DC Announces “Batman/Static: Beyond,” an All-New High-Stakes Team-Up Comic

In a move that has sent shockwaves of excitement through the DC fan community, the publisher has officially announced a new six-issue limited comic book series titled Batman/Static: Beyond. This highly anticipated project unites two of the most iconic heroes from the DC Animated Universe (DCAU)—Terry McGinnis, the cyberpunk guardian of Neo-Gotham, and Virgil Hawkins, the electrifying architect of Dakota City’s future. The series, which launches on November 12, 2025, under the DC Elseworlds imprint, promises to be a high-stakes mission that could reshape the future of humanity itself. This is more than just a nostalgic throwback; it’s a commentary on modern society and our over-reliance on technology, making it a must-read for fans of both characters and anyone interested in a thought-provoking superhero story.

The new comic, written by acclaimed writer Evan Narcisse (Rise of the Black Panther) and with art by the visionary Nikolas Draper-Ivey (Static: Shadows of Dakota), builds on the dynamic they first established in the Milestone 30th Anniversary Special. The creative team is exploring the fascinating contrast between the two heroes: a young, high school-aged Terry McGinnis who is still grappling with the weighty legacy of the Batman mantle, and an adult Virgil Hawkins who has grown into a mature, experienced hero and a member of the Justice League. This difference in their life stages, coupled with their drastically different approaches to crime-fighting, is at the heart of the series. The story is a deep dive into character as much as it is a thrilling action-adventure, with deep emotions and personal journeys colliding against the backdrop of an uncertain future.

The Mission: A Global Blackout and a Technologically Dependent World

The “high-stakes mission” at the center of Batman/Static: Beyond is one that feels incredibly relevant to our modern world. In the debut issue, a mysterious villain triggers a global blackout, crippling all technology and throwing the world into chaos. This event occurs just as Earth is preparing to join a powerful interplanetary alliance, a moment that was meant to usher in a new era of peace. The blackout effectively severs humanity’s connections, forcing society to confront its over-reliance on technology and AI. As artist Nikolas Draper-Ivey explains, “This story is intended to be a commentary on our overreliance on technology, and the imminent dangers of becoming complacent and too comfortable using AI to substitute our own imagination and human ingenuity.”

With their usual high-tech solutions rendered useless, Static and Batman Beyond are forced to form an unlikely alliance and take a grounded, old-school approach to saving the world. This plot point is a brilliant way to showcase the heroes’ core competencies. Terry McGinnis, despite being a tech-driven Batman, is still a master detective and martial artist, while Virgil Hawkins’s electromagnetic powers become a far more crucial and dangerous force in a world where technology is a weapon that can be turned against you. The series will explore how these two heroes, one a symbol of technological innovation and the other a product of a technological revolution, must work together when the very tools they rely on become the source of the problem. This is a narrative rich with potential, and it’s a testament to the creative team’s vision that they are using the superhero genre to ask big, philosophical questions about our future.

The Legacy of a Legendary Team-Up

The team-up of Batman Beyond and Static Shock has a rich history in the minds of fans, largely due to their iconic animated series crossover. In the Static Shock episode “Future Shock,” a teenage Virgil Hawkins is flung into the future, where he meets an adult version of himself and teams up with Terry McGinnis’s Batman to stop a monstrous, future-corrupted version of Virgil’s arch-nemesis. This episode, along with their appearances in Justice League Unlimited, cemented their status as a beloved duo. The new comic series, while operating under the DC Elseworlds imprint, seems to be a loving homage to that legacy, offering a fresh take on a fan-favorite pairing while also being a standalone story that can be enjoyed by both long-time fans and newcomers.

The announcement of Batman/Static: Beyond is a fantastic piece of news for a fanbase that has long clamored for more content featuring these two heroes. It’s a series that not only promises explosive action and a compelling mystery but also a thoughtful exploration of what it means to be a hero in an increasingly complex and technology-driven world. The series will run for six issues, with the first issue available on November 12, 2025, and a collected edition scheduled for release on August 4, 2026. This is a major win for fans of the DCAU and a powerful statement from DC Comics that these two characters, who have had a profound impact on a generation of fans, are more relevant and important than ever.