DC has officially revealed the details of its Future State event, and as Newsarama has previously reported, the finite, January-February 2021 line-wide event will feature a series of specials and brief limited series (all revealed below) set in the near- and far-future of DCU continuity that temporarily takes the place of the publisher's core ongoing series.
Then in March, the regular DC title lineup resumes with the numbering of existing series in-tact, "continuing existing storylines from 2020 and introducing new arcs for the year."
In other words, and as we've been reporting for a while, Future State will not lead to a reboot.
"In DC Future State, the Multiverse has been saved from the brink of destruction, but the triumph of DC's heroes has shaken loose the very fabric of time and space!" reads DC's description. "The final chapter of Dark Nights: Death Metal (on sale January 5, 2021) brings new life to DC's Multiverse, kicking off this glimpse into the unwritten worlds of DC's future!"
DC did not mention January 5's Generations: Shattered #1 and February's Generations: Forged #1 and declined to answer questions about them, but expect the two specials to act as bookends to Future State.
Future State will feature some existing characters in new roles and new characters taking on iconic identities.
"The DC Universe has always been fertile ground for new and refreshing takes on our characters, and DC Future State definitely contributes to this legacy," says DC executive editor Marie Javins. "When the event begins in January, some savvy readers will not only pick up on some of the breadcrumbs that have already been tossed out in our current titles, but they will also find new hints and clues of what's to come in 2021."
In January and February, the Future State line-up is split into three families - Batman, Superman (which includes Wonder Woman), and Justice League - and will feature a combination of monthly and bimonthly oversized anthology titles along with a one-shot, one three-issue monthly limited series that extends into March, and 14 two-issue monthly limited series.
The event features a combination of familiar DC creative talent like Mariko Tamaki, Brian Michael Bendis, Gene Luen Yang, Joëlle Jones, Joshua Williamson, Nicola Scott, Cully Hamner, and John Timms along with creators from the worlds of TV, movies, and animation and other DC publishing lines including John Ridley, Brandon Vietti, Meghan Fitzmartin, Brandon Easton, Alitha Martinez, L.L. McKinney, Paula Sevenbergen, and Siya Oum, among others.
DC has released descriptions of the three main Future State families along with the January-February title line-up and creative teams for each family. And click on the galleries for all available preview cover art. Some galleries contain more than one cover.
Batman Family
"In this future, Gotham City is controlled by the Magistrate. This villainous regime has taken control of the city, now under constant surveillance. All masked vigilantes have been outlawed and Batman has been killed. But led by an all-new Batman, a new assembly of Gotham's guardians rise to give hope to all of those who lost it!"
Future State: The Next Batman and Future State: Dark Detective are both four-issue, bimonthly oversized anthologies.
Headlined by John Ridley, Nick Derington, and Laura Braga's The Next Batman, other characters/concepts included in Future State: The Next Batman #1-4 include:
- Outsiders by Brandon Thomas and Sumit Kunar
- Arkham Knights by Paul Jenkins and Jack Herbert
- Batgirls by Vita Ayala and Aneke
- Gotham City Sirens by Paula Sevenbergen and Emanuela Lupacchino
Headlined by Mariko Tamaki and Dan Mora's Dark Detective, other characters/concepts included in Future State: Dark Detective #1-4 include:
- Grifters by Matthew Rosenberg and Carmine di Giandomenico
- Red Hood by Joshua Williamson and Giannis Milonogiannis
Future State Batman Family two-issue monthly limited series include:
- Future State: Batman/Superman by Gene Luen Yang and Ben Oliver
- Future State: Catwoman by Ram V and Otto Schmidt
- Future State: Harley Quinn by Stephanie Phillips and Simone Di Meo
- Future State: Nightwing by Andrew Constant and Nicola Scott
- Future State: Robin Eternal by Meghan Fitzmartin and Eddy Barrows
Batman editor Ben Abernathy gives Newsarama readers much more insight into the Future State Batman Family including full January solicitation copy and character designs in our exclusive interview-preview. Here's a preview - Bruce Wayne isn't as dead as DC's description makes him out to be.
Superman Family
"Due to his involvement in an international crisis happening in the near future, Clark Kent has been rejected by Earth, causing him to focus his lifesaving efforts outside his adopted home," reads DC's description. "He travels to Warworld to rise through the ranks of gladiatorial combat in order to defeat Mongul with the help of some unlikely heroes.
