Welcome to the Golden Future

This section of the site details the known future of the Golden Age’s pre-original Crisis Earth-2. We have seen Batman (Bruce Wayne) travel to the future and been given glimpses of the future on several occasions in the comics. These instances are recorded here. However, it is wise to note that some of these flash-forwards showcased alternate futures that wound up ceasing to be and therefore are not included. Likewise, some of these time-treks highlighted jaunts to and from alternate Earths and are not included either. It is also worth re-iterating an important fact that I’ve mentioned before: During huge company-wide reboots that ostensibly and effectively end a universe (such as the original Crisis, which ends Universe-2) it’s not just the universe that is erased, the entire timeline associated the universe is erased. For example, the Universe-2 timeline doesn’t simply end with a cataclysmic reboot in 1985. If that were the case, then any reference to future tales or stories that occur after 1985 would be null and void. Because the DCU adheres to the tenets of determinism, the entire Universe-2 timeline is already complete. 1985 is simply the focal point of an event that sucks dry and evaporates the entire Universe-2 timeline from the before the Big Bang to the End of Time. To better understand this concept we must also adopt a general scientific view of time as another dimension of space—as a where instead of a when. In the case of the original Crisis, 1985 isn’t just a calendar year for our intents and purposes; it is also the point in time (or space-time) where the universe-collapsing anomaly occurs. Furthermore, it is indispensable knowledge that the event is exactly that, an anomaly (albeit one started by evil forces) that ceased to exist on the timeline until its very inception. As mentioned before, we should also view a reboot erasure less like a total obliteration and more like an archival process wherein which the timeline/universe in question gets concluded and stored away.

I’ve already acknowledged that there are some tales where a version of the future gets averted or relegated to an alternate reality thanks to something that happens in-story (usually time travel shenanigans). I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that a significant number of readers, critics, and scholars will regard all stories set in the future as being simply one of many possible futures i.e. as loosely canon or entirely non-canon. However, to reiterate the above, that’s technically not how my site functions, nor is it how I approach my personal headcanon (or a even a more concrete canon). Yes, there are myriad alternate futures attached to all continuities, but when it comes to any primary timeline, certain stories and characters definitively weave back and forth (again, sometimes via time travel, but also through other narrative means), making significant impact on the main line. Since this is true on all timelines from the 1930s through to present day, everything in the future must jibe and co-exist in an orderly fashion with everything else in the past. In another manner of speaking, the future must be as solid as your past and present day, for if it is not, then your timeline is completely unstable and untenable. This rule will be in effect here and on all other future sections of this website.

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–NOTE: Batman will commit to his daily and annual traditions, moving forward, although they won’t be listed with as much detail in the “future section” as compared to the main chronology we’ve already seen. 

Batman #59 Part 3

Batman #59 Part 3 by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, Lew Sayre Schwartz, & Charles Paris (1950)

–2050 CE
Batman #59 Part 3
. In 1950, Carter Nichols accidentally sends Bruce and Dick one hundred years into the future, despite Bruce’s wish to visit 1850. In 2050, Batman and Robin face a hyper-futuristic Gotham complete with bizarre clothes, spaceports, and Rokej—Joker’s descendant that is now Gotham’s Chief of Police! After learning that someone has been sabotaging spaceships on behalf of a league of cosmic-pirates, Batman and Robin enter into a rocket ship regatta across the Solar System in a brand new Bat-Spaceship constructed for them by John Milman’s Comet Company. The Dynamic Duo not only wins the space race, but also outs one of Milman’s engineers as the saboteur before phasing back to 1950. (This item is also shown via flashback/flashforward from Detective Comics #165, although the textual narrative along with the image is incorrect. Also note, as per reference in Detective Comics #165, that Batman brings a space-suit back home with him after this adventure.)

WFC #91

World’s Finest Comics #91 by Edmond Hamilton, Dick Sprang, & Stan Kaye (1957)

–2957 CE
World’s Finest Comics #91. In 1957, Rick Harben unleashes a trap upon Batman, Superman, and Robin that consists of a mysterious gas of possible magickal or alien origin. The gas puts the trio into suspended animation while stopping their aging in its tracks. Harben then causes a rockslide that traps the sleeping heroes inside a mountain cave. Batman, Robin, and Superman are then awakened by strange scientists and once fully revived, are shocked to learn that a thousand years have passed! It’s the year 2957! Batman tells Superman to use his time-traveling powers to go home, but Superman refuses to leave the Dynamic Duo. Thankfully, the future scientists have a time-traveling apparatus. But unfortunately, when they go to get it out of lockup, it has vanished. The number one suspect is super-criminal Rothul, distant relative of Lex Luthor! The heroes of 1957 are honored by the multiple inhabited planets of the Solar System, but attacked by Rothul several times. Eventually, Rothul kidnaps one of the scientists, Lora, and takes her to his HQ on the moon. There, the heroes defeat Rothul and rescue Lora. Back on Earth, Lora admits that she hid the time-machine because she wanted dreamboat Superman to stay in 2957. The three heroes hop in the time-machine, which beams them back into their own bodies one minute before they were ambushed by Harben in 1957, allowing them to get the jump on the bewildered villain. So be aware that Batman, Robin, and Superman spend a chiliad (1957 to 2957) in suspended animation only to then get zapped back to a few minutes before going into suspended animation, thus allowing them to continue on our timeline unscathed! Also note that the world surely would have taken a drastic turn for the worse with its greatest heroes disappearing in 1957 without a trace—but returning from 2957 would have altered the timeline so that things got on the correct track again. Thus, we don’t really know what the world of 2957 is definitively like because time was altered at the end of the story. In other words, the world of 2957 that we see in WFC #91 is a world where Batman, Robin, and Superman disappeared in 1957 never to be heard from again. Thus, their return to their correct era must have caused a butterfly effect that changed a significant portion of that world as we see it in WFC #91. However, we do know, that the world of 2957 exists in some form because Superman keeps a souvenir from that era when he goes back home.

