DC eyes future beyond Future State, reveals 2021 series for Suicide Squad, Swamp Thing, more

For the characters of DC Comics, the future is looking a little brighter. Ahead of the two-month "Future State" event beginning in January, the publisher announced a handful of new titles spawning out from the event. During today's virtual panels for "Future State" at Brazil's CCXP con, the comics publisher announced returning ongoing runs for Justice League Dark and Suicide Squad, plus new series for Swamp Thing, Green Lantern, and New Teen Titans Academy. 

"Future State" is a two-month long event showing the future that awaits various DC characters, putting them into new and exciting (or life threatening) situations. The new series will continue on from that future.

Lantern will be written by Geoffrey Thorne and drawn by Tom Raney, the team behind the primary John Stewart-led arc in Green Lantern's "Future State" miniseries. John and the remaining Lanterns will be "stranded" inside a dead power battery and forced to adapt to being powerless. 

Justice League Dark will return in March, from previous Dark writer Ram V and drawn by Xermanico. The supernatural branch of the legendary team concluded its run earlier this year, but they're still kicking around.

Ram will also be writing a 10-issue Swamp Thing run, drawn by Mike Perkins, which continues the monster's story in the distant future wherein the remnants of humanity are having an uprising against nature. 

Swamp isn't the only one getting a new lease on life. The Suicide Squad will receive another ongoing series after their recent end. Written by Robbie Thompson and drawn by Educardo Pansica, the influence of 2021's The Suicide Squad film is clear. Typical mainstays like Deadshot and Harley Quinn are nowhere to be found, but Peacemaker most certainly is. The character will be played by John Cena in both James Gunn's upcoming film and solo TV series for HBO Max. Thompson will also be writing the main Suicide Squad story in "Future State." 

Finally, there's the Teen Titans. In the pages of Tim Sheridan and Rafa Sandoval's Teen Titans Academy, the members of DC's premiere young hero team found their own school to train up-and-coming heroes. But spoiler alert... it won't go well, and its destruction and the death of several students and faculties is said to be a key element in the overall "Future State" series. DC's also using this as a way to incorporate Red X from the Titans animated series into the comics, though they're keeping quiet on who's behind the mask. 

DC's "Future State" event begins in January, with these comics beginning their respective runs spinning out of that in March. You can learn more about DC's CCXP happenings here.