DC’s Absolute Universe is one of the best things in comics right now. An alternate world influenced by Darkseid energy as opposed to the “Superman energy” of the main reality, this world is one defined by turmoil and strife, where heroes are the underdogs and the Absolute versions of characters we know and love have been stripped of key elements and privileges while keeping the core of who they are intact. It serves as an examination of what makes these heroes — and by extension other characters — who they really are. It’s been a fun read across the various titles, and it’s a world that is only getting bigger with more characters and books being introduced and announced.
Videos by ComicBook.com
But as the Absolute Universe grows, there are some DC characters that fans would like to see Absolute versions of, but we’re probably not going to get — at least not anytime soon. These are characters that might not really make sense to be fully fleshed out in the Absolute Universe or who may have been hinted at, but who have already met grim fates. Here are five of them, characters who should get Absolute versions, but we doubt we’ll see.
5) Kite Man
While Kite Man is usually a villain or Batman antagonist in the main universe, it would be interesting to see what an Absolute take could do — particularly since we’ve already seen a number of Batman’s rogues be positioned as his closest friends in the Absolute Universe. The idea of similarly flipping the script and putting Kite Man in Batman’s corner would be fun.
What is interesting about Kite Man is that a part of his origin is the death of his son and that’s something that could easily translate into an Absolute version. The difference would be more with instead of treating Kite Man as something of a joke, this loss could be something that makes him a formidable force, perhaps one who wants to fight against evil and corruption as much as Batman just for his own reasons and by different means. It’d be hard to make him more aggressive than Batman, but man it would be interesting to try.
4) Constantine
The Absolute Universe needs more characters on the magic side of things so we’re very eager to see what an Absolute John Constantine might be like, but since Constantine is already a character who in the main universe feels lie he could be an Absolute character, this different version would have to be pretty extreme. Taking away his magic would be too close to the Hellblazer storyline, but there is one way that we could get Absolute Constantine as well as another character, just in one.
It would be interesting to see Constantine sort of mixed with Etrigan. It wouldn’t require too much of a shift in Constantine broadly but would add an additional layer of challenge to the character. Something about Constantine having a demonic possession, and it being something that he has to struggle with in order to do good could make for complex, interesting storytelling.
3) Firestorm
This is one we might not ever actually get because it’s already been hinted at that Firestorm — or at least Ronnie Raymond — is dead. Absolute Flash #2 made a mention of “that Raymond kid” having already been captured and “opened up”. That doesn’t sound promising. However, since this is the Absolute Universe, there could be so much more to it — and that casual mention of a potentially grim fate for Ronnie might instead be part of an Absolute Firestorm origin story.
The possibilities here are endless, but what’s most likely is that we’d have to see an entire reworking or reimagining of how the Firestrom matrix would work in the Absolute Universe. Maybe the strife and struggle that Ronnie endures that sees his heroic transformation is whatever is happening with him after having been “opened up”. All we know for sure is that Firestorm is one of those characters that fans do really seem to push for which means that, of anyone on this list, an Absolute Firestorm is probably the most likely.
2) Black Lightning
Absolute Black Lightning probably would never happen because, if we’re being honest, there wouldn’t be a lot that would need to be changed. As a hero who grew up in Metropolis’ Suicide Slum where gang activity and corrupt politicians created problems and struggle for people — and were responsible for the murder of his father, Black Lightning already deals with some of the adversity that has been dialed up to 11 for the other Absolute Heroes. But that doesn’t mean that we wouldn’t like to see it.
What would probably work best for an Absolute Black Lightning is really to make changes to the characters around him — giving Gambi an Absolute makeover would be of particular interest. Perhaps have Gambi end up more of a sinister figure, maybe even have his early involvement in Black Lightning’s life be part of a sinister plan would certainly mix things up.
1) Stargirl
We don’t really know how an Absolute Stargirl would even fit into the Absolute Universe as it currently stands, but if they ever get to a point where they’d want to create a version of her, there’s actually already a pretty solid template for what an Absolute version could be; you just have to look to The CW television show. Since Courtney Whitmore is very much a shining light in the DC universe, giving her a much more difficult origin and making that optimism and light more hard-won would be key here and the most interesting way to do that would be to give her much of Cindy Burman’s development from the television series.
In The CW series, Cindy is the daughter of the Dragon King who aims to follow in his footsteps, but as the series progresses, we see that her childhood has been awful and she’s undergone some horrific experimentation to the point that she’s starting to manifest a reptilian form. Putting Courtney through something similar — having her not be raised and mentored by a hero (or, rather a sidekick because that’s what Pat Dugan was), you could get the development of an Absolute Stargirl as someone who becomes a hero by pushing bac against her own mistreatment. You could even have the powers of the cosmic staff be something that she has organically because of experimentation. It’d be an interesting way to sort of mix things up.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Image Courtesy of Disney -
Image courtesy of Prime Video
