What if the DC universe never rebooted?

[The_Salamander64]

I don't know if this question has been asked before, but I've always kinda wondered what the current DCU would look like if Crisis on Infinite Earths and Flashpoint didn't reset everything.

What I mean is that Crisis did still happen, the multiverse is destroyed. But everyone still remembers everything pre-crisis. Flashpoint happens but the aftermath doesn't result in the new 52. Everyone still retains their origins and stories from before. (So no Man of Steel, and no Year One)

I would love to hear what you guys think the DCU timeline would look like. Though, I'd like to add one rule and that's that DEAD means DEAD. If you were to kill off a character they have to stay dead. (No bursting out of the speed force Barry)

[Maxi]

But Crisis on Infinite Earths didn't reset everything. The characters' Silver and Bronze Age histories were still intact. The only characters who were rebooted were Superman and Wonder Woman. Everything else was almost the same and the DCU continued from the point it was before. When Batman remembered when he first met Ra's, it was in the original Bronze Age story, Hal and Ollie were on a road trip, Barry's career as The Flash happened (otherwise Wally wouldn't have taken his mantle), the Teen Titans continued from where they were (and Dick just became Nightwing) and so on.

[stephens2177]

There was another thread almost identical to this,probably a few pages back atleast.

I like tweaks more than reboots myself

I think there would still be a kon-el if nothing ever got rebooted,humans would always want to recreate Superman,no matter how hard it was to do.

[The_Salamander64]

Yes things eventually went back later on, but what I meant was that there was practically no change from the pre-Crisis continuity to post-Crisis.

Characters that died like Supergirl stayed dead, the earth 2 characters know that they came from another earth, Batman still had all those wacky adventures, and Superman's powers are still at their silver age level of craziness.

What about characters like psycho pirate, how would he be affected by any of this? Would these characters age like the Golden age characters did? And who would take their place if they died?

[Timothy Hunter]

I think if Crisis of Infinite Earths didn't reset anything, I feel writers would be less keen to recton previous continuity elements, that doesn't exactly mean writers wouldn't use retcons in a gratutious way at all, that would be wishful thinking, but I think that they would have more respect for continuity.

[Lee Stone]

I think if Crisis of Infinite Earths didn't reset anything, I feel writers would be less keen to recton previous continuity elements, that doesn't exactly mean writers wouldn't use retcons in a gratutious way at all, that would be wishful thinking, but I think that they would have more respect for continuity.

So very much this...

[Kyer]

No Crisis of Infinite Earths: The Anti-monitor succeeds and destroys the Matter Universe. DC makes their one book: The Anti-Monitor Supreme an Annual only due to fan ennui. Gets gobbled up by Disney. Didio becomes a used car salesman in Detroit.

[Agent of Wolfram & Hart]

Keeping in mind I know little to nothing about everything that's gone on in the New52 and only have the briefest of knowledge of what's gone on in rebirth so most of my ideas go up until 2011 or so. The Nu52 turned me off on the DCU, leading me to have not read anything DC (except Future Quest) since Johns left Green Lantern. These ideas are all just of the top of my head, random thoughts of how it might be:

-Sharing Earth-1 with Kal-El, Kal-L would go into retirement, with his Lois (who presumably Alex Luther still saves) only returning to action for big stories like Zero Hour, helping out while Kal-El is presumed dead after the fight with Doomsday and Final Night. He would take on a new identity, letting Kal-El be Superman, maybe he could be Superman-Prime
-Matrix would take on the Supergirl identity in honor of Kara's sacrifice after Superman shared the story. Eventually a version of Kara is stranded in the present when traveling back to her time after a visit with the Legion (maybe caused by Brainiac-5 subconsciously messing up when sending her home), Superman is hesitant to tell her about her fate and before she can be returned home she is hit with an upgraded duplicate ray in battle by Lex Luthor, causing a second Supergirl, still imperfect, just not as much as Bizarro. This Kara is younger and choses to stay in the present while the original return to her place in time. The fact she's an imperfect duplicate causes the incidents where she thinks she was sent to kill Superman and eventually takes on the New52 Kara look as a statement she's not the same Supergirl
-Lex Luther is the career criminal like in pre crisis eventually having an epiphany, starting his own business using his vast intelligence to manipulate the business world and eventually the whole country becoming President, before his ego gets the best of him and causing his fall from grace and return to villainy, punctuating his return to villainy by stealing 40 cakes
-Superman retains his past as Superboy, letting the Legion avoid many of its speed bumps, the younger & alternate Legionaries are legacies and/or graduates of the Legion Academy, with new identities for the most part
-Jason Todd retains his first characterization almost identical to Dick Grayson, still gets almost killed by the Joker and is thought dead by the Bat Family. He is rejuvenated by the Lazarus pit and trained by the League of Assassins, developing an edge and eventually returning as Red Hood as a slap in the face to Batman, before eventually reconciling but keeping the identity
-Batman is a heroic figure, not becoming grim until Jason's seeming death, lightening up after Tim Drake's arrival
-Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family remembers his Earth but builds a home & legacy on this world's Fawcett City, eventually becoming a core member of the JLA
-After the failure of the Detroit Era JLA, the satellite JLA is restored eventually founding Embassies around the world, staffing these Embassies leads to the Justice League International with the Big Seven drifting away from the team, but eventually returning in majestic fashion to defeat the Hyperclan, eventually forming the Justice League Unlimited gathering and forming the most powerful Justice League in history
-Flash seems to die in the Crisis, but is really lost in time, leaving Wally to take up the Flash mantle, Wally eventually saves Barry, in time to help out in Final Crisis, eventually deciding to share the Flash name alongside Jay and the whole Flash family

[Buried Alien]

But Crisis on Infinite Earths didn't reset everything. The characters' Silver and Bronze Age histories were still intact. The only characters who were rebooted were Superman and Wonder Woman. Everything else was almost the same and the DCU continued from the point it was before. When Batman remembered when he first met Ra's, it was in the original Bronze Age story, Hal and Ollie were on a road trip, Barry's career as The Flash happened (otherwise Wally wouldn't have taken his mantle), the Teen Titans continued from where they were (and Dick just became Nightwing) and so on.

Depends on what you call "intact." Difference in details actually mattered quite a bit in the stories of most of the characters. Due to the importance of their characters, Superman's and Wonder Woman's reboots had chain reaction effects on the rest of the DCU. Wonder Woman's retconned history impacted Donna Troy, which in turn impacted the history of the Teen Titans/New Titans. Wonder Woman's and Hawkman's retcons impacted the history of the Justice League. These seems seem minor when looked at individually, but when you add them up, that's a LOT of DC history that took on a different character from how it was originally presented.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)