Dark Nights: Death Metal is officially in the books, and its impact is being felt throughout DC Comics canon. The event undoubtedly brought a high-octane take on the characters that fans know and love, all while also helping tee up an entirely new era of storytelling in the universe. Considering the fact that the event saw them facing off against Perpetua and The Batman Who Laughs – both of whom were hell-bent on destroying the entire DC multiverse – it was safe to assume that the canon would be remade in some capacity. Towards the end of the issue, fans got an indication of exactly what that would entail. Spoilers for Dark Nights: Death Metal #7, from Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, FCO Plascencia, Yanick Paquette, Bryan Hitch, Nathan Fairbairn,Alex Sinclair, and Tom Napolitano below! Only look if you want to know!
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The issue chronicles the time-bending fight between Wonder Woman and The Batman Who Laughs, juxtaposed against DC’s various heroes and villains fighting The Robin King and other evil alternate versions of characters. Throughout the conflict, The Batman Who Laughs swears that the only way the multiverse can be restored is if Diana joins his side, but she refuses to give into him, assuring that The Hands will just destroy the multiverse anyway. She proceeds to sacrifice herself and The Batman Who Laughs into a supernova — and comes out on the other side in a new ascended plane, where she learns that the multiverse has been rebuilt.
At the tail end of the issue, the other DC heroes are celebrating their victory, and Barry Allen pulls Wally West aside to show him something. He brings him to The Totality, a new fortress created by DC heroes and villains with the goal of watching over the rebuilt multiverse.
As the group of characters explain to Wally, the multiverse has been rebuilt not just as one multiverse, but as a larger “omniverse”. But for their multiverse in particular, one thing is certain — Earth-Prime is no longer the center of it. The group reveals that they’ve detected two Earths that are at the center — one they have nicknamed “The Elseworld”.
This shift is definitely surprising, as it shifts DC canon that has been in place for quite some time. Some variation of the flagship DC Earth – whether under the name of Earth-Sigma, New Earth, or Prime-Earth, has been regarded as the center of the multiverse basically ever since Crisis on Infinite Earths, as a way to streamline the multiversal storytelling. But by removing Prime-Earth from that position – and instead making the “Elseworld”, a name based on the banner for out-of-continuity DC stories, one of two new center points – DC has the opportunity to introduce some major new canon into its roster, while also potentially introducing some major threats along the way.
What do you think of DC changing its multiverse in Dark Nights: Death Metal? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
