What will happen to the DC Universe post-Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths? Flashpoint Beyond #5 may have the answer, in a preview just released by DC. The issue opens two days after Dark Crisis and on Earth-Prime, with the news announcing the return of the Justice League.
Then, the meta-heavy preview dives right into a talk show interview with Mr. Terrific, who attempts to explain the Great Darkness and the Omniverse – but he's quickly corrected by Dr. Bonnie Baxter of the Time Masters, who explains the Divine Continuum as simply as possible. Essentially, while Mr. Terrific claims the Omniverse is everything and everything matters, Bonnie says, "The 'Omniverse' is hardly everything."
More important than space, she argues, is the other half of the equation – time. Although space can come and go, whenever a decision is made, a new timeline is born. And these are permanent.
As Bonnie makes her point, a panel in Flashpoint #5 shows a chalkboard with the title '5G Averted' written at the top. Several seemingly possible DC Universe stories are written below it, with some crossed out and others posed as existing questions. This seems like a pretty blatant callout of DC's shelved 5G reboot, which Flashpoint has been referencing since issue #0.
After this, Bonnie gets a call about the Time Masters lab being attacked – driving home the importance of the chalk-written question, "Who is hunting the Time Masters?" She blips out of the talk show studio and a red narration bubble declares, "Temporal anomaly registered."
Perhaps the issue is the apparent (although not definitive) resurrection of Ra's al Ghul, who offers Batman a drink as the latter crawls through the window of what appears to be someone's living room. If you'll recall, Deathstroke killed Ra's at the start of the 'Shadow War' arc.
See the Flashpoint #5 preview below.
Flashpoint #5 is written by Geoff Johns, Tim Sheridan, and Jeremy Adams, illustrated by Xermánico and Mikel Janín, colored by Romulo Fajardo Jr. and Jordie Bellaire, and lettered by Rob Leigh. If these preview pages are any indication, the issue may pose as many new questions as it answers existing ones.
Flashpoint #5 will be available September 6.
Surprise, surprise, Ra's is back ... but on what Earth/what reality remains to be seen, we suppose... Either way, he's one of the best Batman villains of all time.
