If you’re not sure what the finale of Death Metal means for the DCU or how DC continuity has been affected, worry not. We’re here to break down all the big twists in this issue and how Death Metal is lighting the way for Future State and what comes next.
Warning: this article contains full spoilers for Dark Nights: Death Metal #7!
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The DC Multiverse Reborn
The DC multiverse is a complicated and often downright confusing concept. In the old days, there were an infinite number of alternate worlds featuring their own incarnations of our favorite heroes. 1985’s Crisis on Infinite Earths consolidated everything into one Earth, while subsequent stories established a more limited multiverse of 52 worlds. And that’s not even getting into concepts like Hypertime, the Dark Multiverse and the DC Metaverse introduced in Doomsday Clock. What makes Death Metal different from past crossovers like Crisis is that it doesn’t seek to streamline or simplify DC cosmology. Rather, it celebrates this vast, complex history and the idea that “it all matters.”
The final issue of Death Metal chronicles a titanic battle between Wonder Woman and the Batman Who Laughs, both of whom have been amplified with godlike powers and cosmic awareness. The Batman Who Laughs wants to destroy the multiverse and the beings who created it, and he tries to bribe Diana with the promise of a single, idyllic world where she and her friends can live in peace. But ever the selfless heroine, Wonder Woman saves the multiverse and its creators, even at the cost of her own world. Moved by this act of selflessness, one of these higher-dimensional beings communicates with Diana and offers to restore the multiverse as it once was. Not one Earth or 52 Earths, but a limitless number of Earths.
Not only is the DC multiverse back, but it’s officially part of a DC Omniverse. The Omniverse is formed from multiple multiverses. Basically, picture DC’s comic book multiverse existing in a cosmic superstructure alongside another multiverse comprised of DC’s many animated movies and TV series and a third multiverse formed from the various live-action DC universes. Every DC story ever told matters, and they all have a place as part of a larger, never-ending tapestry.
There is one notable change to the structure of DC’s multiverse. Where Earth-0 used to be the center of the multiverse, now there are two opposing poles that form the backbone of the multiverse. Earth-0 is one of those poles, while the other is a mysterious new planet dubbed Elseworld. “Elseworlds” is the branding DC once used for its various alternate universe stories like Gotham by Gaslight and Batman: Red Rain, so that probably gives us some indication of what to expect from this planet.
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The New (Old) DC Timeline
When the dust of Death Metal settles, life on Earth-0 is more or less getting back to normal. Wonder Woman herself is missing (more on that later), but the rest of the Justice League are embracing a newfound sense of hope that comes from saving all of existence. While DC’s heroes and villains seem to remember the events of Death Metal, reality is restored to how it was before Perpetua and the Batman Who Laughs attempted to rewrite existence. Characters who died during the course of Death Metal are restored to life (including Batman, who had become an undead Black Lantern).
Issue #7 even teases other long-dead characters have been restored to life, though it remains to be seen which ones have been given a new lease on life. Alfred Pennyworth seems a likely candidate, as we already saw Batman raise him from the dead with his Black Lantern ring.
More important than any resurrections, though, is the fact that the inhabitants of the DCU now remember everything that ever happened in the DC timeline. The Justice Society of America has been reestablished as the world’s first superhero team. Our heroes remember the world as it existed before the first Crisis, how it changed after the Crisis, how it changed again during the New 52, and so on. As reality sorts itself out, our heroes are even catching glimpses of possible alternate futures and pasts, which is where the Future State crossover comes in. Not only has the DC multiverse been restored; now Hypertime (basically a multiverse of alternate timelines as opposed to a multiverse of alternate universes) is back in play.
Once again, the theme of everything mattering is at the heart of Death Metal. DC no longer seems overly concerned about wrangling its vast comic book history into a coherent, streamlined narrative. Heading into 2021, the publisher is instead celebrating that giant tapestry and encouraging fans to embrace what appeals to them. In that sense, the DC Comics line isn’t so different from WarnerMedia’s live-action DC multiverse.
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What Happened to Wonder Woman and the Batman Who Laughs?
The fate of Wonder Woman is easily one of the most pressing questions coming out of Death Metal. Her whereabouts are unknown by the end of the series, though Superman and his friends seem aware that Diana saved the multiverse and has now embraced a larger destiny. Wherever Diana has gone, she appears to have been tasked by the higher-dimensional creators of the DC Omniverse with protecting this new reality.
It’s not clear when we’ll find out where Diana has gone or what exactly her role is now, but we can definitely say she’s not dead. An older Diana is the main protagonist of Future State: Immortal Wonder Woman, so we know at some point in the future she emerges from hiding. DC will also continue publishing a monthly Wonder Woman comic after Future State, though it’s unclear if that book will take place prior to the events of Death Metal or pivot to focus on another character like Donna Troy or Yara Flor. Meanwhile, Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez’s Justice League series will feature Queen Hippolyta taking over for her daughter as the League’s resident Amazonian warrior.
What about the Batman Who Laughs? As far as we can tell, this villain was destroyed in his final battle with Wonder Woman – the ultimate triumph of Justice over Doom and Anti-Crisis over Crisis. But between the fact that the Batman Who Laughs had become a fourth-dimensional being and that reality has been more or less reset to its pre-Death Metal state, it’s not much of a stretch to imagine this twisted version of Bruce Wayne cheating death once again. He’s a popular character, and DC may want to keep him in the rotation as a recurring Batman or Justice League antagonist.
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What Is the Totality?
Both Death Metal and the Justice League series that preceded it have dealt heavily with the Totality, a cosmic energy source that contains all knowledge and was used to forge the multiverse itself. The reborn multiverse is no longer surrounded by the Source Wall that used to seal off reality from threats beyond. Now, the Totality itself has formed a shield-like fortress to help guard humanity from the even greater threats to come. As Wall West discovers, that fortress exists at a much higher vibrational frequency, making it invisible to all but a select few heroes and villains.
This tease seems to be setup for a new series featuring Wally joining forces with various other heroes and villains to help defend the multiverse from dire threats. The team lineup is a mix of brilliant scientists like Mister Terrific and Lex Luthor and immortals like Vandal Savage and Hawkgirl who have centuries of experience in confronting the weird and unnatural. As a speedster who briefly wielded the powers of Doctor Manhattan and Metron, Wally is a natural fit for that team.
For more on DC in 2021, find out why Joker is getting his first solo comic in decades and which superstar creative team is taking over Nightwing.
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Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
