The Bat-Family’s current resident time traveler, Maps Mizoguchi, just gave DC readers their latest glimpse at the future, and it has led to comparisons between how the publisher and its major counterpart, Marvel depict the future. In turn, this allows for a wider analysis of how Marvel and DC take different approaches to storytelling in general.

Birds of Prey #9 – written by Kelly Thompson, with art by Jonathan Case – features a future version of Maps, now called Meridian, who saves Barbara Gordon from an attempt on her life. During her appearance, the character Zealot points out how strangely optimistic Maps is for a time traveler. Maps’ optimism fits within DC’s usual optimistic stories, but not Marvel’s. If readers look back at both company’s catalogs, DC storylines usually shape a positive outlook for the future while Marvel’s are more dystopian.

The Bat Family’s Maps Grows Up, To Become DC’s Next Time Traveler

Birds of Prey #9 – Written By Kelly Thompson; Art By Jonathan Case, Gavin Guidry, Jordie Bellaire, & Clayton Cowles

The Batman superfan turned superhero is inspired to found the local school’s Detective Club to embark on her own investigative journeys towards all things that go bump in the night. Maps’ adventures eventually fall on Batman’s radar to the point he’s not only impressed enough to bring her into the family, but he dubs her his next Robin (or, rather, she has the potential to be one).

More recently, an adult version of Maps resurfaces as Meridian, a time traveler from the future who joins the Birds of Prey to forewarn them of an apocalyptic possible future revolving around Black Canary’s sister, as well as investigate the potential future death of Batgirl. Now a full-blown investigator from the future, Maps still retains her textbook optimism about life, which is only heightened by her knowledge of DC’s future. As Maps suggests to Zealot, there is a lot to be excited about for DC’s future.

For DC, The Future Universe is Portrayed in An Optimistic Light

DC’s main timeline future is one where things get better, not worse

More often than not, DC Comics’ depictions of the future align with the same bright-eyed optimism expressed by the Bat Family’s Maps. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule. The Dark Knight Returns showcases a futuristic Gotham so bleak that it pulls Batman out of retirement, while New 52’s “Futures End” wasn’t the most uplifting futuristic story arc. However, while there are exceptions to the rule, the rule itself has remained fairly consistent throughout DC – enough that a distinction can be drawn with Marvel’s future-oriented stories.

Stories like Future State and DC One Million both showcase worlds where the future is in good hands, thanks to the next generation of heroes. That seems to be the running theme of many future storylines at DC, as if the cities that these heroes are protecting can benefit from the labors of these heroes. They keep these cities safe, and thus the city can focus on re-building itself. For example, readers see such a future on full display in the shiny, glossy world of the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Marvel Uses A Bleak Future To Add Dramatic Weight To The Present

Marvel’s future storylines take a very different approach (to great results)

While a DC glimpse of the future is usually wholly optimistic, Marvel stories tend to take a more pessimistic approach. Often times, Marvel’s future is outright devestation, featuring a scenario where whoever inherits the world ends up putting it in the wrong hands. Whether it’s a misguided hero, or a nefarious force that plunges the future into peril, it’s often a past generation of heroism that needs to return to set things right. Readers witnessed precisely that happen recently with the Avengers: Twilight series, which echoes a similar sentiment to X-Men’s “Days of Future Past.”

By comparison, Marvel’s future is often gray, dark, and overshadowed by some malevolent, overreaching dystopian force. Such futures don’t even maintain the allure of the glitz, glam, and shine that makes these futures so appealing, at least in DC’s world. If Marvel’s stories do end up retaining such a sleek shine that makes the future look gorgeous, then it usually is as a means to show how the bright lights of the future are hiding something sinister behind the scenes.

How Marvel’s Time Travelers Compare To DC’s Newest

Cable & Bishop Are A Stark Contrast To Meridian

When most readers think about characters who define Marvel’s future, they usually think about two frequent visiting time travels from the future: Bishop and Cable. Both characters come from dark futures and, as a result, it hardened their personalities in the same vain. Both Cable and Bishop are clearly environments of the environments they reside in, and naturally, when their environment is war-torn and desolate, so are their souls. They drive home exactly why the future is not something to be excited about in the Marvel Universe.

Meanwhile, Meridian rings home the exact opposite sentiment for the DC Universe. After Zealot points out how optimistic she sounds, Maps asks, “doesn’t that fill you with hope?” For Zealot, it doesn’t, but for readers and maybe other characters in DC’s world, it should. While her optimism could also be a sign that Maps retains her cheery demeanor that she had as a child, always excited to explore the unknown, it’s an even bigger sign that Maps grows into a future worth living in.

DC And Marvel’s Different Futures Aligns With Their Storytelling Goals

In Marvel and DC’s futures, the two publishers continue to diverge

All of this brings one central question into focus, which is why is the tone of both universe’s futures so drastically different. Every storyline has their own inspirations, often based around the era they were conceived in, but one can argue that it boils down largely to the storylines that each universe is dealing with in the present. Case in point, in a universe showcasing a human society that for the most part deeply hates mutants and fears them just the same, it makes sense to lead to a futrue where “Days of Future Past” can exist, without progress.

Alternatively, DC’s modern storylines already have their sense of grief, especially in stories taking place in Gotham. However, when the current DC Universe already looks so bleak, then surely, there must be a future where things get better. Marvel’s pessimism comes from a universe where things aren’t already great, and one would assume things only get worse. When DC’s is already at its worst, things have to look up from there. Thankfully, Meridian is living proof that the future looks bright for herself, the Bat Family, and DC as a whole.

Birds of Prey #9 is available now from DC Comics.