Brian Bendis Reveals Legion of Super-Heroes Lineup on Late Night With Seth Meyers

Brian Michael Bendis is rewriting the future of DC Comics in Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium, a two-part, monthly comic that will feature an immortal protagonist moving through various disparate DC futures, and during a recent appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, he finally gave a complete accounting of the team’s lineup. His protagonist will come out the other end on the doorstep of the Legion of Super-Heroes, leading into a new, ongoing series from Bendis and artist Ryan Sook. Along the way, Bendis will work with a number of artists who will examine how characters like Kamandi, OMAC, and Booster Gold fit into the broader context of the Legion. Among the artists involved will be superstars Jim Lee, Jim Cheung, Nicola Scott, and Dustin Nguyen.

During his appearance on Late Night, Bendis shared an image (which he has said would not constitute the full lineup of the Legion during his run) that features a large group of Legionnaires huddling around Jonathan Kent. The image features a handful of characters that are not immediately familiar to fans, along with a lot of returning characters. Here is a rundown of what we could identify: Colossal Boy, Dream Girl, Blok, Violet, Chameleon Boy, Triplicate Girl, Karate Kid, Dawnstar, Lightning Lad, Matter-Eater Lad, Timberwolf, Wildfire, Ultraboy, Phantom Girl, Star Boy, Brainiac 5, Bouncing Boy, Element Lad, Cosmic Boy, Light Lass, Saturn Girl, Sun Boy, and Jonathan Kent/Superboy.

In addition to these, there are a handful of character who are harder to identify or coulee be new, including someone who appears to be a 31st Century take on Doctor Fate. Almost all of the characters also got new looks, with some being fairly minor changes and some more significant. Lightning Lad, for instance, has been reinvented as a person of color, with some fans speculating that he may be descended from Black Lightning.

“It literally took months just to design the characters, and [Ryan Sook is] working on it every day. I reached out to him and sold this enormous insanity that you see in front of you. and lo and behold, it was exactly what he was looking for. He was looking for the biggest challenge, and he has taken it on immensely,” Bendis told ComicBook.com when the project was announced. “My favorite thing from this whole year that no one knows about, is that Ryan sends in all these designs — usually with a pamphlet of notes and character ideas — and he’s truly creating this with us. I get to share it with our other peers and they get to flip out and get impressed, it’s fantastic. Ryan is an artist’s artist; they love him, and this is the work of his life. I’m so honored to be part of it. So, yes, Ryan was a very early part of this.”

Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium will launch on September 4. The final order cutoff date for the first issue is August 12.