By [ad_1]
Green Lantern #10 seems to eliminate the Future State reality, raising the question of why DC’s alternate worlds don’t last as long as Marvel’s.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Green Lantern #10, on sale from DC Comics.
The multiversal nature of both the DC and Marvel Universes means that there are plenty of ways for creators to craft entirely new worlds and timelines. But while the Marvel Universe has long embraced the wild and vibrant other worlds of their multiverse, DC appears to be moving on from one of its latest worlds.
Green Lantern #10 (by Geoffrey Thorne, Chriscross, Juan Castro, Marco Santucci, Mike Atiyeh, and Rob Leigh) casually closes the door on the world first seen in last year’s “Future State” and ends its influence on the larger DC Universe. This begs the question of why that reality (along with many other variant timelines in the DC Universe) did not have the staying power of similar worlds that have been introduced into the Marvel Universe.
Both the Marvel and DC multiverses are full of wild variant realities, where things played out radically different than in the core universe. This extends to some pretty memorable settings for each. But there’s also a major distinction between how Marvel and DC treat their worlds after their initial stories. In the Marvel Universe, timelines such as the ones introduced in Age of Apocalypse and Days of Future Past are used as primary settings for the core characters. But even after their respective timelines are settled and the status quo is restored, these worlds live on. It allows creators to revisit them down the line, or utilize the characters introduced in different ways. The multiverse actively grows from every addition made.
The DC Multiverse is far more singular. While there have been plenty of unique worlds introduced throughout the years, it’s rare that they play larger roles in future stories. Characters from Gotham by Gaslight or Superman: Red Son rarely make the leap into the mainstream DC Universe or affect any other stories. Kingdom Come Superman joining the Post-Crisis JSA or the Flashpoint Batman allying with the Bane of the core universe are exceptions to the rule, not the standard. It’s only been recent that genuine multiversal teams have been seen working together, creating groups like Justice Incarnate. Beyond that, on a meta level, DC’s unique worlds are rarely revisited and utilized outside of crossover events like Dark Nights: Death Metal. It now appears that “Future State” is more or less an afterthought, with much of that possible future altered or outright prevented.
Even when compared to other brief realities, “Future State” was short-lived. Events like Heroes Reborn did lead to overt changes coming to the Marvel Universe when their timeline was resolved. Meanwhile, “Future State” teased a number of potential directions for the future, most of which have now been prevented. Only Superman’s fate on War World seems to be fully tied to the predictions made in “Future State.” This is compounded by the fact that John Stewart spends Green Lantern #10 confronting all the possible paths he could take, meaning that he has the power to decide his actual future state, rendering the event more or less pointless in the long run.
There are plenty of DC timelines that are engaging, interesting, and well-worth leaping into. Some of them have even been featured in Justice Incarnate. But the DC’s most absurd worlds are often relegated to the sidelines and don’t generate the excitement that settings like the Age of Apocalypse do for Marvel. They’re ultimately treated like multiversal fodder for whatever Crisis event is happening, and rarely interact with the mainstream heroes. This could Marvel variant realities, on the other hand, have gone to war against each other, allied with one another, and are at the center of the current Avengers central conflict. They feel more connected to the overall universe, whereas the DC variants feel like little more than place settings, which is quite possibly why Marvel’s alternate worlds tend to last longer as a whole.
About The Author
[ad_2]
