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The future of the DC Universe looks… pretty violent, actually. October sees the launch of DC K.O., the event miniseries in which all the heroes of the DCU have to fight each other for dominance in order to save reality, and the following month sees the beginning of Knightfight, a spin-off in which Batman has to fight each and every Robin he’s partnered with in alternate futures where they’ve taken over the Batcowl for themselves. But… why are they fighting? And what else do fans need to know before the bell rings for the first round?

We’re glad you asked, because DC K.O. is just the latest chapter in a story that’s been ongoing for almost a year already, and running throughout some unexpected comic books in the process — including the Absolute DC titles. Here’s everything you need to know about K.O., All In, and the next generation of the comic book DC Universe.

What is DC K.O.?

Launching in October, DC K.O. is a five-issue miniseries event that crosses over into other comic book titles, including Superman, the Flash, and the aforementioned Knightfight spin-off series, and has been described by series writer Scott Snyder as "Squid Games meets Mortal Kombat." As revealed during the DC All In: What’s Next panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2025, K.O. is the second big chapter in the big, big Darkseid storyline that’s been unfolding in the background of DC’s comic book line since October 2024’s DC All In Special #1, and it sees the heroes of the DCU fight each other for supremacy so that they can collect enough Omega Energy to fight Darkseid himself. The ‘K.O.’ of the title is itself a pun; it doesn’t actually stand for ‘Knock-Out,’ but ‘King Omega,’ the title the winner of the fight will claim by the series’ end.

But… why are they fighting? Because Omega Energy — the power that traditionally fuels Darkseid himself — is fueled by cruelty and darkness. You don’t gather that kind of thing by asking nicely. As Josh Williamson said at SDCC, “The heart of darkness does not want to be held by anyone other than Darkseid.”

Darkseid is… central to everything that’s happening in both the DCU and Absolute DC comic books

For those who are wondering what beloved big bad Darkseid has to do with everything, it all goes back to the DC All In Special #1 back in 2024. In that issue, the arch-villain seemingly sacrifices himself to ascend to a higher plane… which turns out to actually be a reality in which he is infused throughout its very existence, and unthreatened by Superman and the rest of the Justice League. That reality? It's the world where the Absolute DC comics take place, in which history unfolds differently from the regular DCU because of Darkseid’s influence.

In the Absolute DC reality, Darkseid’s power is absolute — pun only slightly intended — but, as he explained in All In Special #1, “It is reality where I can finally become what I was meant to be. Where I am unleashed. Where I may grow a thousand feet tall, where my voice will shake planets. A reality where Darkseid will be. And when I am Him, I will return for that other world. And crush it.”

The larger meta-story of the current DCU is Darkseid vs. the DCU. DC All In was the first act of that story; DC K.O. and related series is the second act, and what happens when the DCU heroes try to prevent that from happening. Spoilers: It won't necessarily go their way.

Time travel, cause and effect, and the Legion of Super-Heroes

Here’s the thing: readers already know that Darkseid is going to win. Or, rather, he already has won. As anyone reading the current Superman comic book series already knows, Superman has been visited by the Legion of Super-Heroes, the team of superheroes he used to belong to in the 31st century when he was a teenager — except that Legion is now corrupt and working in service of Darkseid, because from their point of view, his victory happened centuries earlier and he’s become central to their reality.

The Darkseid Legion is a big deal, because it’s proof that Darkseid’s dominance of the DCU is inevitable — and, for that matter, that Superman’s history has already been changed by the villain’s influence. But if that’s the case, then how is he still around, and unchanged…? There’s a complicated answer to that, but the very short version comes down to…

Time is broken inside the DC Universe

Mark Waid teased this back in April 2025, and now fans can see the results for themselves: the flow of time is broken inside the DCU. July’s Justice League Unlimited #9 made it clear: the accumulation of Omega Energy — that again — is “gradually eating away at the laws of reality,” including time itself. It’s how Gorilla Grodd could gather the Legion of Doom from history to become Inferno in the ‘We Are Yesterday’ crossover between Justice League Unlimited and Batman/Superman: World’s Finest, and how the time-displaced heroes came together to stop them. It’s also why those heroes can’t be returned to their own time period. Which might be for the best, considering that July’s Justice League: Dark Tomorrow #1 revealed that Darkseid’s Legion of Super-Heroes is also hunting time travelers for reasons unknown…

The future of the DCU is K.O.

Although DC K.O. doesn’t officially begin until October, we have our own proof that time is broken, because it’s K.O. is already happening right now: the July through September issues of both Justice League Unlimited and Superman are integral parts of the bigger story that builds to K.O. and provide important context about the cosmic threat that Omega Energy is posing to the DCU as a whole. In fact, if you want to go back and pick out the core issues in the DC All In storyline so far… well, it looks something like this:

The core of the new DCU 

The creation of the new status quo

As the mainstream DCU is closed off from the rest of the multiverse in Absolute Power #4, Darkseid is primed to make his move…

• Absolute Power #4
• DC All In Special #1

Darkseid’s reality

The world that Darkseid created is a world in which core elements of the DCU are absent, giving rise to a far darker world. At least, until the heroic spirit motivates some very familiar faces in new ways…

• Absolute Batman #1-
• Absolute Wonder Woman #1-
• Absolute Superman #1-
• Absolute Flash #1-
• Absolute Green Lantern #1-
• Absolute Martian Manhunter #1-

Time is broken

As Gorilla Grodd traveled through time for a master plan, something went wrong on a cosmic level, and the future of the DCU hangs in the balance...

• Justice League Unlimited #6-11
• Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #38-39
• Batman/Superman: World’s Finest 2025 Annual #1
• Justice League: Dark Tomorrow #1
• Superman #28-30

DC K.O.

Starting in October, it’s going to be a knock-down, drag-out fight for supremacy for the DCU, and the heroes are in the middle of it…

October 1

• Justice League: The Omega Act #1
• Absolute Evil #1

October 8

• DC K.O. #1 (of 5)

October 15

• Titans #28

October 22

• Justice League Unlimited #12
• Superman #31
• The Flash #26

November 5

• DC K.O.: Knightfight #1 (of 4)

November 19

• Titans #29

November 26

• DC K.O. #2 (of 5)
• Justice League Unlimited #13
• Superman #32
• The Flash #27

Get ready for what's next with our guide to upcoming comics, how to buy comics at a comic shop, and our guide to Free Comic Book Day 2025.