"Back in Metropolis, Clark's son Jon has taken on the mantle of Superman. After seeing the horrors that befell Gotham, he bottles Metropolis in order to keep it safe, putting him at odds with Supergirl."
A Shilo Norman/Mister Miracle story connects the two oversized Future State: Superman titles, as he "finds himself caught between the city he grew up in and the battle-torn planet that could be his downfall."
"Meanwhile in the Amazon rainforest, Yara Flor is chosen to be the new Wonder Woman," concludes DC's description. "Years later, the new Superman and Wonder Woman join forces to save their cities in a new superhero team-up the likes of which the world has never seen."
The Future State Superman Family includes three oversized anthologies.
The two-issue, monthly oversized Future State: Superman of Metropolis includes:
- Superman of Metropolis by Sean Lewis and John Timms
- The Guardian by Sean Lewis and Cully Hamner
- Mister Miracle by Brandon Easton and Valentine De Landro
The four-issue, bimonthly oversized Future State: Superman: Worlds of War includes:
- Superman: Worlds of War by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Mikel Janin
- Midnighter by Becky Cloonan, Michael W. Conrad, and Gleb Melnikov
- Black Racer by Jeremy Adams and Siya Oum
- Mister Miracle by Brandon Easton and Valentine De Landro
The two-issue, monthly oversized The Immortal Wonder Woman includes:
- Immortal Wonder Woman by Becky Cloonan, Michael W. Conrad, and Jen Bartel
- Nubia by L.L. McKinney, Alitha E. Martinez, and Mark Morales
Future State Superman Family limited series and one-shots (all are monthly, two-issue limited series unless otherwise noted) include:
- Future State: House of El by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Scott Godlewski (one-shot on sale February)
- Future State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman by Marguerite Bennett and Marguerite Sauvage
- Future State: Legion of Super-Heroes by Brian Michael Bendis and Riley Rossmo
- Future State: Superman/Wonder Woman by Dan Watters and Leila del Duca
- Future State: Superman vs. Imperious Lex by Mark Russell and Steve Pugh (three-issue series ending March 2021)
- Future State: Wonder Woman by Joëlle Jones
Justice League Family
"A thread of great change runs through the Justice League heroes: a new League is built upon secret identities (even from each other), but an old and evolved enemy will use these secrets to try and overthrow the world," reads DC's description. "For the supernatural heroes of Justice League Dark, the very fabric of reality has shifted, and heroes are being hunted.
"For Flash, Shazam, and the Teen Titans, it all begins when the four Riders of the Apocalypse unleash hell in a battle at Titans Academy, Barry Allen is cut off from the Speed Force, a Famine-controlled Wally West may be beyond saving, and Billy Batson makes a deal with the devil that will change Shazam forever."
"Off-world, John Stewart and the remaining Green Lanterns are stranded in the shadow of a dead power battery; Jackson Hyde and Andy Curry are separated across the galaxy; and Amanda Waller executes her ultimate plan with a new but terrifyingly familiar Suicide Squad on Earth-3," continues DC's description.
"At the end of time, Swamp Thing reveals its true intention, ruling supreme until a remnant of humanity launches a rebellion, and Black Adam looks to the past as the only way to save the future of the Multiverse."
All three Justice League Family anthologies are two-issue, oversized monthly series.
Future State: Justice League includes:
- Justice League by Joshua Williamson and Robson Rocha
- Justice League Dark by Ram V and Marcio Takara
Future State: Green Lantern includes:
- Last Lanterns by Geoffrey Thorne and Tom Raney
- Tales of the Green Lantern Corps by Josie Campbell, Ryan Cady, and Ernie Altbacker, with Sami Basri and Clayton Henry
Future State: Suicide Squad includes:
- Suicide Squad by Robbie Thompson and Javi Fernandez
- Black Adam: One Million by Jeremy Adams and Fernando Pasarin
Future State Superman Family two-issue monthly limited series include:
- Future State: Aquaman by Brandon Thomas and Daniel Sampere
- Future State: The Flash by Brandon Vietti and Dale Eaglesham
- Future State: Teen Titans by Tim Sheridan and Rafa Sandoval
- Future State: SHAZAM! by Tim Sheridan and Eduardo Pansica
- Future State: Swamp Thing by Ram V and Mike Perkins
Look for much more coverage of Future State later today and this week here on Newsarama, including the full January 2021 DC Future State Superman and Justice League solicitations.
