Bracing myself, but only slightly!
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I fully support the idea, as most know. That said, people on DC Universe are very… passionate about this topic haha. I fought this battle about 6 months ago. Here’s the thread I made if you’re interested in reading through people’s thoughts. 
https://community.dcuniverseinfinite.com/t/its-time-for-a-new-batman-a-case-for-passing-on-the-mantel/1068409/247
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I remember that thread. I was one of the folks arguing against (hopefully I was civil in my discussion 
). To be honest, while my views on the topic have changed since, I still don’t feel like it’s something I need to happen in order to enjoy these comics. I am however more open minded now to entertaining such stories than I was before. Make sense?
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Everyone was civil from what I remember. That’s the good part about the forums. A lot of us disagree on stuff, but there is a great amount of respect for one another. I hold no ill will to anyone in that thread or on the forums.
That said, I get what you mean when you say you don’t need it. I don’t really need it either (minus one character who I won’t name lol), but I think it’s something that allows for a ton of great opportunities from a narrative perspective that can’t be explored when leaving the mantels the same. Obviously I’m not asking for permanent changes, but it’d be nice to let new characters have a go at a mantel. Maybe for a year. Maybe 10. Just depends on how much I enjoy the character. Luckily, Future State seems to be giving me what I want in that regard while also letting fans who love the legacy characters keep their favorites too. Next year is gonna be great for DC I think.
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Thank you
Yeah I really like the format of this… kind of a best of both worlds approach.
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You are all overthinking it. Just spend two weeks worth of lunch money on a costume and put a fire cracker in a con man’s pocket. It’s easy.
What could possibly go wrong?
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I think passing the mantle can be exciting if it’s done gracefully and respectfully. I can’t really think of a bad example of passing mantle at the top of my head, but I’d know it if I saw it. If that makes sense.
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Makes sense; delivery certainly matters with any story. Happy Birthday by the way .
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Thank you!
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I agree with the basic concept and thought process that @moro has humbly laid out. The thought that a new character cannot be Batman or Superman or Wonder Woman is kind of silly. How many characters have called themselves Flash? While people have a favorite Flash it is accepted that it happens. It is completely reasonable to think that this could happen with other characters.
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Just to be devil’s advocate, where I was coming from before: I didn’t really like the idea of “conceptualizing” my favorite characters. The thought of Superman being a mantle to carry, instead of a character with specific history, powers and traits I’m all too familiar with… well that didn’t sit well with me. Of course, as I outlined in my initial post… my stance is softening .
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Superman is a bit closer to my heart. As I am typing this I am wearing Superman fleece pajama pants and a Superman t-shirt. I can make the argument that a new character in Clark’s place could have a long history, powers, and traits that our kids will be all too familiar with.
I don’t disagree with you. It was weird for me to even type that. I think that is sort of the point though. We only have one chance at this great thing called life and after 2020 I want to experience as much as I can, even if that means a new Superman or Wonder Woman. I am
excited for Future State and I think it is the right way to bring in new readers along with new stories, hopefully breaking the circular storytelling that happens too often.
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I love these revelations. I had a moment several years back, I was really struggling with the whole Scooby-Doo Live Action. I had this notion that Cartoons shouldn’t go live action. Live action could go cartoon… never the other way around though… After what must have been way too much bemoaning from me about it, lamenting, agonizing, etc… my spouse exclaims; a fan is a fan. Are you a fan? 
Well, Yes. I am a fan. I loves me my Scooby Doo! After some more discussion, I finally arrived at The Moment. A Fan appreciates the entire body of artwork created. I do not need to like it all. As Daphne/Velma says in the Mystery Inc series, “look away”, “we don’t talk about that”… there are some parts that maybe we ignore/shun. Alas, it all adds to the content available & as a fan. I am thankful for all of it. Thanks for sharing! Happy Holidays
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I can relate to that. In a way, being a fan of DC in general and Superman in particular, I kind of default to wanting to like things, you know? It doesn’t always work out that way, but at the end of the day we’re all pretty lucky to have the luxury to contemplate and complain about our pastime. Oh and a Very Merry Christmas to you, as well!
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Tell me a good story and I’ll stick with you, fumble then I’ll complain. My best example is with the other company, I thought Jane Foster as Thor was doomed to failure. Loved that run of the book because the story justified itself.
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Passing the mantle needs to be an inherent part of comics. It’s how the stories stays fresh and interesting and different. Superman was written in the context of WW2, and his powers and personality weren’t designed for the 21st century. After 80 years of stories, it’s hard to tell an original Superman story. Don’t get me wrong. There are things that haven’t been done yet and stories to tell, but it’s going to be hard to make Superman more fleshed out and interesting then he is currently. Family Superman? It’s been done. Lonely Superman? Done. Dying Superman? Done. Superman identity reveal? Done. Evil Superman? Done. Misguided Superman? Done. Name a type of Superman that hasn’t been done and you’ll struggle. You can still tell new Superman stories, but it’s hard to blaze new ground. That’s part of why Jon worked because it hadn’t quite been done before (or at least recently).
