Legion of Super-Heroes Relaunches Into a Future Where Heroes Are Outlawed

DC's Next Level line added a new title to its September 2 slate with Legion of Super-Heroes #1, from writer Joshua Williamson and artist Hayden Sherman with colors by Tamra Bonvillain. The reboot jumps the team even further into the future than usual, landing in a 31st century where superheroics have been outlawed entirely under the rule of a shadowy regime known as the Persuaders. That premise flips the Legion's usual sunny-utopia setup into something closer to a resistance story, with the team forced to operate as outlaws in the same world they were built to protect.

Williamson has leaned into legacy-heavy relaunches before, and early preview pages suggest this take keeps the massive Legion roster intact while giving the Persuaders' control-state aesthetic room to breathe — surveillance, propaganda, and a public taught to fear its own heroes. Sherman's angular linework and Bonvillain's high-contrast palette give the future setting a colder, more paranoid look than past Legion runs, which have historically split the difference between retro-optimism and grim reboot.

It's part of a stacked new-comics week for DC's Next Level push that also included fresh #1s for Doom Patrol and Teen Titans, so retailers weighing shelf space have options — but a Legion relaunch with this much of a premise swing is the kind of #1 that tends to get talked about past its debut week, making it worth a second look even for shops that under-ordered.

Original reporting: The Beat.