We’ve been hearing about “superhero fatigue” for about a decade now, but there isn’t much evidence of it. If you’ve been paying attention to American comics in recent years, you’ve probably noticed that DC’s Absolute Universe and Marvel’s Ultimate Universe have both been wildly successful. People (me) love the giant Batman and his giant battle axe.
Now Absolute Batman screenwriter Scott Snyder has revealed what inspired him to write a DC superhero comic for the Absolute Universe. On the Off Panel podcast, Snyder said, “It was around that time…I think I was really starting to get angry at mainstream culture, which was really starting to criticize the superhero genre. There was a Wall Street Journal article that was sort of an autopsy of the Marvel Universe, and there was another article in the Times, and there were a lot of articles that felt like they were talking behind our backs and saying, ‘Well, thank God the era of superheroes is over,’ or, ‘It’s over.’ And I was like, “Not here.” This is where these characters are reincarnated in all kinds of ways. So I was excited to come back. ”
It’s also worth noting that while Fantastic Four: First Steps struggled in theaters last summer, DC Studios’ Superman movie was the highest-grossing superhero film of 2025. And while Marvel’s Ultimate Universe is shrinking, DC’s Absolute Universe continues to thrive. The new Absolute series, Absolute Green Arrow, will be launched this spring by the dynamic duo of writer Pornsac Pichetshot and artist Rafael Albuquerque.
Volume 1 of Absolute Batman is currently available in paperback and hardcover formats, with Volume 2 scheduled to arrive wherever books and comics are sold on February 3, 2026.
