Spoilers for Dark Nights: Death Metal #7 ahead!
In the mid-2000s, Marvel introduced the Illuminati, a group of Marvel heavy-hitters who met in secret and protected the Earth from various threats – and now, DC has introduced their own version of it. The conclusion of Dark Nights: Death Metal saw the Multiverse reborn, and new threats emerge. A new team is needed to protect the Earth – enter the Totality! It all goes down in Dark Nights: Death Metal #7 by writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo along with a team of today’s hottest artists; the issue is in stores now.
In the Marvel Universe, the Illuminati was formed after the Kree-Skrull War and consisted initially of Professor X, Reed Richards, Namor, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and Black Bolt. Each hero represented a group or idea in the Marvel Universe: Strange for magic, Professor X for mutants, and so on. They would meet in secret over the years before dissolving in the wake of the first Civil War and the Superhero Registration Act. The group has reconvened, with different members, on a few occasions since, but they have mostly been dormant. And now the DC Universe, facing a new Multiverse and threats unlike any known before, starts their own version of the Illuminati – and its membership is as shocking.
At the end of Death Metal, Wonder Woman convinced the Hands, powerful entities from beyond the Multiverse, to restore reality. They did so, but in the process, created new threats. As the heroes come to understand their new universe, they realize a new type of team is needed, and thus the Totality was born. Operating in an enormous space station in orbit, the team consists of both heroes and villains: Hawkgirl, Martian Manhunter, Vandal Savage, Talia Al Ghul, Mister Terrific, and Lex Luthor.
While Marvel’s Illuminati consisted of heroic characters, DC takes theirs a step further by introducing villains into the mix; seeing Luthor and Savage working side by side with the likes Hawkgirl stuns Wally West, and probably many readers as well. Marvel’s Illuminati was fraught with tension and conflict, and it is easy to see this will probably be the case here as well, especially with heroes and villains working together. Luthor’s ego alone could be enough to sink this team.
A team consisting of some of DC’s biggest heroes and villains may seem a bit jarring at first, but it shows fans just how big the threats facing the DC Universe will be – so large that enemies must put their differences aside and work together. It raises the stakes for Infinite Frontier and the DC Universe moving forward; hopefully, the Totality will not meet with the same fate as Marvel’s Illuminati.
