Darkseid’s Search for the Anti-Life Equation Was Only the Beginning, and DC’s Next Big Threat Is Even Stranger

DC Comics is on top again and they have Darkseid to thank for it. No, really. The God of Evil was created by legendary creator Jack Kirby when he went to DC in 1970, the center of his New Gods saga. The New Gods wouldn’t have the blockbuster sales success that Kirby had at the House of Ideas, but they’ve become one of the beloved parts of the DC Multiverse. Darkseid was the leader of Apokolips and is Kirby’s perfect representation of evil, the “tiger force at the center of all things”. Generations of creators fell in love with the New Gods, with Darkseid becoming the most popular of the heroes and villains from the twin worlds of the gods. Darkseid became known with his obsession with the Anti-Life Equation, but all of that is about to change thanks to DC All-In Saga: Darkseid vs. The World #1.

The Anti-Life Equation was the culmination of everything that Kirby wanted Darkseid to represent. Kirby was shaped by World War II, fighting the Nazis as a scout during the war (one of the most dangerous jobs in the military), and Darkseid was his version of the fascists he battled. The Anti-Life Equation is the ultimate fascist weapon – it takes away the will of everyone and gives it to the bearer of the Equation. For decades, finding it’s been the focus of his attacks on the multiverse, but all of that has changed. Darkseid has found a new obsession, one that is related to his search for the Anti-Life Equation, and it’s going to change the villain forever.

The Anti-Life Equation Is Out; the Omega Singularity Is In

Darkseid’s quest for the Anti-Life Equation has its origins in his, well, origin. He was the son of Yuga Khan, the leader of Apokolips, and a soldier in the endless war against New Genesis. In order to win that war and to take power for himself, he began his quest for the power of Omega Force, the ultimate energy of darkness. It was the only thing that could give him the power he desired. This quest changed him but his marriage to Sull changed him even more, blunting his desire for conquest. His mother Heggra couldn’t have that and she ended up poisoning Sull.

Without her around, Darkseid re-devoted himself to gaining the full power of the Omega Force. He would gain powers like the Omega Effect and the Omega Sanction on this quest and eventually learned of the existence of the Anti-Life Equation. Thinking it the ultimate power, he started seeking it out throughout the multiverse, eventually finding his way to Earth and beginning the wars that would define him. Darkseid has become DC’s greatest villain because of his quest for the Anti-Life Equation. Usually, if it isn’t broke, you don’t fix it, but DC has decided to change the focus of their greatest villain.

Over the years of his search, Darkseid has learned much, but he also knew that he didn’t know enough. This led to the events of DC All-In #1; Darkseid slaughtered his family and servants on Apokolips, using their blood to power a spell that would allow him to bond with the Spectre. He learned the final secret of the Omega Force – the Omega Singularity. So, it works like this: the Omega Force is part of the void that existed before all things. Matter was created and suddenly all of time and space took existence, since the very presence of matter meant that the multiverse was inevitable . Every moment existed all at once, released by the Big Bang.

Darkseid doesn’t want to control the multiverse anymore, at least not in the way he once did. He doesn’t want to be the only will in existence, he wants to create a reality where everything exists all at once. Everyone who has ever lived? They’ll be back. You could go to any moment of your life and revisit it. Darkseid wants to create a multiverse where everything exists at once, which is the wildest change you could make to a villain who is the God of Evil.

The obsession with the Omega Simulacrum is one of the biggest changes to the character in history. An interesting thing about the villain over his existence is the way that he has been expanded on by generations of writers. It would be simple to keep him as the all-powerful evil, but they’ve also shown that is more to him than that, these chages . Darkseid has become something very different from what he once was – he’s become a god. In the Absolute Universe, he was the summation of all things. He understands the multiverse in a way he didn’t before.

DC K.O. was an untouchable story, setting readers up for the biggest event ever in the future. Darkseid is a pretty common choice for DC’s big bad but instead of going in the same direction again, with yet another story about him going after the Anti-Life Equation, they created an all-new obsession for the villain, a whole new mission. It’s also represents a very interesting change to the character; in fact, you could almost say that Darkseid’s newest obsession actually makes him something he’s rarely been before – heroic.

Darkseid Has Become… Altruistic?

For decades now, we’ve been used to Darkseid as the ultimate fascist, with the Anti-Life Equation representing the ultimate idea of fascism – complete submission to authority. Over the years, his quest for the Equation has been the center of some amazing stories, but when it comes right down to it, one of the problems with superhero comics is the constant recycling. In the real world, anyone who failed to do something as many times as Darkseid would have quit and moved on, so him gaining a new obsession makes sense. It also leads to one of the biggest Darkseid changes imaginable.

Darkseid’s newest quest is actually altruistic. One of the interesting things about DC All-In Saga: Darkseid vs. The World #1 is the way it brings up his love of Sull. One almost gets the feeling that his desire for the Omega Singularity is as much to see the one being in all the multiverse he loved as anything else, which is a very interesting direction to take him. However, this is Darkseid; at one point in the issue he talks about holding all of time and space in “his closed fist”. Darkseid is like every fascist – he sells a vision of strength and freedom, when all there will really be is submission and control on an heretofore undreamed-of scale.

DC All-In Saga: Darkseid vs. The World #1 is on sale now.

What do you think of Darkseid’s new quest for the Omega Singularity? Do you think it’s a great change or too much? Sound off in the comment section below.

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