The Absolute Universe is DC Comics’ try and do one thing much like what Marvel did with the Final Universe. The corporate took its best heroes after which reimagined them, updating a lot of them for a modern-day reinvention, and in lots of instances, the brand new variations of those traditional heroes are nothing like they ever seemed earlier than. The books on this new line of comics embody Absolute Superman, Absolute Marvel Lady, Absolute Batman, Absolute Flash, Absolute Martian Manhunter, and lots of extra. With these titles, the origins of most of the characters modified, and in each case, their relationships with others drastically modified as nicely.
With these new character reinventions, here’s a have a look at the modifications to traditional DC characters that left many followers shocked due to the Absolute Universe.
7) Absolute Martian Manhunter is Not a Martian
Absolute Martian Manhunter modified completely every little thing concerning the character. In DC Comics, Martian Manhunter is J’onn J’onzz, a Martian who got here to Earth to cover when his whole species was worn out. He’s a telepath who was an authentic Justice League member and is certainly one of DC’s strongest heroes. That isn’t who Absolute Martian Manhunter is in any attainable manner. Debuting in Absolute Martian Manhunter #1 (2025) by Deniz Camp and Javier Rodriguez, John Jones just isn’t an alien in any respect.
As an alternative, John is an FBI agent who has his mind contaminated by an alien consciousness that calls itself The Martian. This implies John and the alien (J’onn J’onzz) share a physique. Whereas often known as Martian Manhunter, this alien just isn’t Martian in any respect, however comes from a planet light-years away. Whereas the principle Martian Manhunter is a noble hero, this model is a reality-warping alien who’s unsettling and almost incomprehensible.
6) Absolute Inexperienced Lantern is Jo Mullein
Probably the most stunning factor about Inexperienced Lantern is that it isn’t anybody that DC followers know because the intergalactic hero. This isn’t Hal Jordan, Kyle Rayner, John Stewart, or anybody else from DC Comics. As an alternative, Absolute Inexperienced Lantern is Jo Mullein, the one Inexperienced Lantern on this comedian guide universe. Debuting in Absolute Inexperienced Lantern #1 (2025) by Al Ewing and Jahnoy Lindsay, Jo is a small-town cop who comes throughout the facility ring and features powers she is aware of nothing about.
She isn’t a member of the Inexperienced Lantern Corps both. The truth is, there is no such thing as a Corps, turning Jo right into a ground-level character relatively than a cosmos-spanning superhero. The opposite huge shock with the title is that Absolute Inexperienced Lantern is much less of a superhero comedian guide sequence and extra of a horror story, with cosmic dread and the worry of the unknown. Jo ended up as an awesome selection, as she additionally exists in the principle DC universe, debuting in a 2019 sequence by writer N.Okay. Jemisin.
5) Absolute Batman’s Alfred is an Lively MI6 Agent
In virtually each model of Batman tales, Alfred Pennyworth is the loyal butler who takes care of Bruce Wayne and who’s his most loyal ally. When Absolute Batman got here alongside, DC not solely took away Wayne’s cash but additionally his trusted butler. Debuting in Absolute Batman #1 by Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta, Alfred on this world is an energetic MI6 particular agent tasked with intelligence-gathering and neutralizing designated targets.
This model of Alfred is distributed to Gotham Metropolis to analyze the rise of a terrorist group referred to as the Celebration Animals. This mission places him on a collision course with Batman. Whereas the mainline’s Alfred is a surrogate father and ethical compass, right here he’s a jaded spy-assassin, which severs the connection between these two iconic DC characters. Alfred ultimately turns into Batman’s good friend and ally, however he wasn’t there to assist increase Bruce earlier than, and their relationship right here has to develop.
4) Absolute Flash is the World’s Solely Speedster
Absolute Flash within the Absolute Universe just isn’t Barry Allen. Right here on this world, the one speedster in existence is Wally West. Debuting in Absolute Flash #1 (2025) by Jeff Lemire and Nick Robles, Wally West will get his powers accidentally, however there may be one huge twist on this new world. There isn’t any Velocity Drive, which implies there is no such thing as a Flash Household, and there has by no means been a speedster like him earlier than.
Wally’s father is a navy man who’s overseeing a top-secret authorities experiment. When the accident offers Wally his powers, he goes on the run as a result of he doesn’t need the navy to regulate his life. In the principle timeline, Barry Allen is inseparable from the Velocity Drive, however right here there are not any mentors, no security web, and as a teen, Wally is on his personal in figuring this out. It must also be famous that this model of the Flash is perhaps probably the most highly effective hero on Earth within the Absolute Universe.
3) Absolute Marvel Lady Spent Her Childhood in Hell
In Absolute Marvel Lady #1 (2024) by Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman, the Absolute Universe modified every little thing about Marvel Lady. As an alternative of being raised on Paradise Island and skilled by the Amazon warriors to turn out to be an awesome hero, Diana was raised in Hell since she was an toddler. As a child, she was left on the Wild Isle of Hell and raised by the witch Circe. She grew up because the princess of Hell and mastered darkish sorcery alongside her Amazonian warrior coaching.
On this world, it additionally turned out that she was actually the final Amazon, and there’s no island with sisters. The god Apollo even banned Circe from instructing Diana about her heritage, so she entered the world of man with none sense of group. Turning Marvel Lady from an emblem of fine right into a Hell-forged sorceress raised by a villain from traditional literature made the character differ from her mainline counterpart greater than some other character within the Absolute Universe.
2) Absolute Batman’s Bruce Wayne is Working Class
Absolute Batman took away the one factor that made Bruce Wayne who he’s. This universe stripped him of his cash and wealth, that means he needed to combat tougher to turn out to be the Darkish Knight. Wayne is a working-class man with a day job as a building engineer. Thomas Wayne wasn’t a health care provider, however a faculty instructor, and Martha was a social employee. There isn’t any Wayne fortune, no manor, no Alfred, and no dynasty.
The origin story was modified as a result of solely Thomas Wayne was shot and killed by a random gunman, whereas Martha survived as a result of she was not current. She raised Bruce in poverty. This was a stunning change for Batman as a result of there is no such thing as a manner he can afford his devices, his Batmobile, his community, and extra. He has to construct every little thing himself, making him a uncooked and scrappy hero, an entire reinvention of Batman’s origin story the place he should combat to outlive.
1) Superman Wasn’t Raised By the Kents
Absolute Superman #1 (2024) by Jason Aaron and Rafa Sandoval introduced within the Man of Metal for one more reinvention. Very similar to how Absolute Batman misplaced his wealth and Absolute Marvel Lady misplaced her heritage, Superman misplaced every little thing, together with his household. On this new universe, Superman grew up on Krypton earlier than its destruction after which arrived on Earth as a younger man, the place he met, however was by no means raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent.
This stripped him of his ethical upbringing by the Kents and left him as a wanderer with no thought what he was presupposed to do along with his new life on Earth. When the sequence opened, he was wandering the Earth, working in mines and on corporate-owned farms. As an alternative of being raised within the American heartland, he barely even lived in america and exists as a radicalized outsider who’s pushed on by the injustice he sees on the earth.