Warning: contains spoilers for Dark Nights: Death Metal #6!
In the latest issue of DC Comics’ Dark Nights: Death Metal from Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, the heroes and villains of the DC Universe’s Prime Earth are standing together as one to face the Darkest Knight and his armies. The former Batman Who Laughs has managed to birth a host of new dark worlds into existence since becoming the Darkest Knight, and he’s ready to remake the entire multiverse in his own image now that he’s overthrown Perpetua. He’s also recruited and handpicked his favorite of the most twisted Dark Batmen that have been seen as the event has gone on, unleashing them upon the assembled forces of heroism standing against him.
In order to defeat the Darkest Knight, the unthinkable had to be done in the previous issue: the heroes and villains had to destroy their own Earth. In doing so, they were able to cut off the Darkest Knight from creating any more worlds from his darkest desires and whims, leaving only the worlds he had already created to be faced (though they certainly could be enough to conquer them all). Having gathered together and unified on a level the likes of which had never been seen before, the greatest battle in the DC Universe truly begins now in Dark Nights: Death Metal #6.
While the battle was raging in the midst of several newborn worlds of the Darkest Knight’s making, Wonder Woman and a squadron of Lobos traveled to the Forge of Worlds so that they could build the machine in Lex Luthor’s journal to give them all a fighting chance. The machine would help them all embrace change, forcing the truth of the DC Universe to be seen in its entirety, including the remembering of every Crisis and shift that has occurred over the years. However, the journal was lost to the powers of the former Batman Who Laughs. Meanwhile, the Darkest Knight unleashed the next wave of his forces on the battlefield, including all of his favorite agents and Dark Batmen such as the Robin King, the original Dark Knights, a Dark Multiverse version of Superman, and more.
The collection of of the Darkest Knight’s most favored are some of the worst Dark Batmen and foes that have been featured as Death Metal has gone on in its primary issues, as well as in the various tie-ins that have been released. The Robin King killed the entire Justice League of his own world before the Batman Who Laughs found him, and has since corrupted an entire legion of Groblins to serve his every command. The Dark Superman is a Superman who flew through an irradiated black hole that turned him into a cosmic monster craving burned human flesh. The assembled servants of the Darkest Knight also include the original Dark Knights: the Red Death, the Drowned, the Devastator, the Dawnbreaker, the Merciless, and the Murder Machine, all twisted Batman-versions of the Justice League from the original Dark Knights tale from Snyder and Capullo.
Fans will have to wait and see the overall outcome when the next chapter of Dark Knights: Death Metal comes to comic book store shelves, though the arrival of Wonder Woman and her new power of truth may help balance the scales. Regardless, seeing the assembled armies gathered and clashing in an epic war is certainly something spectacular, especially when so many of the most dangerous Dark Batmen are out in the field at the behest of the Darkest Knight. This twisted Bruce Wayne isn’t pulling any punches as Death Metal nears its conclusion.
