DC Universe Online's Metal Saga Concludes With the Bat God Barbatos, the Batman Who Laughs, and More

DC Universe Online, the free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing game from developer Daybreak Games, is set to conclude its take on DC Comics' Dark Nights: Metal event with the release of Episode 36: Metal Park II this week. That includes, but is not limited to, a new open-world map of Thanagar as well as the return of the Bat God Barbatos, the evil entity at the heart of the Dark Multiverse.

Ahead of the new content's release tomorrow, December 5th, Daybreak Games has provided ComicBook.com a look at the key art for Episode 36: Metal Part II as well as answered several questions for fans of both the comics and game itself. You can check out the key art, featuring the Bat God Barbatos itself, and the answers from DC Universe Online's creative director SJ Mueller, below:

ComicBook.com: What, specifically, can you tell us about Episode 36: Metal Part II?

SJ Mueller: Metal Part II is going to take DC fans to places they'd never believe. It's exciting enough to go to the planet Thanagar, home of the Hawks, but they'll also dive deep into the belly of the Dark Multiverse at the Forge of Worlds. But before that, they'll explore the depths of Batman's mind and learn things about him no one ever knew.

For fans of the comics, what can they expect to experience in this new release?

I think what DC comic fans will be most excited to see are "The Dark Knights" - alternate EVIL versions of Batman from across the Dark Multiverse. We've got the return of The Batman Who Laughs, The Merciless, and The Red Death and the first appearances of The Dawnbreaker and one of my personal favorites, The Drowned - a gender-swapped version of Batman crossed with Aquaman!

For someone that's just now booting the game up to play this content, where would you recommend they start?

For a brand new player, you'll need to learn the ropes alongside some of DC's most iconic characters. Start at the very beginning by creating your very own unique character and select your superpower. Within a couple of hours, you'll be contacted by Hawkgirl and sent to Thanagar to start Metal Part II.

Given that this is the second in a two-part series of content, should players expect to see the Bat God Barbatos in the future, or is this the conclusion of all that?

It'll be the conclusion...for now... But I don't think Barbatos or The Batman Who Laughs will stay away for good. Clearly Barbatos is a very patient being, seeing as he's been guiding the Multiverse to this point for as long as creation!

What was the most difficult part of working on this content?

In this episode, we wanted to push boundaries and try stuff we've never done before - like enter the psyche of Batman. His mind isn't exactly a walk in Robinson Park. It was hard to make that pay that off, but the team did an amazing job. We also introduced an entirely new gameplay mechanic in the final raid where The Batman Who Laughs challenges the team of players to a deadly card game.

Any iconic characters or locations you can tease as being involved? If so, how?

Metal is so jam-packed with so many major DC characters and iconic locations I couldn't possibly list them all but I'm most excited to step off Earth and visit other locations in the DC UNIVERSE - whether it be other planets, other dark universes or the damaged and vulnerable mind of the Batman!

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DC Universe Online's Episode 36: Metal Part II is set to launch tomorrow, December 5th. Here's how Daybreak Games describes the upcoming content:

"In Episode 36: Metal Part II, the saga of the Dark Knights, the Dark Multiverse and Metal will come to an explosive conclusion. Thanagar threatens the Earth with the Phoenix Cannon. The Bat God Barbatos pulls our world down into the Dark Multiverse. He has waited since the dawn of the universe for this moment, and it seems nothing can stand in his way!"

DC Universe Online is currently available to play for free for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the popular MMO video game right here.