2026 is going to a massive year for DC Comics in ways that is strictly about their publishing plans and bigger things going on with their parent company. Now given the current state of Warner Brothers we can’t talk about what will happen on that side of things. But when it comes to DC Comics publishing plans we have already gotten an idea of where things will go. The company utilized the last few months of 2025 to lay the foundation for what fans can expect in 2026. What are those things we should be looking forward to? There are five things that specifically standout.
NOTE: The five things that will be broken down will not include DC Comics and Marvel’s continued partnership. We don’t know how far that partnership will go as only the Spider-Man/Superman one-shots have been announced for 2026.
DC COMICS NEXT LEVEL DIRECTION
On the same week DC K.O. #1 released in October DC Comics announced their 2026 plans. Specifically, at their What’s Next panel at New York Comic-Con 2025 DC Comics announced the “DC Next Level” direction. Like DC All In, Infinite Frontier, and others before it, this will be the new banner direction that will follow the events of DC K.O.
We’ve already gotten announcements for what to first expect from DC Next Level with the following new comics or creative teams announced for March and April:
- Batwoman by Greg Rucka and DaNi
- Deathstroke by Tony Fleecs and Carmine Di Giandomenico
- Lobo by Skottie Young and Jorge Corona
- Titans retitled New Titans by Tate Brombal and Sami Basri
- Zatanna by Jamal Campbell
- The Fury of Firestorm by Jeff Lemire and Rafael De Latorre
Additionally, at NYCC DC Comics announced Next Level titles will include Barbara Gordon: Breakout, The Demon, and Shadow of the Bat. Jeff Lemire, Tony Fleecs, Joshua Williamson, James Harren, Mariko Tamaki, and Deniz Camp have also been talent announced for working on these or yet to be announced DC Next Level comic books.
DC Next Level is something that DC Comics certainly needs as they didn’t head into 2026 with a strong publishing line-up. This is due to DC K.O. dominating the first three months of the year. With the entire DC Universe tied to that event only the Batman Family and a few other titles were unaffected by the DC K.O. event.
While some may see that as a negative DC Comics should, and looks to be, treating 2026 as a restart point for the DCU. They are rebuilding their publishing line-up with new and well-known talent to their fanbase. Hopefully DC’s editorial has learned from the success of the Absolute Universe to give creative freedom to take chances rather than staying with the same thing that worked 30 or 40 years ago.
THE NEXT PHASE OF THE ABSOLUTE UNIVERSE
Speaking of the Absolute Universe, it will be entering its second full year of existence in 2026. It has by far been one of the most successful things that DC has going for them. Every Absolute Universe title ended 2025 with its six titles being in the top 25 comic book sales rankings. That is an impressive achievement especially considering how DC has struggled to make consistent sellers from their books outside the Batman Family.
Scott Snyder recently spoke to what 2025 showed that fans want in 2026 and beyond in his recent Our Best Jackett Substack newsletter:
“So the thing I’m excited about with this market is is that it feels like there are fans out there that are desperately hungry, whether they’re new, whether they’re returning, whether they’ve been there all along, for things that feel transgressive and dangerous and risky and their own. Above all, their own. They want to feel like they’re getting on the ground floor of something that is only happening here, doesn’t feel like it’s connected to some giant ecosystem of TV, movies, of a million different things.”
Keeping up the momentum in 2026 will be an important thing that Absolute Universe needs to maintain. Snyder’s quote above spoke to what has helped spark the success of the Absolute Universe beyond the characters and creators attached to the titles. The creative freedom to do something that feels genuinely new and leans into taking risks with iconic characters has been great.
Now that the Absolute Universe has firmly established itself we’ll have to see where things go next. Especially if the involvement of the Absolute Universe’s Trinity in DC K.O. has a larger impact on where things go for the universe. Which is something that could play into what we saw established in the Absolute Evil one-shot.
WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE BATMAN FAMILY
The Batman Family is entering 2026 with the biggest question marks around the franchise in quite a while. When it comes to just looking at the DC Comics solicitations, the Batman franchise makes up a third or quarter of its publishing line-up. So, on the publishing side there isn’t much different in how reliant the publisher is on the Batman brand.
When looking at the state of the Batman Family itself entering 2026 only Nightwing and Batgirl have ongoings. Counting Catwoman, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, we got four Batman Family titles without Batman as the lead. Outside of that we got Batwoman in March and Barbara Gordon: Breakout sometime in 2026, a title that indicates it’ll be a mini-series. Then there is Shadows of the Bat we have no details on being another Batman book or one for entire family.
With that in mind we have no direction known for the majority of the Batman Family. Damian Wayne, Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Helena Bertinelli, Duke Thomas, Luke Fox, Harper Row, Jace Fox, and others without a place to call home. That could all change as there has been a vibe with the close of 2025 that we could be getting a Batman crossover in 2026.
The reason that we will have a Batman crossover event in 2026 is the current state of Gotham City and Bludhaven. There have been a lot of things going on from Vandal Savage running Gotham City and Bludhaven going through a supernatural change. These and many other things set the stage for a bigger event that will set a new foundation for the Batman Family in the second half of 2026 going into 2027.
IS THE SUPERMAN FAMILY READY TO STEP UP
For the last three years DC Comics has reinvested in the Superman franchise in ways we didn’t see for some time before 2023. The timing worked with Superman being the character the rebooted movie and TV DC Universe. By being positioned in an important status to the great brand it’s helped elevate Superman.
But what has not necessarily worked out in this reinvestment in Superman has been the state of the rest of the family. The attempt to make Jon Kent a key character did not work out and is lost being Superman #2 at best. This is seen with the fact the only titles without the Superman name on it in the franchise are Action Comics and Supergirl. And only Supergirl is not 100% reliant on Superman.
March 2026 seems to be a test if the last three years of investment in the franchise can break through this glass ceiling. Superman is noticeably absent in most of the mainline franchise’s titles. In his place the rest of the Superman Family are stepping in. This may be a reflection of how DC K.O. will end. Whatever the case is, 2026 needs to be the time that we see the Superman franchise truly elevate by making the characters around him help truly carry the load.
NEW TITANS SETTING THE TONE FOR THE NEXT GENERATION
A narrative that DC Comics is not saying much as they promote their new DC Next Level direction is what is going on with their next generation characters. The only thing we have is them renaming Titans to New Titans as the series includes Jon Kent, Yara Flor, Stephanie Brown, and Terra. Then only Nightwing, Wally West’s Flash, Batgirl, and Supergirl are “next gen” characters who have ongoings as we start 2026.
So to say the state of what DC Comics likes to toute as their next generation has never been dire. Even as DC continues to create new next generation characters every year there is no actual commitment to them. Thus far the only characters that have had a form of success are those that have been around for over 25 years.
With that in mind it does put more pressure on the rebranded New Titans to set the tone for the next generation characters. Jon Kent, Yara Flor, and Stephanie Brown being mentored by the Titans can help them a lot to have a fresh start to establish themselves. Tate Brombal and Sami Basri should use this as a chance to build bigger and bigger storylines. That means not getting New Titans bogged down with the traditional six issues arcs. New Titans should be a title that most learns from the Absolute Universe risk taking.
If that can happen, there is an opportunity for momentum to be created for the younger superhero characters. It is something that DC Comics certainly needs to help freshen up many characters with 60+ years of history.
Source: DC Next Level Announcement; Zatanna & Firestorm Announcement; Scott Snyder’s Our Best Jackett
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