WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Batman/Superman #16 by Gene Luen Yang, Ivan Reis, Danny Miki, Sabine Rich and Saida Temofonte, on sale now
There are plenty of alternate universes in the DC Multiverse where some of the biggest changes come as a result of notable heroes going missing or never getting the chance to make something for themselves. Now, it appears that the Batman and Superman of Earth-0 are going to have to face worlds where chance made it so their counterparts never rose up to become heroes.
Batman/Superman #16 just introduced two unexpected new realities — where each is defined by the lack of either Superman or Batman.
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A World Without Superman
In this reality, Batman is still the traditional defender of Gotham City — working alongside a young Robin to fight against criminals like the Joker and Penguin. However, there’s also a unique enemy known as the Spider Lady — who is revealed to be the Lois Lane of this reality. Lois has become the queen of Metropolis’s criminal underworld. She tells Batman that she’s trying to find a mysterious connection between Arkham Asylum, the Daily Planet building (hinted to have suffered a terrible fate in this world), and a secret society. Lois is able to escape police custody, leaving the other villains to be returned to Arkham. When last seen, the villains are visibly in pain, consumed by purple polyps developing across their bodies.
Notably, Batman and Robin’s conversation with the Warden of Arkham — who bears a physical similarity to Lex Luthor — reveals the prized piece of his collection: an alien rocket ship, and the skeleton of an infant creature within it. It turns out that in this reality, the ship carrying Kal-El to Earth was struck by a meteor of Kryptonite mid-flight, killing the child on the way to Earth. The rocket was found by a childless couple in Kansas — likely the Kents — and eventually sold in an estate sale. Further investigations into the Warden and the mysterious benefactor who gifted him with the ship lead Batman and Robin to the Arctic, where they confront a mysterious mercenary force and their masked leader. However, this is when another reality crosses over with this Superman-less dimension.
A World Without Batman
In the other new reality, Kal-El successfully landed on Earth and became Superman, much as he does in other realities. However, this world was radically changed the night that Thomas Wayne died protecting his family from a mugger on the streets of Gotham. Martha survived the encounter and went on to raise Bruce in an attempt to move past the tragedy — keeping him from going on the path to becoming Batman. By the present day, Martha has become the world’s most respected inventor. She’s even brought Wayne Innovations to Metropolis, where Superman has become a trusted ally. She’s raised Bruce into the wishy-washy playboy the real Batman so often has to pretend to be — and even seems to have found love again in the arms of Alfred, who silently serves besides the pair.
Martha has gained an enemy though in the form of Lex Luthor, who has taken the title of the Unknown Wizard. He accuses Martha of stealing every one of her inventions from his mind, and unleashes a robotic horde against a crowd gathered to see her new Omni-Battery that’s quickly stopped by Superman. But noticing odd elements of the battery, the trio of Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olsen decide to further investigate. Arriving at Wayne Manor for an interview with Bruce, Lois explores the mansion and finds her way into a mysterious cave — likely a secret lab for Martha that is often the location of the Bat-Cave in other worlds. Confronted by Alfred, Superman arrives just in time for Pennyworth to activate a Venom set-up similar to the one used by Bane — and become a monstrously muscular figure.
Before the fight can really break out though, Lois falls through a hole into the other reality — landing right in front of Batman and Robin. Meanwhile, in Earth-0 (the core-DC Universe), Superman and Batman find a film-like material and are confronted by mysterious aliens claiming they’ve interfered with the Archive of Worlds — setting up the conflict to potentially involve three separate versions of the DC Universe all coming together.