Spoilers for Dark Nights: Death Metal #7 and various Future State titles ahead!
Both Dark Nights: Death Metal and Future State are huge, epic, enjoyable events that take the heroes of the DC Universe to places they have never been, stretching them to their limits and ultimately reaffirming everything that makes them great in the first place. Yet despite Future State spinning out of the end of Death Metal, the two events create a noticeable clash in tone: while Death Metal was a grueling fight for the heroes, they persevered and defeated a great evil, and celebrated afterwards, even as they came to terms with the overwhelming promise of their new “omniverse” reality. That promise is immediately made bleak and threatening by the dystopian stories of Future State. Dark Nights: Death Metal, by writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo, just concluded with issue #7, while the saga of Future State continues across the DC Universe through January and February.
Death Metal is the culmination of a saga that began in 2018 with Dark Nights: Metal, but it also serves as the finale to the New 52/Rebirth era, as well as setting the stage for the next era of DC Comics. In Death Metal, the heroes and villains united against the Batman Who Laughs, who was ready to remake the Multiverse in his own perverse image. This attracted the attention of the Hands, extra-dimensional entities who oversee the larger Omniverse. The Hands were ready to destroy the DC Multiverse for good, but Wonder Woman talked them out of it, and convinced them to remake a new kind of reality; one with an Infinite Frontier.
After the dust settles, the heroes get a much-needed break and celebrate. That does not mean everything is totally OK. The heroes learn Earth is no longer the center of the Multiverse, and that a new Earth, dubbed the “Elseworld” has appeared. The heroes also realize that bigger threats are out there, and a select few join forces with the villains to form a new team called the Totality to protect Earth. All of this sounds like an optimistic beginning to a bold new era, but Future State has not delivered on that tone. In Future State, readers get to see different points in DC’s possible future, each darker and less hopeful than the last, negating the optimistic ending of Death Metal. In Future State, Gotham City is overrun by a fascist government and Metropolis is a war zone. The Flash is stealing technology from villains to bring down his own friends, and Superman no longer inspires hope. While a new generation of heroes has risen, the world they have inherited is cold and dark. As Future State unfolds, the majority of its stories are closing in on beleagured heroes rather than offering them new vistas of adventure.
Future State is still playing out, filling in readers on the potential futures of their favorite heroes, and it’s important to note that many entries have been truly compelling, but the combined effect has been to plunge readers from one story of nihilism and grueling failure into a raft of others. Happily, once Future State concludes, DC will launch another initiative: Infinite Frontier. This event will see a number of mainline DC Universe titles relaunched with new creative teams. New versions of characters such as Swamp Thing will debut as well. While information has been scant about Infinite Frontier, it seems as if it should be the more optimistic successor to Death Metal. The name alone invokes wonder and excitement, just as Death Metal’s ending seemed to imply was appropriate.
Death Metal was a hellish time for the heroes of the DC Universe, and they deserved a break from the chaos. While Future State is telling some great stories, it’s definitely plunged them further into doom and gloom. Happily, Infinite Frontier seems to promise more of the grand DC heroics fans have come to expect, and will hopefully provide the soaring highs that fans were ready for after months of gritty struggle.
