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SYFY WIRE DC Comics

DC unveils post-Future State rollouts for Batman & more (plus a new Wonder Woman 1984 teaser)

By Benjamin Bullard
Future State 2021 The Batman

DC Comics kicked off the weekend with a bang, previewing January’s upcoming "Future State" event series as well as serving up glimpses at the new directions that iconic titles like Justice League DarkSuicide Squad, and Swamp Thing will take in the year ahead. On Saturday and Sunday, DC followed that up by bringing Batman, Wonder WomanSuperman, Harley Quinn, and more into the fold. Oh — and it also used the occasion at Brazil’s CCXP con to lasso up just a little more new footage from the upcoming Wonder Woman 1984.

The two month-long "Future State" event promises to shake things up right at the start of the new year, plunging DC’s comic book heroes into entirely new and uncharted waters — and no hero is set to get a bigger new storyline than the Caped Crusader.

During the "DC Future State: Batman" panel event at CCXP, DC revealed that Mariko Tamaki (Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass, Wonder Woman) will be writing a pair of Batman-centric new storylines slated for next year: Detective Comics (the 1930s-vintage series that originally put the “D” and “C” in the legendary company’s abbreviated name), and Future State: Dark Detective, according to Polygon.

Future State: Dark Detective will come first as part of the January kickoff series, featuring art from veteran image-maker Dan Mora (Power Rangers). Then in March, Tamaki will launch Batman’s new Detective Comics line, making the Eisner Award-winner only the second female writer ever to take the reins of the Bruce Wayne legacy.

That’s not all the Dark Knight comics news coming from CCXP. DC’s official Batman Twitter feed also showed off a variant 1st-issue cover preview for next year’s upcoming The Next Batman, a 4-issue mini-series from writer John Ridley and illustrator Olivier Coipel (shown above). If that’s still not enough Gotham for you, Comicbook.com reports that writer Gene Luen Yang (The Terrifics, Shang-Chi) and artist Ivan Reis (Captain Marvel, Green Lantern) will begin lending their talents to DC’s Batman/Superman starting with issue #16 next year.

Via the same report, Harley Quinn’s sassy street smarts will be getting a fresh treatment starting next March, when DC rolls out a new comics project for the lovable loudmouth with writing from Stephanie Phillips (Superman, The Butcher of Paris) and art from Riley Rossmo (Martian Manhunter, Hellblazer). Phillips already is writing January’s Future State: Harley Quinn miniseries, so however things shake out for Harley on the heels of "Future State," she’ll already have a strong head start.

Last but not least, DC previewed how Wonder Woman will greet the new year following the events of “Future State.” Writer Becky Cloonan (Demo, Batman, Swamp Thing) took to Twitter following the CCXP "Future State: Voices of Wonder Woman" panel to show off the cover to Issue #770 of Wonder Woman, which will re-assemble the Future State: Immortal Wonder Woman creative team to continue Diana’s Amazonian adventures when the series picks up in March.

Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad (Wonder Woman, Doom Patrol) will share writing duties on Wonder Woman, with artists Travis Moore and Tamra Bonvillain handling drawing and color work, respectively. Check out DC's landing page for the full rundown on how Diana, Batman, Superman and more will tackle all the big changes that're in store, as Future State: Wonder WomanFuture State: Superman of Metropolis, and Future State: The Next Batman take flight starting in January.

In related Wonder Woman news, DC also managed to sneak out a new big-screen teaser for Wonder Woman 1984, rolling together footage we’ve seen in previous trailers — plus a new look at Diana taking to the skies using her lasso in ways no mere mortal would ever dream of.

Wonder Woman 1984 is slated to arrive in the U.S. on Dec. 25, with a simultaneous release both to theaters and at HBO Max. The small-screen debut marks just the first in a long list of big-budget Warner Bros. movies — a list that also includes Mortal Kombat, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, Tom & Jerry, The Suicide Squad, Godzilla vs. Kong, The Matrix 4, and Dune — that’ll premiere at HBO Max on the same date they appear in theaters next year.