There’ve been rumblings that’ve gathered strength over the past few months of a fresh attempt by DC Comics to drastically change things up in their present timeline, this time by introducing young successors to the mantle of already established DC heroes like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. The initiative has been named 5G by those who’ve been following the news of the upcoming event and it promises to turn the DC Comics universe upside down.
5G is short for fifth generation and in the new DC continuity timeline that the company unveiled recently, the first generation of heroes was marked by Wonder Woman’s arrival to Man’s World. The second generation, meanwhile, was kickstarted by the first public appearance of Superman. The third generation then lasted from Crisis on Infinite Earths (1986) to Flashpoint (2011) and we’re currently exploring the fourth generation of heroes’ stories in existing DC Comics. 5G, then, will revolve around the next generation, where current characters have been replaced by new names who’ve taken their place in the world.
DC is said to be planning a universe-shaking event that will serve as the entry point into comics for the new heroes. For instance, Luke Fox seems set to become the new Batman, as opposed to Dick Grayson or Damian Wayne. Jon Kent, meanwhile, will presumably replace his father as the new Superman and a similar fate awaits all the other current heroes in DC’s universe. But this doesn’t mean that older characters like Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne will be gone permanently.
As has been the case in comics whenever new characters have to be introduced to fans, it’s most likely that the young heroes will briefly take over their older counterparts’ titles for the duration of the fresh crisis, after which they’ll spin off into their own books and the original heroes will once again take their place at the center of the DC Comics universe. So, fans get their favorite characters back and DC gets to play with a younger, more diverse cast of heroes. It’s a win-win for everybody, right?