–Circa 3040s CE
Batman #26 Part 3
. In 3000 CE, an army of aliens from Saturn, led by the malevolent warlord Fura, invaded and enslaved Earth. Over forty years later, Fura’s reign continues. In Gotham of the 3040s, a wealthy socialite calling himself “Bruce Wayne”—Bruce’s future namesake, actually named Brane Taylor—and his young nephew Ricky Taylor unearth a time capsule from the 1939 New York World’s Fair that contains film of Batman and Robin in action in 1939. Inspired, Brane and Ricky become Batman and Robin and lead what will ultimately become the revolution that frees Earth and ends the reign of Fura and his Saturnian hordes.

–3051 CE
Referenced in Batman #67 Part 3. Super-criminal Yerxa robs a few cargo ships owned by Brane Taylor.

Batman #67 Part 3

Batman #67 Part 3 by Bill Finger, Dick Sprang, & Charles Paris (1951)

–3051 CE
Batman #67 Part 3
. In 1951, Robin is visited in the Batcave by the Batman of the year 3051, Brane Taylor, who travels to meet him in a time-sphere! Taylor explains that his Robin (Ricky Taylor) has been injured by super-criminal Yerxa and he needs the Robin of 1951 to substitute. Robin agrees and goes to the 3051. Brane and Robin track Yerxa to an asteroid mining colony/penal colony called Vulcan, which hangs in orbit between the Sun and Mercury and is complete with robot guards, strange dinosaur-like creatures that have human faces, and a breathable atmosphere (likely due to some sort of oxygen bubble). Once there, the heroes pose as enslaved convicts and work with the other prisoners, known collectively as the Lost Legionnaires. Eventually, Brane and Robin defeat both Yerxa and the telepathic super-villain known as The Dome. At Yerxa’s trial, the calculated criminal, having been informed by the Dome, reveals 3051 Batman’s identity as Brane Taylor! Luckily, Robin has used the time-sphere to retrieve Batman (Bruce Wayne) from 1951, who shows up and dispels everyone’s belief that Brane is the Dark Knight. Afterward, the Dynamic Duo of 3051 drops the Dynamic Duo of 1951 back home. The 31st century heroes leave behind a super-radio in 1951 that can be used to contact them in the future (as referenced in Detective Comics #216). This entire adventure is also briefly glimpsed via flashback from Detective Comics #216, although it incorrectly lists it as occurring in 3054 instead of 3051.

–3055 CE
Detective Comics #216
. Brane Taylor is contacted by Bruce Wayne in 1955. Bruce has injured his arm and needs a temporary replacement. Brane shoots back to 1955 in his timesphere and plays substitute. However, when Brane meets Vicki Vale, he goes all Zapp Brannigan, showing off his macho ladies’ man personality. Vicki begins to suspect that he is an impostor. While Brane and Robin chase villains, Vicki tags along. Robin does all he can from distracting her while Brane, against the Boy Wonder’s wishes, uses future technology, such as a jet pack, truth vapor spray, and an invisibility refractor. Eventually, Brane and Robin bust the baddies they are chasing, but Vicki is still suspicious, especially since Robin did all the detective work during the case. Not only is Brane a subpar detective, he is noticeably taller than Batman! Before Vicki can figure it out, the real 20th century Batman shows up (healed thanks to a 31st century scientific massage technique) and dispels her thoughts, stating that he was wearing special lift boots. Brane eagerly returns to 3055.

Batman #105 Part 3

Batman #105 Part 3 by Arnold Drake, Sheldon Moldoff, & Charles Paris (1957)

–5000 CE
Batman #105 Part 3. The date is purely conjectural. The technology exhibited by this era’s Batman seems to imply that it is at least a thousand years or more beyond the time of Brane Taylor. We aren’t told much, but we know that this era’s Batman wears a costume similar to the Golden Age Batman, but with a larger Bat-symbol, goggles with dual antennas attached to them, and no cape. He has been directly inspired by the Batmen of the past, specifically the Batman of the 20th century, learning much about him by using a time-telescope, which allows the viewer to literally peer into the past. Using a rare and dwindling resource known as a chromium unit, Batman-5000 sends his primary mode of transportation, the Bat-Missile, back to 1956 to assist Batman and Robin with a case. The Bat-Missile, a small rocket-ship shaped like a missile, is piloted by a telepathic link to its user and can phase through any object. After the Dynamic Duo of the 20th century uses it to bust some crooks, Batman-5000 uses his era’s final chromium units to travel to 1956, where he greets the original Batman, retrieves the Bat-Missile, and returns home.

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