It’s still only October, and already fans are getting exciting revelations about what’s going on in next year’s Future State event. Not only are readers in the dark about The Next Batman’s identity, but, turns out, so are his teammates in The Justice League. Though hinted at in the news surrounding Future State: The Next Batman, the confirmation comes straight from the pages of DC Connect #6—just check out the solicitation for Future State: Justice League.
Also according to the same blurb, no member of The Justice League knows each other’s secret identities. Now, why would that be? Could this be a hint as to what happened to the old Justice League in the new timeline? Perhaps the heroes of DC’s Future State have reason to be more secretive than their predecessors. DC Connect #6 asks: “—If they can’t share their true identities, how will they ever learn to trust each other?” A fair question no doubt, but also a problematic one. It’s hard to say just how vital the issue of secret identities is to the Justice League’s ability to protect the Earth in our current timeline. We’ve come to take for granted that the mighty members of the League know who each other are, and have grown quite close over the decades they’ve operated together as a team. Though it’s fair to say that they’ve always respected each other, there’s lots of evidence in the comics to acknowledge that they haven’t always trusted each other. This is especially true of Batman, whose strategic and often overly calculating mind has led to events that have put him at odds with the other League members, and once led to his expulsion – such as in the JLA storyline “Tower of Babel” by Mark Waid.
Of course, there’s a lot of speculation regarding The Next Batman’s identity. What we do know for certain is that a connection exists between a longtime member of Batman’s inner-circle, Lucius Fox, and the new character. This has led many to speculate that the new Batman may be one of Fox’s sons: Luke (the current Batwing), or Timothy (a more recent entrant into the fold). Writer John Ridley has already said that there’s a good chance his Batman will be a person of color, adding weight behind the hypothesis that one of the Fox brothers is the next to wear the cape and cowl.
There are a lot of real-world reasons to keep The Next Batman’s identity a secret: it gets people talking, drives up hype to find out who he really is, and will likely lead to more book sales. But again, why announce that his identity is unknown even to the other members of the Justice League? There’s a story there, and that of course is the point. Barring leaks between now and January, we’ll just have to wait patiently and see.
