WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the story "Outsiders: Finale" from Future State: The Next Batman #3 by Brandon Thomas, Sumit Kumar, Raul Fernandez, Jordie Bellaire & Steven Wands, on sale now
The Magistrate effectively controls all of Gotham City in the era of Future State, with only a handful of holdout heroes resisting his rule. However, public enemy one Duke Thomas just reteamed with one of his old Outsiders teammates to form an intimidating new partnership to deal with his attacks.
Black Lightning just returned to Gotham, and he joins Signal to form a brand-new dynamic duo that could be crucial in the fight against the Magistrate in a back-up story in Future State: The Next Batman #3.
Under the Magistrate's rule, almost all of the masked heroes have either been forced into hiding or on the run. Although Bruce Wayne is still operating, both him and the original Batman have supposedly been killed. One of the few modern heroes still active in Gotham is Duke Thomas, the Signal. Now a major figure speaking out against Magistrate while helping dissidents escape the Gotham city limits, Signal has gained considerable notoriety within the city. This is why the Magistrate sends a spy among a group of refugees from the city, with the intent of capturing Duke. Luckily, he's remained in contact with his old ally Katana and Black Lightning, who's been mysteriously converted into a pure energy form thanks to some undisclosed magical encounter.
In his new form, Black Lightning proves to be the ultimate trump-card for Duke and Katana, reforging Katana's Soultaker Sword with his powers and even becoming her new living electrical blade. After the trio works together to bring down the Magistrate's agents, Duke vows to find a way to help restore his old mentor to his human form, hinting that one of his remaining allies in Gotham might be the key to giving Black Lightning his original body back. Taking one of Katana's swords as a vessel for Black Lightning, Signal makes his way back into Gotham, with Black Lighting erupting out of the blade as his partner. With Signal having established himself as one of Gotham's most important remaining heroes, these two form a new kind of dynamic duo, with a dynamic that matches that of Johnny -- or Jakeem -- Thunder and his Thunderbolt more than Batman and Robin.
Black Lightning's powers make him almost unstoppable, especially in his electrical form. Coupled with Duke's surprisingly large collection of vehicles and gadgets, as well as his extensive knowledge of Gotham City, the pair could be the ultimate counter to the Magistrate's control. The Magistrate's reliance on technology makes Black Lightning's unleashed power all the more potent since he could help level the playing field and even disrupt the various robotic upgrades and legions of drones that the Peacekeepers use to enforce the Magistrate's rule.
With so much of the Magistrate's control relying on technology and surveillance, having someone who could control electricity could be the perfect way to create an opening for some force, such as the Arkham Knights, to do some real damage to the Magistrate's forces. Duke returning to the city with even more power behind him could help him further inspire the city, as he's been doing across Gotham already. The Gotham of Future State's newest heroic partnership might be the best new hope for the city. And with any luck, these Outsiders could turn out to be key factors in both Batman and the Dark Detective attempts to bring down the Magistrate.