DC Comics has a large assortment of heroes and villains that populate its stories. One such villain is Darkseid, a very common endgame antagonist for a lot of DC stories. Darkseid is a merciless, tyrannical conqueror who rules over the planet of Apokolips. Darkseid is commonly seen as the physical embodiment of negativity. 

After having an existential crisis, Darkseid wishes to defy his destiny. In a battle against the Justice League, Darkseid allows himself to be killed. This releases all of his negative energy at once, corrupting The Elseworld and transforming it into the Absolute Universe. The Absolute Universe is a parallel world to the main DC universe that has been tainted by negative energy and leads to its residents having darker, grittier, edgier backstories. As of Oct. 18, Absolute Batman #1 has been released, and we know the rough backstories for Superman (scheduled to release Nov. 6) and Wonder Woman (scheduled to release Oct. 23). The Flash and Green Lantern have both been confirmed to receive lines for their Absolute Universe variants, though the exact details of their origin stories and release dates have yet to be revealed. Let’s go through the big three and see how the Absolute Universe changes them.

Batman

Batman may have one of the most famous origin stories in all of media, but for anyone who may be unfamiliar, Bruce Wayne was once a spoiled rich kid, and heir to the Wayne family fortune. After his parents take him to see a movie one night, the family finds themselves at gunpoint in an alleyway. His parents are killed right in front of him, and his pain and grief drive Bruce Wayne to seek vengeance and scare fear into the hearts of Gotham’s criminals. As he grows older, he takes on the mantle of Batman; while the civilians of Gotham are sound asleep, Batman fights crime to restore peace to the city he once called his home. He uses his wealth to his advantage, arming himself with a plethora of gadgets, gizmos, and vehicles to help him defend his city.

The Absolute Universe seeks to answer the question “How would Batman be different if he wasn’t born into wealth?”

In the Absolute Universe, Bruce Wayne finds himself in a different set of circumstances. Instead of being born into wealth, the Waynes are a working class family who live in the impoverished neighborhood of Crime Alley (the same neighborhood where the main universe Batman lost his parents). His father is a teacher at his school, and after Bruce wins a school engineering contest, his dad takes the class on a field trip to the zoo. That same day, the zoo was attacked by a shooter. The class is rushed into the zoo’s bat enclosure to hide, and Bruce’s dad jumps the gunman, saving his son and the students at the cost of his own life. As Bruce grows up, he takes a dive down the path of juvenile delinquency and drops out of high school. After deciding to finally face his problems, he returns to school and gets a football scholarship. He spends his time in college studying every subject he can and graduates with an engineering degree. He uses his degree to get a job as a utilities engineer in his home city of Gotham. He uses his job and knowledge to navigate the hidden tunnels and pathways of Gotham city. This iteration of Batman doesn’t have his iconic Batmobile, Batcave, utility belt, grappling hooks, or Batarangs. He enacts justice with just his knives, ax, and unwavering spirit.          

Superman

Superman also has a very well known backstory. Born Kal-El of planet Krypton, Superman was sent to earth in an escape pod as an infant to save him from his home planet’s destruction. He crash landed in Kansas, and was discovered by a farmer couple, the Kents. They decided to adopt him as their son and named him Clark. They taught him to be humble, kind, and gracious. He would grow up to use those traits to inspire hope in civilians and remind everyone that they have people to look up to and to help them. 

From what we know about Absolute Superman thus far, the main distinction is that, contrary to the main universe, Absolute Superman is sent to Earth as an adult. He grows up on Krypton and lands in Brazil. This version of superman, much like Absolute Batman, is stripped of his fundamental principles; no Fortress of Solitude and no supportive family. Audiences get to see a Superman driven by anguish and loss who wants to make sure Earth doesn’t suffer the same fate as his home planet.    

Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman is a very important character in DC Comics, as she is widely regarded to be the first female superhero. Born Princess Diana of Themyscira, Wonder Woman is the daughter of Hippolyta—Queen of the Amazons—and Zeus—ruler of Mount Olympus. Wonder Woman was raised on Themyscira among other Amazons, a race of powerful warrior women. After getting tired of her life on Themyscira, she seeks to fulfill her hunger for adventure. Armed with her Bracelets of Submission and the Lasso of Truth, she decides to leave her home island and fight for peace, justice, and equality throughout the rest of the world. 

Though we don’t know much about Wonder Woman in the Absolute Universe just yet, we know that the trend of removing the heroes’ core backstory elements holds true. For absolute Wonder Woman, she is the last Amazon, and she’s brought up in Hell, not Themyscira. In contrast to her main universe’s signature bracelets and lasso, Absolute Wonder Woman wields a greatsword and rides a skeleton pegasus. She doesn’t have the love and support of her Amazon sisters, and no Paradise Island to call home.

The main takeaway from the start of the Absolute Universe line of comics is that it’s a fresh start. New readers won’t have to sift through decades of comics to know what’s going on, as it’s a brand new era that you can follow along with as it releases. I can’t wait to see where the Absolute Universe takes our favorite characters and I absolute-ly urge captivated readers to take a look and start reading.