I love Bruce and Clark’s friendship. I don’t “ship” them, but I adore their dynamic. While they have very different personalities, they complement each other quite well. They’re best buddies united by a shared tragedy (both orphans), a common goal (to protect the world), and a mutual respect. They keep each other grounded and call each other out when necessary.   

The New 52 Futures End: Batman/Superman One-Shot takes place 35 years into the future. It’s not explained why, but in the wake of the war, the world is in disorder, Clark is missing, and Bruce has a broken spine. The latter, ever the resilient man, still insists on fighting crime even in his state. 

It’s lovely because the entire narration is Bruce’s internal monologue. He knows that Clark is not dead (even if the rest of the world thinks he is) and feels that his friend simply abandoned the earth because, for some reason, the two of them are not on good terms. Again, the reason is left to the audience’s imagination, but it’s implied that Bruce made a difficult decision that Clark wouldn’t have made himself, causing some enmity between the two.

But, in spite of all this, Bruce tries to reach out to Clark, saying that the world still needs Superman. In the meantime, he deals with Clark’s rogues.

Some spoilers ahead.

This flashback takes place six months before the story’s onset:

“And one of us was always going to reach those limits first.”

After an intense battle with Metallo, Bruce is left with broken spine (again, but this time, permanently). Alfred finds his journal containing a letter he was writing to Clark, then suggests that he simply “call” on his best friend. 

I liked this one-shot. It’s not particularly groundbreaking story-wise, but it does give a lot of insight into the depth of Bruce and Clark’s relationship. Even when they’re not “friends”, they’re friends, if you know what I mean. That’s why their fights are so personal. 

It figures. It took them over 75 years to build their friendship.