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The Justice League will return...
Yeah, that didn't take very long.
No sooner did DC announce a new Titans ongoing series by writer Tom Taylor and artist Nicola Scott reflecting their new status quo as the DC Universe's premiere superhero team and Justice League replacement, than the publisher not-so-subtly and not-so-slyly revealed the Justice League is returning in the latter half of 2023.
A revamped Dawn of DC timeline was issued to the comic book press along with information and images about three new titles - Titans, Green Lantern, and Cyborg, and like the original timeline that revealed an event likely titled 'Knight Terrors' toward the middle of the year, the new timeline shows the words "The Return of the JL" in the background, discoverable with a little image Brightness and Contrast manipulation.
DC did not officially confirm "The Return of the JL" but Newsarama can tell you with full confidence the publisher intended for fans and the press to discover the partially hidden copy.
Readers of writer Tom Taylor's Nightwing #100 and Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths know that Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman believe Dick Grayson is the superhero that DCU needs to be in charge of protecting Earth while they "rethink" the Justice League.
The original Robin accepts the task, but instead of forming and leading a new Justice League team to fill the power vacuum, he gathers his Titans' friends and relocates the team to his home city of Blüdhaven, rebuilding new Titans Tower rebuilt from the structure of the city's former prison-for-profit.
"The time has come for the Teen Titans to grow up," reads DC's description of the new series. "Each member joined as a much younger hero certain that one day they'd be invited to join the Justice League. Now they're not just joining the League...they're replacing it!"
But apparently, the Justice League finishes its rethinking and the Titans' elevated status may only be for a few months unless DC can figure out a way to promote the perception the Justice League and Titans can co-exist as equals. But decades of history might be working against that task.
Newsarama previously argued The Titans with more or less this exact lineup was the only logical choice to replace the Justice League if Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths removed the team from the DCU for an extended period. But also concluded the only real Justice League replacement was the Justice League itself.
And it looks like that will come to pass. Newsarama has even taken our shot at guessing who the next Justice League writer will be.
With the cat now out of the Photoshop bag, look for DC to officially announce its Justice League plans - likely in a DCU-wide event involving Brainiac (also hinted on the timeline) - sometime soon.
See if you agree with Newsarama's choices for the best Justice League line-ups of all time.
