Inside Joshua Williamson & Hayden Sherman's Legion Of Super-Heroes

Posted in: Comics, DC Comics | Tagged: DC Next Level, Hayden Sherman, Joshua Williamson, Legion Of Super Heroes, losh, michael j fox

Inside Joshua Williamson & Hayden Sherman's Legion Of Super-Heroes

A look inside the pages of Joshua Williamson and Hayden Sherman's new DC Next Level comic book series Legion Of Super-Heroes

Published Mon, 22 Jun 2026 11:57:12 -0500
by Rich Johnston
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Article Summary

• Joshua Williamson and Hayden Sherman launch Legion Of Super-Heroes #1 for DC Next Level in September 2026.
• The new Legion Of Super-Heroes begins in a future where heroes are outlawed and R.J. Brande is murdered.
• Brainiac 1 of 5 must unite gifted young rebels across the United Planets to restore hope to the future.
• The series follows DC All In, Superman and DC K.O., reshaping Legion Of Super-Heroes continuity for 2026.

Last week, DC Comics officially announced Joshua Williamson and Hayden Sherman's Legion Of Super-Heroes for DC Next Level, launching in September 2026.

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #1
(W) Joshua Williamson (A/CA) Hayden Sherman
JOSHUA WILLIAMSON AND HAYDEN SHERMAN TAKE THE FUTURE TO THE NEXT LEVEL! One thousand years after the Last Son Of Krypton's rocket crashed on the Kent Farm comes a new future inspired by the Man of Steel! But this new future is in danger! Superheroes are outlawed! Deadly enforcers known as the Persuaders keep the populace of the United Planets in check! Worlds are at war! And this dark tomorrow's last glimmer of hope, R.J. Brande, has been brutally murdered. Can the mysterious Brainiac 1 of 5 solve Brande's murder? To restore hope to the universe, he must assemble a legion of gifted young rebels from across the cosmos! But they are scattered across the universe! Witness the dawn of a new future in DC Comics architect Joshua Williamson and Eisner-winning superstar artist Hayden Sherman's Legion of Super-Heroes…you will never look at tomorrow the same way again! $3.99 9/2/2026

And yes, that includes a Dan Mora cover with Michael J. Fox making a Back To The Future-style cameo. But we also get a black-and-white look inside the pages by Hayden Sherman before they are lettered and coloured…

I'm sure Michael J Fox will be somewhere…

It was at last year's New York Comic Con that it was announced that Joshua Williamson would be launching a new Legion of Super-Heroes series for DC Next Level.

Previously, the future of the Legion of the Super-Heroes had been killed off by the Absolute version of the Legion, controlled by Darkseid, in the DC All-In one-shot.

A story told in two different directions from two different sides….

…but culminating in the same double-page spread And the appearance of Darkseid's Legion Of Super-Heroes, native to the Absolute DC Earth, facing down Booster Gold

The Absolute Legion Of Super-Heroes then turned up in Superman courtesy of Joshua Williamson and Daniel Sampere. with Absolute versions of Lightning Lad, Colossal Boy, and Saturn Girl. And what did they do with Booster Gold?

Leaving him dealing with Darkseid's Legion, the Legion of the Absolute Universe, who had captured him. And they ran around the DC Universe…

Some more successfully than others…

Eventually, we saw what they had done to the DC Legion…

And they promised more to come.

But then, turned the tables.

And in the K.O. finale, we see a perfect version of the Legion future, one in which Superman is its supreme protector as the Heart Of Omega…

But maybe perfection isn't what Superman wants. And in his absence, the Absolute Legion who turned against Darkseid after being freed of his influence by Lois Lane, went back to that rather desolate future that they left…

And Superman, it seems, went to join them.

Earlier this year, we learned at WonderCon that The Superman Annual 2026, Year One Thousand for July, would see the return of the Legion of Super-Heroes, courtesy of Joshua Williamson, after the blessing of Mark Waid, as well as artists Eddy Burrows and Yasmine Putri.

….after Superman went missing at the end of DC K.O., he rejected the Heart Of Omega, and flew to the future to change the damage Darkseid had done to the 31st century with his Absolute Legion, killing the Legion Of Super-Heroes, to every lad and lass. And this King Omega Superman is using his powers, and those of the Time Trapper, to make things better… and we will get a new Legion Of Super-Heroes out of it.

The Legion Of Super-Heroes was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino, as a group of superpowered beings living in the 30th century of the DC Comics Universe, and first appeared in Superboy stories in Adventure Comics #247 in 1958. At Wondercon this year, DC Comics Editor-In-Chief Marie Javins gave panel attendees the hint that the Legion Of Super-Heroes would be returning to the DC Comics Universe. With Mark Waid saying that, despite all the different versions of the team that have existed over the years, the one DC has chosen to use is one he's "confident everyone will embrace", no matter when they first got into the group. And we will get to see them "soon". Some thought that might be Mark Waid writing the new Legion twenty years after his previous run on the characters., But it seems not. But Joshua Williamson did call Mark Waid to get his blessing and/or permission, and got it before taking on this project, with Waid telling him that it was always going to be Williamson who would be doing this, one way or another.

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