So what was changed or retconned from the New 52 since Rebirth?

[MarkRodriguez09]

I'm confused since I've heard that Rebirth is or isn't a reboot. The most I understand is that New 52 Superman died or fused with Rebirth Superman or something? The Watchmen exist somewhere in the DCU and everyone is obsessed with this Source Wall.

Can someone help explain to me some of the biggest changes or retcons since the transition or reboot from the New 52 to Rebirth?

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I'm confused since I've heard that Rebirth is or isn't a reboot. The most I understand is that New 52 Superman died or fused with Rebirth Superman or something? The Watchmen exist somewhere in the DCU and everyone is obsessed with this Source Wall.

Can someone help explain to me some of the biggest changes or retcons since the transition or reboot from the New 52 to Rebirth?

This thread is discussing that very topic. I would suggest heading over there if you want more details.

https://community.cbr.com/showthread...ill-the-New-52

The short answer is that the New 52, in the context of the DCU's overall narrative, was never a reboot, but was an attack upon its history by Dr. Manhattan, who left his own universe at the end of Watchmen for one "less complicated". When time was resetting itself after the event of Flashpoint, Dr. Manhattan used that opportunity to start tinkering with the DCU and stole approximately one decade of our heroes' history. The events of Doomsday Clock are getting into the exact details of the who's and why's, but it seems to have hinged upon Manhattan preventing Alan Scott from ever becoming Green Lantern, which had a catastrophic effect upon everything that followed.

Dr. Manhattan's manipulations erased many events, marriages, and people from history, which, in Wally West's case, trapped him within the Speed Force until he managed to escape during the DCU: Rebirth one-shot in June of 2016 by getting Barry Allen to remember him and serve as his lightning rod to return to the DCU. However, as Wally soon discovered, while he could restore some of the memories of many of his old comrades, he was unable to do so in his wife Linda or reverse the erasure of their children, Iris & Jai.

Since then, it was revealed Manhattan specifically targeted Superman by splitting him and Lois Lane into two distinct pairs (Why is revealed in Doomsday Clock, and the how is revealed in Superman Reborn). The younger Lois & Clark existed apart as the New 52 incarnations, while the older Lois & Clark were trapped in one of Brainiac's bottled cities of dead timeliness, which is where their son, Jonathan Kent, was born. The New 52 Lois & Clark died and their essence was fused with their older counterparts, which rejiggered the DCU's broken history even further by destroying the 5 year timeline of the New 52 and expanding it back to its original 15 year timeline.

However, as revealed in the final New 52 Justice League story, the repeated pummellings that the DCU's history has taken since the Crisis on Infinite Earths has left all of time and space devastated, meaning that all of the contradictory revisions and retcons that it's undergone have begun unravelling. On top of that, an attack from the previously unknown Dark Multiverse (made up of potential realities created by the dreams & nightmares of the DCU) ended up cracking the Source Wall that contains our Multiverse and helped release Perpetua from her imprisonment within it. Perpetua's return has accelerated the unravelling of the DCU, seemingly past the point of no return.

So, basically, everything is canon again, even if it may contradict something else. In practical terms, it just means creators can use any part of past continuity they want without worrying about how it fits perfectly.

[MarkRodriguez09]

Wow that's insane. So basically all the crisiseses and retcons and reboots broke the Source Wall???

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Wow that's insane. So basically all the crisiseses and retcons and reboots broke the Source Wall???

Essentially, yes. Snyder & Capullo's Metal was the final straw that broke the camel's back, but everything that's happened to DC continuity since Crisis on Infinite Earths with Zero Hour, Infinite Crisis, and Flashpoint left time so fragile, the whole thing is coming apart now.

[MarkRodriguez09]

Essentially, yes. Snyder & Capullo's Metal was the final straw that broke the camel's back, but everything that's happened to DC continuity since Crisis on Infinite Earths with Zero Hour, Infinite Crisis, and Flashpoint left time so fragile, the whole thing is coming apart now.

Let me guess, one big final ultimate crisis to somehow fix all this mess in the end?

[boltmonster]

That is why you pick the stories that fit the character you know and then you never have to worry about what does and doesn't fit.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Let me guess, one big final ultimate crisis to somehow fix all this mess in the end?

Probably, but the reality will be that strict continuity will be less important moving forward and a more broad strokes past history that doesn’t get too specific will replace the endless attempts to pin everything down, only to reverse those decisions a few years later.

Origin stories will still get refreshed every decade or so, key events will continue to get referenced, but, unless the specifics of an older story are relevant to a new story, DC is going to let the fans decide what did and didn't happen.

At least according to Bendis, King, Morrison, and Snyder, everything happened, everything's canon. Since these guys are currently the most influential writers at DC, that’s the approach most other creators are going to take, too.

[Falcon16]

Cyborg was previously a Titan before joining the JL