One of DC’s top talents, Tom King, who is the current writer forWonder Woman, is returning toBatmanin 2026. And if his own words are any indication, this could be one of his best Dark Knight-centric stories yet, as he teams up with some of the best artistic talent the comic industry has to offer.
After writingBatman(2016-) #1–85 as part of DC’sRebirthrelaunch, some fans may have thought Tom King had told the tales he had for the Dark Knight. However,it seems the writer has yet another story to share.
Perhaps even more notable is thatKing himself has said this one“may be one of the best things [he] ever wrote.”News of this new Batman story and King’s comments comes fromThe Batman Book Club podcastwith Ryan Lower, where he teased more intriguing details about the upcoming 2026 release.
Tom King Returns toBatmanin 2026, and He’s Teaming Up with A-Tier Art Talent
The Official Release Date of King’s Batman Story is TBA
In his chat with The Batman Book Club podcast, host Ryan Lower asked Tom King if he had any more Batman stories in him. King gave a surprise reveal, sharing that he had just finished writing a new Batman story and that“[he’ll] keep writing Batman stories until they kick [him] off.”
King went on to share more details about the upcoming story, confirming thatit will be 40 pages long and will be released next year.While he couldn’t announce the artist yet, he noted that they“may be the best artist in comics.”Fans can expect top-tier DC talent behind this project.
When asked by Lowerwhether the story would be part of the main Batman series or a separate one-shot, King admitted he wasn’t sure what format it would take:“I think it’s a standalone issue. I have no idea. [Levin] was literally like, ‘You can have 40 pages to do whatever you want with Batman.’ It was on a whim. I was walking by his desk.”
Tom King: “I got approached, I was in the [DC] offices doing whatever, meeting with editors, and the editor of Batman [Rob Levin] came up to me and he’s like, ‘Hey man, I got 40 pages of Batman, you wanna write it? You can have any artist you want? I don’t think I can announce the artist, but I was like, ‘I have an idea, and [the artist I want] may be the best artist in comics”, and they said ‘Yeah, and the artist said Yes, and I wrote the story. It may be one of the best things I ever wrote. It’ll be out next year.”
Tom King Shares the Struggles of His Creative Process for New Batman Story
“It’s Going to Have the Best Art in Comics When It Comes Out.”– Tom King
While King stated that this story may be one of the best things he has ever written,he shared that the process wasn’t exactly an easy one.He initially struggled to come up with a Batman story that hadn’t already been done by himself or by other DC talents. That’s why it was“a moment of relief”when the idea finally struck him on a plane.
He explained that what he was “going for was like Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, a story that just stands alone but is like a perfect story.”Still, he couldn’t come up with anything until inspiration hit mid-flight. A thought occurred to him:“‘This reminds me of this stupid thing…’ and I went ‘Oh that’s it.’”
While the exact details of the story and its release remain vague, fans can rest assured that something special is on the way. King ended his comments on the upcomingBatmantale by saying,“I’m really, really proud of how it turned out, um, and like I said, it’s going to have the best art in comics when it comes out.”
Tom King: “I’m not a guy who has trouble coming up with ideas (knock on wood) I can always come up with a good idea. I’m good at that part of the game, and I just could not could not think of an idea for this Batman thing. Because obviously more bad stories are written about Batman than any fictional character ever, so first you have to have a good idea. And then you have to check it against your knowledge of Batman to be like ‘That’s been done before.’ So between those two things, I kept coming up with ideas and being like, “No, Tom, you’ve already done that. No, Scott [Snyder] already did that. No, Grant [Morrsion] did that. No, Steve Englehart did that.”
