During the epic Final Crisis event, the unthinkable happened when Batman fell in battle to the mighty Darkseid. Now, cosplay from All Star Cosplay recreates that historic moment, as Bruce Wayne takes Darkseid’s Omega beams and makes the ultimate sacrifice in a beautiful reenactment of Final Crisis writer Grant Morrison and artist J.G. Jones’ iconic scene.
Shared to Instagram, All Star Cosplay showed off their incredible work rendering Batman’s death, which faithfully brings the tragic moment from the comic book page into three-dimensions with some photo-editing help from Pixelens. Check out All Star Cosplay’s excellent work:
All Star Cosplay goes on to talk about the event in question, stating that the moment still packs a punch, all these years later. “Deaths in superhero comics have become somewhat of a trope at this point,” All Star writes, “but this one was one of the good surprising ones.”
Damian Wayne Mourns the Death of Batman In New Cosplay
Final Crisis was DC’s crossover event in 2008, which saw Darkseid finally unlocking the secrets of the Anti-Life Equation and using it to enslave the population of Earth, before conquering the whole of reality itself. A small contingent of superheroes are the only thing standing in Darkseid’s way, with Batman dealing a fatal blow by shooting the lord of Apokalips with a Radion bullet. While mortally wounded, Darkseid manages to hit Batman with the Omega Sanction, his powerful eye beams that can splinter off in differing directions. It all culminates in the unforgettable image of Superman carrying Batman’s corpse, recreating an iconic moment from 1986’s Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Of course, it was all revealed to be a bit more complicated than that. The body Superman found was eventually revealed to be a clone of the original Batman, created when he was captured by Darkseid’s minions early on in Final Crisis. The real Batman was actually sent back in time by Darkseid’s Omega beams, as chronicled in the later The Return of Bruce Wayne miniseries. That storyline saw Batman fighting his way through history to return to the present, fighting cavemen, pirates and Old West outlaws along the way. Meanwhile, Dick Grayson adopted the mantle of Batman in his absence, with Bruce’s son Damian becoming the new Robin.
Batman’s Final Crisis “Death” Changed The DCU Forever
While rumors of his death may have indeed been greatly exaggerated, the year Batman spent missing in the DCU wound up having major consequences moving forward. Damian stepped into the spotlight in a major way after becoming the new Robin, a role he’s held onto in the years since. Bruce Wayne would also establish Batman, Inc. upon his return, revealing to the public that he had been funding Batman all along and now wanted to take the Batman brand and ideals to the rest of the world. It may have been tragic, but All Star Cosplay’s excellent cosplay recreation of Batman’s Final Crisis death shows how important the event really was.
