It was the way the DC Comics Timeline, as revealed at New York Comic-Con this weekend, as grabbed and then dissected by Bleeding Cool, was set out that got me. With items such as:
Bruce is Batman
Clark is Superman
Hal is Green Lantern
Barry is Flash
All of that. Across the four generations of the DC Comics timeline. Added to the idea that these characters are now a lot older than previously established.Even with only sixty years to play with, and some timeline shenanigans that Booster Gold is aware of to bring that to the present day. Maybe even some de-aging along the way courtesy of Crisis on Infinite Earths, Zero Hour, Infinite Crisis and the like.
But now, more than ever, these are your grandfather’s heroes.
Gossip: Luke Fox, Jonathan Kent - What DC Comics' 5G is All About
And DC’s 5G will be an attempt to change that going forward.
Bleeding Cool already scooped the story that DC Comics was going to replace Bruce Wayne with Luke Fox, son of Lucius Fox, as the new Batman. With Bruce Wayne believed to be dead but secretly supporting him behind the scenes.
Today we revealed that Jonathan Kent will be aged again, and become the new Superman, replacing his father, Clark Kent, in the public role.
And we’ve also heard more. Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and more, will see their roles replaced by other characters in the DC Universe. And it doesn’t look like the replacements will be the naturally assumed ones – Jonathan Kent has had to be aged to fill the role, Batman has chosen the son of Lucius Fox and Batwing, rather than a Robin, Batgirl or Signal.
So don’t expect Bart as the new Flash, or Garth replacing Aquaman, or any of the main established Green Lanterns of Earth replacing Hal
However, do expect this to be the new DC Comics reality going forward. It’s a radical headline-making change, but fans are often reticent to such changes. DC Comics and Marvel Comics history is full of succession legacy characters who get reverted, replaced or renamed several years down the line. Amadeus Cho, Jane Foster Thor, Wally West, Azrael, Riri Williams and more. But some stick around in the role for longer such as Ms Marvel, Nova, Robin and Moon Girl.
And how far will this go? Nightwing? Poison Ivy? Cyborg? Are there other characters planning to step into their shoes as well? DC Comics has explored future versions of the characters, but this seems to be a decision to go at a little bit of a tangent.
More as it comes to Bleeding Cool.
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