Trinity War Aftermath: A Theory About Forever Evil!

I was at my my local comic book shop this past Wednesday (America’s Heroes) where I happened to pick up and read Justice League #23 (which also happens to be the final part of the “Trinity War” storyline) in the store. After having my mind thoroughly blown by the events transpired within those inked pages. The owner of the shop (Earl) shared a most interesting theory with me.

WARNING SPOILERS FOR TRINITY WAR & POSSIBLY FOREVER EVIL…

Outsider

To understand the reasons behind the theory we have to first break down what has happened in the New 52 (if you have somehow been living under a rock for the past 2 years). Long story short, after Flashpoint, the entire DCU was reborn. In this new universe metahumans and superheroes in general have only been active for around 5 years (while this may work for Supes, Wondy, and the like; Batman & GL histories were stated to be the same so that’s a bit much to believe) however the main DC wasn’t the only thing that was changed with the rebirth, Earth 2 (the home of the Golden Age stable of heroes and villains) and Earth 3 were also altered.

If you have managed to avoid any comic sites for the past month then you would not know that the main threat posed to the DCU in Forever Evil is the CSA (Crime Syndicate of America). Trinity War revealed this in a unique way during it’s 6 part story. From part 1 it is evident that someone was controlling the events the three teams find themselves in: causing Superman to kill Dr. Light, blowing up Light’s body, breaking up the JLA, and causing the teams to fight over Pandora’s Box.

The Crime Syndicate

Here is where the twists begin. For starter’s “Pandora’s Box” isn’t magic at all, it’s technology more specifically a portal to the real “Trinity”, Earth 3; homeworld of the Syndicate. The puppeteer pulling the strings of the heroes is the Outsider, who turns out to be the Earth 3 version of Alfred. It was revealed early on (even before Trinity War) that the Atom was a plant for the JLA to spy on the JL but it actually turns out that she was an interdimensional mole who came to New Earth with the Outsider and her real name is Atomica.

Atom/Atomica & Cyborg

She was the one who caused Superman to kill Dr. Light by implanting a sliver of kryptonite in his brain, which just happened to fire a synapse for Supes’ laser vision, once more she also infected Cyborg with a virus that hijacked his cybernetics, causing them to seperate from him and turn into a monster called Grid, head spinning yet? Don’t worry almost done.

As I sat and processed the events that just happened in front of me, Earl (the owner of the comic book shop) shared his theory with me, and it all started with a man with a bag over his head.

Early on the powers that be over at DC announced that they had big plans for everyone’s favorite former sidekick Dick Grayson AKA Nightwing in Forever Evil and that these plans would “Make the Internet Explode”. At first the poplar consensus was that he was going to be killed off (knowing DC that theory wasn’t too farfetched seeing as how they almost did it in Infinite Crisis) but this has since been disproved. With death off of the table, what else could there be for good ole Richard? They say that Superwoman is supposed to reveal his identity to the world…but that’s just a front.

Going back to the mysterious man in the bag. In the final pages of JL when the CSA make their presence known to the collective teams, Superwoman brings along a prisoner commenting that they should have “left the bastard on their world”. As my mind began to swarm Earl proposed to me a wild thought “The guy in the bag is the real Dick Grayson and the one running around the DCU is a mole.” *cue suspenseful music*

Now before you come at with me with words of poison and hate my brethren, hear me out. Think about it, if you were planning to invade the DCU who would be the perfect person to keep tabs on? Someone who can see the gears within the gears, someone who can think of 10 ways to take you down before you even blink, someone with an infinite database of all the world’s metahumans. The answer if you haven’t guessed is Batman. Superman & Wonder Woman may be the heavy hitters, but Batman is the head, the thinker, you take him out the rest will fall eventually and what better way to keep tabs on him than with Dick Grayson, his first and most trusted companion besides Alfred.

Dick Grayson?

It fits with DC’s plans for him, what better twist than having the current Nightwing being a spy for the Syndicate. Now even though he was a plant, this doesn’t mean that he is evil (he could have grown to like the new universe), or even that he supports the Syndicate’s activities. There is also the fact that there will be a Batman during FE, he just won’t be Bruce Wayne. So he could become Batman while Bruce is gone. It also works with his redesign. As pointed out to me, back in the early 2000’s when Dick became “Renegade” the blue in his costume changed to red, and in the recent Injustice game Damian Wayne who became Nightwing had red in his costume. Also his behavior has been a bit more agressive as of late (“Death of the Family” being a nice example).

Think About It.

Either way you slice it Forever Evil is shaping up to be a very interesting event for the DCU. What do you guys think? Does this theory hold weight or are we full of it? Let us know in the comments below.