, Superman/Wonder Woman by Dan Watters and Leila Del Duca and Wonder Woman by Joelle Jones. Superman vs. Imperious Lex by Mark Russell and Steve Pugh will run for three issues, while the one-shot House of El by Philip Kennedy Johnson and Scott Godlewski will go sale in February.
Justice League Family
The Justice League has new legacy heroes step up to lead the latest iteration of the DCU's premier superteam taking on an evolved, old enemy who leaves some of the team's famous villains dead in the Hall of Justice and targets many of the heroes' sources of power to put them off-balance. The core story is told in a trilogy of two-issue anthology miniseries: Justice League, Green Lantern and Suicide Squad, with a two-issue miniseries by single creative teams.
Justice League features a lead story by Joshua Williamson and Robson Rocha and a Justice League Dark story by Ram V and Marcio Takara, with the supernatural team hunted by dark forces. Green Lantern has "Last Lanterns" by Geoffrey Thorne and Tom Raney following John Stewart lead his fellow Lanterns with depowered rings while "Tales of the Green Lantern Corps" by Josie Campbell, Ryan Cady, Ernie Altbacker, Sami Basri and Clayton Henry follows Jessica Cruz, Guy Gardner and more. Suicide Squad has a lead story by Robbie Thompson and Javi Fernandez with Amanda Waller leading her team on Earth-3 -- with Conner Kent as the field leader -- and a Black Adam story by Jeremy Adams and Fernando Pasarin.
A line of two-issue miniseries under the Justice League banner includes Aquaman by Brandon Thomas and Daniel Sampere featuring a team-up between Jackson Hyde and Andy Curry, The Flash by Brandon Vietti and Dale Eaglesham as Barry Allen loses his connection to the Speed Force while Wally West becomes corrupted, Teen Titans by Tim Sheridan and Rafa Sandoval with the old guard training a new generation of young superheroes, Shazam! by Sheridan and Eduardo Pansica splitting Billy Batson from his alter ego and Swamp Thing by Ram V and Mike Perkins as a future avatar of the Green attempts to submit humanity under his rule.