Warning: Spoilers for Absolute Power #4 and DC All In Special #1Pop culture has arguably been saturated with multiverse stories over the past decade, but… DC Comics he may have found the perfect solution. The vast expanse of alternate realities offers creators a literally limitless amount of potential from which to draw. DC has one of the largest multiverses in comics – if not in all of pop culture – which is why it's such a shock that a publisher has just closed the doors on it.
At the climax Absolute Power #4 by Mark Waid and Dan Mora Flash disables Amanda Waller's machine, preventing her multi-pronged army from reaching Earth. It was a critical moment that allowed the heroes to defeat Waller once and for all, but the choice was not without costs. While the heroes managed to stop her army from invading Earth, he also sealed off Earth-Prime from the rest of the multiverse.
Although cutting off the multiverse was the only way to stop Amanda Waller from gaining “absolute power” over Earth, the Justice League would no longer be able to rely on reinforcements from other Earths during the crisis, including multiverse explorers from teams like the Justice League Incarnate team. His a major change to the DC status quoespecially since his multiverse was a key narrative factor in some of his most important stories.
The DC Multiverse has been the heart of dozens of iconic stories
Absolute Power #4 by Mark Waid, Dan Mora, Alejandro Sánchez and Ariana Maher
It's hard to overstate just how important the DC Multiverse has become in comic book history.The main threads that define DC Comics history revolve around the multiverse – like a classic Crisis on Infinite Earths by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez. This story completely changed the face of DC Comics and reset the multiverse, moving everything to just one Earth before the multiverse returned Infinite crisis by Geoff Johns, Phil Jimenez and others. Absolute Power AND DC All In Special they clearly draw plot elements from classic DC stories.
Now that Earth Prime has been cut off from the multiverse, stories like this simply cannot happen.
But one of the biggest events of the last decade for DC was the one-two punch Dark Nights: Metal AND Dark Nights: Death Metal by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. This storyline involved a dark multiverse rising and attacking the main multiverse, almost destroying everything. The Metal AND Death metal the merger was a major event that once again completely refreshed the multiverse and changed the way characters interact with it. Now that Earth Prime has been cut off from the multiverse, stories like this simply can't happenand DC have cleverly introduced another threat that continues to give audiences a taste of the multiverse.
DC Everything in a special version A whole new absolute universe has been revealed
DC All In Special #1: Joshua Williamson, Scott Snyder, Daniel Sampere, Wes Craig, Dan Mora, Alejandro Sánchez, Mike Spicer, Tamra Bonvillain and Steve Wands
The DC Multiverse offered an endless number of possibilities and threats, which was both a good and a bad thing. The existence of the multiverse meant that the creator could really do whatever they wanted, but it also meant that the universe and the overall plot could feel less focused. DC handled this expertly by introducing the Absolute Universe which will serve as a function the only alternate universe that Earth Prime's heroes will encounter Moving on. Instead of worrying about the dark multiverse or any other infinite number of Earths, the only worlds that matter are Earth Prime and the Absolute Universe.
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This new status quo allows DC to focus on having only two universes to worry about. While other creators may continue to create stories in the multiverse – the Elseworlds line is still going strong – none of them will have any impact on the plot currently taking place in the main variants of the DCU and Absolute Universe. This is a fantastic way to DC to really flesh out major universe-spanning stories without overcomplicating things. After all, if a new, larger universe were to emerge, it would be too easy to call the Justice League Incarnate. But since Earth Prime is cut off from the multiverse, there is no way to contact them.
DC's iconic Multiverse just got a lot more limited
Discovering is not an option
The DC Multiverse is vast, but has lost its sense of mystery over the years, especially as pop culture becomes more and more saturated with all kinds of multiverse stories, ranging from Across the Spider-Verse Down Everything Everywhere Everything at once. In the DC Comics world that has one of the oldest multiverses in the history of pop cultureJustice League has reduced the exploration of the multiverse to a science. Barry Allen regularly went on exploration expeditions across the multiverse, mapping any planets he found, which meant that neither readers nor characters could be truly surprised by what was there.
Looking for more stories about DC superheroes exploring the multiverse? Try starting with the Infinite Frontier era miniseries
The incarnation of the Justice League
by Joshua Williamson, Dennis Culver and Andrea Bressan, now available both digitally and in a collected edition from DC Comics.
By walling off the multiverse and making DC's main story solely about Earth-Prime and the Absolute Universe, DC restored a sense of mystery to alternate realities. Nobody knows what is really happening in the Universe Absolutely neither the readers nor the characters. This is one of the most exciting multiverse choices DC has made years from now, and it's a universe that DC has admitted it will be involved in for many years to come.
The Absolute Universe is the perfect answer to multiverse fatigue
The multiverse is exciting again
The multiverse is an easy trap that comic book franchises fall into. It is a tool that offers unlimited possibilities. The problem with this unlimited potential, however, is that it can quickly lose the sense of mystery and excitement it once had. When the multiverse has infinite Earths within it, readers already know that the solution must be ready. If the creator needs a Superman who absorbed every sun in his universe to gain unlimited power, he can be introduced. If the story needs Batman to team up with the Joker, that's not a problem either. There's no point in being surprised by a multiverse that has everything, because then nothing is exciting.
Although Marvel had a giant multiverse that allowed writers to tell individual stories, they really focused on Earth-616 and Earth-1610.
The effectiveness of this “new” method has also already been proven. It's no secret what Marvel's Absolute Ultimate Universe is based on. The naming convention is even similar. Although Marvel had a giant multiverse that allowed creators to tell individual stories, they really focused on Earth-616 and Earth-1610. The Ultimate Universe was a huge success for Marvel and led to the creation of fantastic characters like Miles Morales. While DC has always had an expansive multiverse, the publisher has never really focused on two specific realities – until now.
The DC Multiverse is more exciting than ever
Two planets are much more exciting than an infinite number
Over the past few decades, almost every franchise has dipped its toes into the multiverse. It's a staple of comics and has even started to find its way into the broader realm of pop culture storytelling. While the endless possibilities of the multiverse were fun, nothing beats a tightly focused story. The Absolute Universe is everything that is great about the multiverse, but it is so small in scope that it all seems to matter now. Of all the choices DC Comics what he did with the multiverse, allowing Prime Earth to break away from it and focus on the Absolute Universe, is one of the best ideas in years.
DC All In Special #1 AND Absolute Power #4 are now available from DC Comics!
