DC Future State Reveals Death of Famous Batman Villain

Spoilers for Future State below! DC's Future State event continues and in the pages of this week's Future State: Dark Detective #2 we finally see the return of Jason Todd as the Red Hood. In this story, set in the Magistrate ruled future of Gotham City, Todd is still operating as the Red Hood but his modus operandi is actually working for the dystopian police force and actively hunting down other superheroes, or "Masks" as they're called. Along the way he finds out that a brand new Red Hood Gang has moved into town, and he eventually learns who their ringleader is, assuming a former Batman villain is behind it.

In the story, written by Joshua Williamson with art by Giannis Milonogiannis, Jason teams up with Slade Wilson's daughter Rose aka Ravager to hunt down this new Red Hood gang, who are actually working as modern day Robin Hoods and thus more hero than villain. After Ravager unexpectedly slides one in half, they realize that the tech inside of his helmet is the same that belongs to none other than Jervis Tetch aka The Mad Hatter. They enter his old lair to confront him, only to discover that Tetch has been killed.

The mystery is now "Who killed the Mad Hatter and is using his technology to control this new Red Hood gang?" The story ends on a bit of a cliffhanger though as The Magistrate has put out a hit/reward on Red Hood, citing "heroics." It's unclear at this point what aspect of this journey has landed him in this hot water, but it sure does seem tied into whoever has taken this tech from Tetch.

The solicitation for the next instance of the story, available in Future State: Dark Detective #4, alludes to what happens next and can be read below!

FUTURE STATE: DARK DETECTIVE #4
U.S. Price: $5.99
AVAILABLE ON 2/23
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Bruce Wayne may be a dead man in the eyes of the villainous Magistrate, but this dark detective isn't through yet! In this pulse-pounding finale, Bruce makes his final move and comes face to face with the man at the top of Gotham's oppressive regime, Peacekeeper One! With bombs planted and the trap waiting to be sprung, this final battle will decide the fate of Gotham City once and for all...

And after the events of the last "Red Hood" chapter, Jason Todd is a wanted man. He got too close to the mystery of the new Red Hood Gang, and that forced the Magistrate to take extreme measures-because no one can know the truth. Hurt and alone, Jason must turn to some unlikely allies if he's going to survive!