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The Fate of the Justice League after 'Darkseid War' Revealed

This year's Free Comic Book Day issue offered a look into the League's future.

Last week's JUSTICE LEAGUE #40 gave everyone the background they need for June's JUSTICE LEAGUE #41. The Darkseid War is coming and it pretty much means bad news for the Justice League. In the beginning of the New 52, we saw the League form to take on the threat of Darkseid. Despite his defeat, his plans did not end there. Throw in the Anti-Monitor and there is not going to be any rest for the League.

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In this year's Free Comic Book Day special, DIVERGENCE, we got a glimpse at the things to come. This isn't the first time a Free Comic Book Day issue has offered a prophecy of sorts. The same thing happened in the 2012 special as well.

It seems the fate of the members of the League has been revealed. In order to take a look at some of them, there will be spoilers for the DIVERGENCE issue, although we won't go through all of the future glimpses. Hopefully you had a chance to read it. It's not clear when these events will occur. We can also assume DC's upcoming "looser continuity" won't be a problem with lining these events up with any individual series immediately.

Hal Jordan

Hal Jordan just returned to Earth and the League. With one sentence, things are looking a little bleak for Hal.

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At first glance, it does look like it's Hal making the sacrifice. He is the character seen in the image. Hal is sometimes a little selfish but overall, he is pretty heroic. Could we be seeing the death of Hal? Will he have to sacrifice his power ring or battery?

Although, you could almost argue that perhaps it's Batman that will be making the sacrifice. What does Batman have to try to keep under control? Why does he have to keep his head clear? This leads us to the next glimpse.

Batman

It wouldn't be surprising to see Batman make a sacrifice. Heck, he laid things all on the line at the end of Endgame in trying to save Gotham City and defeat Joker. (This is where the Continuity Police starts screaming about Batman's appearance here and what just apparently happened to change him in his series). Now it looks like another pretty big change is going to happen to the Dark Knight.

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A New God is born. Does that mean Batman becomes a New God? Is that even possible? What's with the fancy blue lighting? I can't recall a regular person being reborn as a New God but it looks like Batman is going to have complete knowledge over everything. Is something going to happen to Metron? I think it's safe to assume this won't be a permanent change.

Batman is often set up as being able to figure everything out. He is the World's Greatest Detective after all. But this looks like it'll elevate him to a new level.

Superman?

What does the "S" stand for? Many would say it stands for "hope." It looks like there won't be very much hope soon.

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Here we see Lex Luthor, of all people, questioning where Superman has gone. If you haven't been keeping up with JUSTICE LEAGUE, Lex has become a member of the team. We saw, during the Amazo Virus arc, that Lex might actually want to be a better person now. It won't be easy.

For some reason, Superman is gone and Lex is left holding Superman's cape. As we also saw in this Free Comic Book Day issue, things have gotten a little messed up in Superman's personal life (we mentioned it in more detail HERE). That doesn't quite explain his sudden disappearance. Unless his new status and the way people now view Superman. Perhaps he was forced off the team. He'll have to deal with this new status quo and the person that put him in this new position. It could be that Superman feels he needs time away to adjust to it all.

Aquaman

Aquaman's been going through a bit in his own title. It appears he's finally getting his house in order. The image we see of him doesn't look good for him either.

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We see him being attacked by Parademons. That means this is definitely taking place during the Darkseid War. The mention of a king "drowning" probably doesn't mean he's actually physically drowning. Unless something is done to alter his physiology, Arthur isn't going to drown if pulled under water. It could be more metaphorically. Will the events of the War be too much for him and his duties to Atlantis? Will there be some sort of conflict with his time to his people and his responsibilities to the League?

Cyborg and Shazam

The good news is it looks like these two buddies are still hanging out together. The bad news is something pretty not so good is happening.

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Again, the ominous words could be taken different ways. It wouldn't be likely that Cyborg and Shazam will both die. They do appear injured, or at least Shazam does. His powers appear a little out of flux. What does he want Vic to say? Will Vic somehow be able to trigger Billy's magical transformation? But if they're on a battlefield, why would Shazam want to change? Cyborg appears to be okay. It's hard to tell if there's something going on with his left arm or if all that energy is coming from Shazam.

There were a couple other prophecies but, as mentioned, we'll save those for you to read. We're obviously all excited about the Darkseid War. What are your thoughts and interpretations on these images?