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DC’s Absolute Universe has a long-term plan looking 3 years ahead the ‘New 52’ never did, says architect Scott Snyder
Scott Snyder thought DC’s New 52 was rushed, so he made sure the Absolute Universe had two years of lead time
NewsbyChris Arrant, Editor-in-Chief
Published on Wed Jul 22 2026
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Scott Snyder has something in common with Batman; they both believe in prep time. While Batman prepares long term contingency plans, the Eisner Award-winning comic book writer is currently planning for the future of the Absolute Universe. In fact, he has such a jump on his planning that he’s currently looking at 2028 and 2029. Batman would be proud.
According to Snyder, the lead time was by design. He knows what happens when a comic book doesn’t have a proper runway, and he was determined not to repeat those mistakes with the Absolute Universe.
“[DC] approved All In and Absolute in [2022], and we didn’t start until [2024],” Scott Snyder says during a recent appearance on AIPT Comics Podcast. “Not throwing shade at [Dan Didio], [Geoff Johns], and everybody that was there for the first 10 years that I was at DC, because in retrospect, what you learned too is they were under all kinds of pressure from moving to LA and the moving of the offices and having a rotating thing of bosses from different companies that are swallowing up your company over and over again. But in that environment, it was very chaotic, and there wasn’t a lot of room to plan.”
“I found out that the ‘New 52‘ was the ‘New 52’ after I was hired to do Batman and that it was going to be number one and you only had six months. Then we were doing Death Metal, and then we found out about 5G, and then we didn’t want to do that, and it was just always that. So part of my feeling was if I come back to plan this thing, let’s plan it for a good year and a half to two years out where you give everybody enough time to really build what they want to do.”
“Right now we’re planning for [2028] and [2029], so I’m really excited. The third part of our big Darkseid saga. Each part of it allows for new books and changes in the line, so there’s a pragmatic aspect of it. K.O. is the middle part, the big third part that’s sort of the big climax of it is coming next year. And that allows for a lot of renewal.”
Here’s an update to date guide on the Absolute Batman release schedule.
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Chris Arrant: Chris Arrant is the Popverse’s Editor-in-Chief. He has written about pop culture for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher’s Weekly, Marvel, Newsarama, CBR, and more. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. (He/him)
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