The future roster of the Outsiders has been revealed — and it’s the perfect blend of classic members and new recruits.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the story “Outsiders: The Fearful” from Batman: Urban Legends #9, available now from DC Comics.
The future of the DC Universe is always in flux, due to the reality-warping events that play out across various storylines. Even the timeline of Future State — while coming true in places — has been subverted somewhat by the actions of the heroes in the present day. This has changed the potential future of the DC Universe, including notably ensuring a future incarnation of a classic DC team is able to survive against their greatest threat.
In “Outsiders: The Fearful” by Brandon Thomas, Clan Tormey, Raul Fernandez, Alejandro Sanchez, and Steve Wands from Batman: Urban Legends #9, Duke Thomas is able to radically alter the darkest potential fate for Future State. In the process, he changes the future for the Outsiders resulting in a new roster for the team that proves the team will remain a fixture for decades to come.
Fear State has spread across Gotham despite the best attempts of the Bat-Family to counteract it. But there’s been a secondary war happening on the streets that the Outsiders have been trying to keep contained before it spirals out of control. In the present day, a former student of Jonathan Crane named Jonah developed a unique antibody to Fear Toxin. But this quietly transformed him into a deadly carrier of the Fear Toxin, spreading it across Gotham which results in the city tearing itself apart in the process. Left unchecked, he would eventually become a threat to the entirety of Gotham, leaving most of the city to be overwhelmed by maddened victims of this enhanced Fear Toxin while Jonah stalks the remains of the city.
In this future, a grown Duke Thomas leads the final Outsiders against Jonah, hoping to use stolen magic to send Black Lightning back in time to stop the ascent of this non-stop Fear State. Luckily, this mission proves to be a success with Duke Thomas of the future (the last surviving Outsider ) remembering the changing events as his counterpart in the past works with his teammates and this older version of Black Lightning to capture Jonah before he can fully mutate into a monster. Instead, the team was able to isolate these elements and remove them, preventing the darker aspects of their personal Future State from coming to pass.
Although the newly created future isn’t completely at peace — with a giant monster threatening to take over the planet — it’s a world where the Outsiders have largely survived and evolved as a team. In this new future, Duke remains the leader of the Outsiders. Black Lightning is also still by his side, having regained his body in this new future, albeit at the apparent price of effectively becoming immortal. However, the new future Outsiders stand by their side: this includes an aged Katana wearing white robes along her mask standing beside a woman wielding a blade. Given her longstanding connection to the team and Duke, it’s possible this is the grown-up Cassandra Cain. Frankenstein has seemingly been fully recruited to the team, offering his magical and combat expertise in combat to the roster.
Finally, there’s a tall, feminine version of Metamorpho. Given her relative youth compared to the rest of the team, it’s possible that she’s a newly empowered figure or even the daughter of Rex Mason, the original Metamorpho. It’s an exciting new roster for the Outsiders and proves that the team has plenty of life left within them. Even if the roster changes and the threats escalate, the Outsiders will remain one of the teams dedicated to protecting the DC Universe.
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