DC Next is a shared fanfiction universe featuring DC Comics characters. It is published on the r/DCNext
subreddit in the form of monthly instalments in several discrete stories, each focusing on different characters.
This fan universe looks to set itself apart from other similar universes with a unified theme of legacy. Kicking off with a line-wide event Crisis in Coast City in 2019, several heroes are either killed or otherwise forced to retire. As such, many series explore this theme of legacy through sidekicks assuming their mentors' mantles as well as new successors assuming their roles.
DC Fan Universe contains examples of:
- Adaptational Backstory Change:
- Dick Grayson is once again the orphaned son of acrobats, however is also unknowingly the subject of a centuries-long prophecy in which Dick is manipulated into being the vessel of the bat-god Barbatos.,
- Our Presidents Are Different: Jefferson Pierce is the Democrat 45th President of the United States until the 2020 election, whereupon the Republican candidate Veronica Cale is elected as the 46th.
- President Superhero: At the beginning of DC Next, retired former Black Lightning Jefferson Pierce is the US President.
- President Evil: Pierce is immediately succeeded by Veronica Cale, [Antagonist in Mourning former nemesis] of the original Wonder Woman.
- Shared Universe: DC Next features dozens of separate stories set in the same continuity, much like the comic books upon which it is based.
