As has been recently teased, a new preview for Flashpoint Beyond further confirms how space and time interact in DC Comics. While the Omniverse is the existence of multiple multiverses in space, it’s only half of the equation. Hypertime is just as important to the makeup of DC’s near-infinite realities. Monitored by Rip Hunter and his Time Masters, this new preview reveals how the two concepts interact and make up what’s been referred to as the Divine Continuum (as well as who’s currently threatening its stability).
Coming from Geoff Johns, Tim Sheridan, Jeremy Adams, Xermánico, and Mikel Janín, Flashpoint Beyond features Thomas Wayne’s Batman having been placed back in his original timeline where his son Bruce died instead of himself and his wife Martha (who went insane in her grief and became the Flashpoint reality’s Joker). Ignoring everything that’s happening in this reality (like a Kryptonian invasion) in favor of finding a means to restore his son’s universe, Thomas has no idea that Bruce and his own timeline are still intact.
To that end, the Time Masters are growing very concerned with Bruce Wayne and his investigations into their affairs as well as the actions of his father Thomas in the Flashpoint timeline. Furthermore, the new preview for Flashpoint Beyond #5 sees Doctor Bonnie Baxter revealing the correlation between DC’s Omniverse (multiple multiverses) and Hypertime, the collective flow of time as it spans across time divergences and continuity reboots. As such, the Time Masters refer to the totality of time and space as the Divine Continuum (not unlike Marvel’s Sacred Timeline). However, Baxter goes on by sharing the true importance of Hypertime and the dangers that can befall it. Here are the preview pages and synopsis for the upcoming issue:
- THE CLOCKWORK KILLER, CHAPTER FIVE: THE JOKE’S ON ME
- The Clockwork Killer’s identity is finally revealed as the dust settles after the showdown at Arkham Asylum. But as we learn the truth behind how the Clockwork Killer came to be, Thomas is faced with a reality-altering choice!
While the synopsis is largely focused on Flashpoint Batman’s arc, Dr. Baxter’s breakdown of the Divine Continuum in the preview pages is extremely helpful, effectively providing a 101 course on the sheer complexity of DC’s many realities and timelines, all of which carry the core concept that while “everything matters” in the Omniverse, Hypertime carries the addendum that “everything matters when it matters to the heart”, speaking to the more emotional state of Hypertime and the countless number of timelines that form any time a character makes a choice. The divergent timelines found within Hypertime go far beyond the parallel Earths or realities found within the Omniverse, requiring the Time Masters to monitor and keep it in check.
However, Hypertime’s more volatile nature within the Divine Continuum is exactly why the Time Masters are so worried about Thomas and Bruce Wayne, fearing that their actions will do irreparable damage and create a largely unseen crisis that won’t be survivable. At any rate, this preview provides an excellent explainer for this fairly new concept for DC Comics, bringing the Omniverse and Hypertime together as a collective state of everything.
Flashpoint Beyond #5 will release from DC Comics September 6.
