Written and illustrated by John Byrne. The avoidance of "comic book time" - which, as we know, hardly constitutes "time" at all - is the idea behind John Byrne's imaginary story "Superman & Batman: Generations". Rather than keeping Superman and Batman at the same age over several decades or repeatedly retconning their birthdays, Byrne came up with a concept so simple it's remarkable that no one considered doing it before he did: what if Superman and Batman actually aged like real people? The book puts all of the DC heroes onto a single timeline, with characters aging and passing the torch onto their younger accomplices. How will it influence Batman vs. Superman? When considering the Marvel Cinematic Universe - which, like it or not, DC's film universe will certainly be compared to - it's strange to consider that someday Robert Downey Jr. will be too old to play Tony Stark/Iron Man. What will they do? The best option could be a James Bond-style takeover, but Downey Jr. goes with Iron Man like€well, like Hugh Jackman goes with Wolverine. Anyway, the point is that real life is more like Byrne's "Generations": people age, as people are wont to do. It's easy to keep characters the same age in comics, but the film counterparts of both the DC and the Marvel continuity are going to have to make some tough decisions when their actors get too old o fly around anymore. It's an outside chance, and it's still a ways off, but DC may eventually look to "Generations" for inspiration on this issue and Batman vs. Superman may show some early signs of that.
