Absolute Batman writer Scott Snyder revealed his plans for the next year of the best-selling title.
On the Comics Watchers YouTube channel, Snyder said that he has already plotted up to issue 24 for Absolute. With the opening story arc “The Zoo” concluding with issue 6, Snyder talks about what comes next.
Mr. Freeze is Coming
In issue 7 and 8, readers will get to see the Absolute universe version of Mr. Freeze in a two-part arc. Snyder promises that it “ties into what you read in the first arc and sets up the second one.”
For the story arc, former Daredevil artist Marcos Martín will illustrate. Snyder calls Martín’s work “unbelievable” while promising a new design for Freeze and “a lot of fun revelations about who he is.”
Absolute Bane vs. Absolute Batman
After meeting Mr. Freeze, Snyder then reported that Bane will be the big baddie in the next arc. Somehow, Bane will also delve into the mystery of whatever “Ark M” is. Whatever it is, you can almost for sure get teases of other villains.
“Starting with #9, it’s a Bane arc, which I’m very excited about, and it really deals with Ark M and what it is. Bruce is desperately trying to figure out what they’re building there and what it is underneath this prison, and it’s like a real horror show. So you get a bunch of villain revelations there.”
Future Absolute Villain Plans
After the Bane storyline, Snyder is a little more loose with his plans. But you can almost expect to see Joker confronting Batman soon.
“Right now that’s where we’re planning our Joker story is, after that, but I haven’t decided yet.”
So far, we’ve only seen a briefest of teases of the Joker at the end of issue 1. So far, he seems the polar opposite of a chaos-ensuing villain in the main DC Universe. Instead, Absolute is teasing him to be an ultra wealthy industrialist who never smiles.
But before we get too far ahead about the Joker, there may be some other rogues to contend with. Snyder also discussed maybe squeezing in a Scarecrow related story in the first 24 issues, but he is still in preliminary stages of that.
Absolute Robin and Other Allies
With all of the talk of villains, it seems that Batman is going to need some help. Fortunately for him, Snyder also teased that Robin- or at least Dick Grayson- will eventually make an appearance. Even more surprising, it should happen sooner, rather than later.
“You’ll see Dick Grayson at some point this year, he’s coming. It was an interesting set of choices because it was like, ‘Is he a kid, or is he a grown-up?’ Because if Barbara is a grown-up and he’s a kid, is that too weird? Does that feel off? So what if he’s a grown-up? Who would he be? And then that opened this whole door. You’ll see some friendly Bat characters and some fiendish Bat characters, all coming soon.”
Finally, Snyder talked about a crossover even across the different Absolute titles. So it is likely that Batman will meet the Absolute version of Superman and Wonder Woman.
“We had a big summit, Zoom-wise, all the Absolute writers. There will be crossover storylines in ’25 between the Absolute books – the first three especially, ’cause they’ve been around longer.”
Looks like fan of the Absolute Batman title have a lot to look forward to in the next year. It’ll be super exciting to see what Snyder churns out next.
Source: YouTube.com
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