But passing the mantle gives room for new stories. Jon stories have a lot to explore. What are his flaws? (They aren’t that he’s too perfect). What are his anxieties? What keeps him awake at night? What is his sexuality? You get the idea. There’s a lot to explore, and while some of it will be similar to Jon’s predecessor, there is plenty to explore. It makes a lot of sense for Jon to get more and more focus and even his own solo title soon so we can explore these things.
And it’s not that you can’t love Superman, I’m saying there is a clear path of telling new stories with Jon as you explore him further. Supersons is a great example of that. There’s been Superboy/Robin stories before, but with different characters, the dynamics are wildly different, and Supersons feels NEW and Different and wonderful.
Think about it this way. There’s an Einstein quote "combinatory play seems to be the essential feature in productive thought”. Basically combining new ideas together (combinatory play) is what makes new interesting ideas appear. Many of the best stories use this to some extent. The problem is that Superman has had about every combination of ideas implemented in some fashion. But a legacy character? There’s new ground to cover.
You can love Superman and enjoy new Superman stories even if they are just variations on past stories, but if you want new ideas and further development of new ideas, you really need to experiment with new heroes and ideas.
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Continuing with this line of thought, look at where passing the mantle has occured at Marvel. You can’t say “these stories feel old and stale.” You might be able to stay “I don’t like this character as much,” but the mantle feels different and the stories feel new. For example, Captain America: Sam Wilson was a great series (in my opinion) that got to explore what being representative of patriotism and American values means to different groups of people. The recurring idea of certain white groups saying #notmyCaptainAmerica was a powerful element to the story that looked at the implicit bias in what a patriotic American hero is viewed to be. When someone believes in American values but is part of a minority group that faces racism and faces hardships due to the color of their skin, their outlook at what patriotism and heroism mean is different. The idea of a Black Captain America is a combinatory play that created my favorite comic of All-New All-Different. Did everyone like it? Hell no, but I found the story incredibly poignant and showed me what a “political” Superhero story can be. Obviously the change didn’t stick, but now the MCU is exploring some version of that same story.
It’s important to note that this legacy character and passing the mantle idea are about to receive a proof of concept in a sense because the MCU is forced to pass the mantle due to aging actors. As such they will us a chance at what a long term world looks like with passing down the mantle, and I’m excited to see it play out.
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I think this is a great synopsis of how passing the mantel can keep these stories going. Despite some of my more aggressive takes, I genuinely love all of the characters in the DC universe. But I think a lot of them have hit the point where there just isn’t much left to explore as they are. Characters like Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent have been around for almost a CENTURY. Fighting pretty much the same villains in very similar set ups over all that time. After all, there are only so many things you can do with characters after all this time. Allowing new characters to continue the legacy keeps these symbols alive in a fresh way.
The most common response I hear to this mindset is something like, “You can’t let someone else be Superman because Superman is Clark Kent.” And what I say to that is, the only reason that’s the case is because no one else has really ever had the chance to own the symbol in the same way. Sure, people like Dick, Terry, and Jean have held big mantels like Batman for a bit, but not for nearly as long as Bruce has over the past 80 years.
The reason I often want new people to hold the mantel has nothing to do with me hating characters like Bruce Wayne or Clark Kent (despite what some may think on the forums), but just because these characters really have no where else to go at the moment. I want these mantels and legacies to live on. To do so, we need to let new people get a shot at it. Hopefully some skeptical fans will give Future State a chance and that’ll maybe open the door a bit more for a conversation like this in the main series.
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Well said, Nathan. While I can’t say I’ve read any of the Marvel stories you mention, I do understand what you are saying. I guess with me, I realized there’s an inherent resistance to the idea, because… how do I put this… because I’m a fan, I suppose. The idea of someone else taking over, felt like it diminished the character I’ve spent so much time following and enjoying. I recently came to the mindset that, while a story can certainly be told that way, it doesn’t have to be. A mantle being passed means there was a mantle to pass to begin with… and the original character’s legacy and effect on the world can be felt and respected in the new stories. Having said all that, the fan in me still wants to read Clark Kent as Superman, while being open minded to a future where Jon takes over. Seems like Future State and Infinite Frontier will be doing just that… telling the stories in an organic manner. Hoping for the best!
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Yeah… that’s me . I guess take any fictional character, with a long standing mythology… Hercules for instance… were there stories of a “New Hercules”? Maybe, but with my limited knowledge of Greek mythology, I only know of one. Granted, aside from different “takes” every now & then, there aren’t really any new Hercules stories being told… so I can see where y’all are coming from.
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