Seven Worlds We Hope Are Part of DC’s Multiverse

Surely Morrison’s series will remedy some of this, and we already know a few of the worlds that will compose DC’s multiverse (see the map above)…but where elwe would we like to go?

Well, DC has a long history of alternate Earths and while some of them probably don’t need to continue (does anybody really think the world of Watchmen would be made better by yet more unnecessary stories?), others would be a cool addition to the DC Universe — if only because fans could entertain the prospect of crossovers between them and the main publishing line (or even just between some of the worlds themselves).

Which DC stories from days past (and present) would we like to see represented in the DC Multiverse?

(Please note that universes that are already established to be in the new multiverse, including the Red Son world, are exempt from consideration here since 

The long-running Superman origin series has become one of DC’s most consistently enjoyable books in its life as an inexpensive, digital-first series free of the constraints of the New 52’s continuity and expectations.

Bryan Q. Miller, who of course had a wonderful run on Batgirl immediately prior to the relaunch, has brought a similar sensibility to these characters: it’s a fun book that feels liberated by its lack of connection to the larger DCU, not “unimportant,” and while we’re scared of seeing too many crossovers ruining what Miller has going, it would be nice to know that somewhere out there, these stories are part of the universe’s larger whole.

Every attempt at making a sequel to Kingdom Come has been somewhat lackluster, so why is this different than Watchmen or The Dark Knight Returns — stories I’d rather see left alone?

Simple: the world of Kingdom Come has a ton of potential for great stories, as some of the one-shots in The Kingdom showed. I’d rather not see what happened to Bruce, Diana and Clark after the events of the K-bomb…but visiting that world and some of the second- and third-tier characters could be a blast.

No pun intended.

Again, this is one that would have to be used very sparingly, but I’d certainly be interested in a short series of one-shots or miniseries looking at the world of Nolan’s Gotham. Whatever world-building he and his co-writers did could go into consideration, as could more general considerations like “How would this world accommodate Batgirl?” or whatever.

The problem, of course, is much the same as Kingdom Come. When you’ve got your endpoint already in place for the lead, everything else would feel comparably pretty minor when compared to the films.

But that’s worked for Star Wars comics for years.

I’ve heard a lot of fans and pros over the years say that the Giffen/DeMatteis Justice League and Booster Gold stories don’t necessarily fit into the DC Universe, per se, but operated in a kind of pocket universe of Keith Giffen’s design, in which you can cram a lot of his other work as well.

The idea appeals to me, because it allows them to do all the wacky stuff, have all the fun they want, and not worry about whether so-and-so has died or been rebooted or whatever.

Let’s kick it off in Justice League 3000! There’s no really good reason not to!

With both Arrow and The Flash set to introduce more DC heroes this year, it seems like a no-brainer that the comics sharing their world could also butt up against the DC Universe. If there really is a Crisis-level event going on at DC next year (along with the one happening in Smallville right now), it could be cool to see a cameo by some of the TV heroes among the different iterations of teh DC Universe fighting to save the day.

A colloquial term some bloggers have used for the DC Universe that existed between the end of the Crisis on Infinite Earths and the start of the New 52, “Earth-August” is probably the least likely of all the worlds on this list to make an appearance. Why? Because just like DC was always reluctant to bring back the original Earth-1, any solid proof that the pre-relaunch world exists would make a certain subset of the fans say, “Wait…but why aren’t we following them, then?”

There are those who are upset about the New 52 already, but even beyond that there are people with no particular ax to grind against the new world who felt very invested in the old one. If there was an “out” available to them, the desire to take it could create a real distraction for DC as they try to cement their new universe.

Still, the same years of history that would make it hard for readers to ignore could make it hard for writers to resist. And you could always close it off in some way to prevent cross-contamination at the end of an event…!

Like what Marvel has done with theirs, we don’t want to see the DC Comics Universe cross over with the movies necessarily — but it would be nice to know that somewhere in the DC Multiverse, the Man of Steel prequel comic and anything similar they might have in store down the road will “count” in some odd way.

It would also provide them with an opportunity to occasionally present heroes that aren’t big enough to support their own movie, and show off how they might fit into the universe Warner Bros. is building onscreen.