The 5G reboot of DC Comics is dead yet its influence is still important for the future of DC Comics. 5G stands for Generation Five, an initially rumored reboot of the DC Comics Universe. 5G was the then brainchild of publisher Dan Didio that would have centered on Jace Fox (Lucius Fox’s son) replacing Bruce Wayne as Batman, Jon Kent replacing Clark Kent as Superman, and Yara Flor replacing Diana as Wonder Woman and more, as well as aging the main cast of characters. 5G has been seemingly abandoned but its presence is currently felt in the DC Universe right now.
5G was an initiative that DiDio himself championed. In a YouTube interview, DiDio remarked, “[I]t was a long-term plan featuring a lot of the key, recognizable characters, and a long-term evolution over years that had been thought out." Yet, DiDio was fired before 5G was implemented. DiDio was a controversial individual, accused of being abrasive although remarkably critical to DC’s projects. It’s impossible to pull the history of 5G away from the internal challenges of the DC workplace—yet, the wave of firings and resignations are too many to be recapped here.
DC has been facing huge pressures in recent years. AT&T’s purchase of WarnerMedia created financial challenges and has kept the parent company under the watchful eye of Wall Street pundits. The pressure for each of their divisions to show clear profit has peaked. While DC’s contribution to the large picture is quite small, DC is needing a strategy to ensure long-term success. Enter DiDio’s 5G. Ultimately, rumors have that the project was designed to recover DC’s dropping sales numbers.
The lack of firm understanding of 5G is not due to DC not having a plan but instead likely because of constant changes to the plan—some of which may have been from different warring voices within DC and possibly higher up in the parent companies. At one point, there was to be a one-shot for each of the four generations of DC until now—that never materialized. DiDio was pictured multiple times against a sprawling timeline that aimed to organize all of DC history and set the foundation for 5G. The project did find its way into publication, if briefly: 5G was referenced in the final issue of the Watchmen sequel Doomsday Clock (by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank) with a single line: “It is January 2026. The timeline is restored . . . and Earth-5G is born.” Curiously, the next line hints at a merger between Marvel and DC in 2030.
Jim Lee commented, “There won't be a project called '5G', or a big reboot, or whatever . . . We really want to focus on individual titles, and organically build up individual characters...We had a lot of great ideas that we were floating around, and rather than dumping it all in one month and renumbering the line and going for that really short-term spike in sales, we just naturally gravitated to the story ideas and concepts we love and building them into the mythology - the ongoing mythology - in a very organic way.” Those great ideas has not been abandoned but instead folded into the regular titles.
In many ways, the original vision for 5G was realized as alterations to the DC titles have are being implemented. Superman is markedly older, having left to battle on Warworld, leaving his son Jonathan to carry on the Superman mantle on Earth. The plan in 5G was to have Superman take a more authoritarian role—something that his involvement currently with The Authority is in process of happening. Warworld is changing him and Superman is recognizing that true evil requires him to be far more ruthless in addressing it.
Bruce Wayne was to have left Gotham, something that has now occurred as he’s moved his focus to New York City, leaving his family members to manage Gotham. Yara Flor was take on the Wonder Woman mantle, something she did in Future State. Currently, Yara Flor has been introduced to the main DC continuity and has created a lot of waves. Even Joker was to be replaced. In a manner, those ideas settled into the creation of Joker’s obsessed new assistant Punchline.
While swapping new characters into the mantles of old heroes has challenges, it can be done. Marvel has shown that with Miles Morales, the Falcon as Captain America, and others. Yet, each of these has also been done with the older character still having a role and an audience. What seems difficult is a direct swap from one character to another. 5G appeared to be taking the Batman Beyond approach where the older character still has a voice as the mentor. Future State allowed DC to put out many of the ideas that 5G generated and yet not force them to commit to continuity changes. What appears to be happening now in the DC Universe is that those properties which were successful in Future State have now been given a chance to enter mainstream continuity without needing a crisis-level reboot.
The overall purpose of 5G still seems to be driving editorial and creative decisions within DC. Where DC goes from here will likely follow some of the trajectories of the abandoned initiative while not adhering to every single aspect of the plan.