Warning! Spoilers ahead for Dark Nights: Death Metal #4 by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, and Jonathan Glapion

In the latest issue of Dark Nights: Death Metal, Wonder Woman leads the Justice League in a last-ditch attempt to save the DC Multiverse as they know it, trying to obtain a large amount of crisis energy as a means to restore their world and reality back to what it once was. However, their gambit may have just been proven pointless, as the Batman Who Laughs has always been one step ahead from the very beginning. Now calling himself the Darkest Knight thanks to his new cosmic powers, it seems as though he now has everything he needs to reshape the entire Multiverse in his own image.

The Batman Who Laughs has been gleefully plotting and thwarting any efforts to resist him and his mistress Perpetua, taking over and subjugating the entire world with his legions of Dark Batmen with ease. Even when he was seemingly slain by Wonder Woman and her Chainsaw Of Truth, this was simply a part of his plan to then transfer his mind into a much more powerful Batman body, taking on the name of The Darkest Knight. The Justice League creates a plan in response, splitting their forces into different teams which have been seen in the various tie-in issues that have been released. Now, those missions have come to a head in Death Metal #4 from Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo.

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In Multiverse's End #1 the Green Lanterns set out to destroy the various antennae towers in order to save the remaining worlds in the multiverse that hadn't yet been destroyed. In Speed Metal #1The Flash and his fellow speedsters where doing all they could to protect Wally and his cosmic power from the Batman Who Laughs, who wanted to take it from him. Lastly, in Trinity Crisis #1the Trinity went underneath Castle Bat to the worlds that were powering Perpetua (where the three biggest DC Crises had been lost) so they might collect the crisis energy in devices called Alfred Boxes. Meanwhile, Harley Quinn, Swamp Thing, Jonah Hex, and Jarro fought off the terrible Robin King. Once the crisis energy was collected in Death Metal #4, the Trinity sent it to the Mobius Chair, so it could power up Wally who would use it to restore the Multiverse. However, it appears as though it was all for naught.

Unfortunately, before the heroes had found the Mobius Chair, the Batman Who Laughs had rigged it to send any and all power to him instead. The Justice League inadvertently gave the Darkest Knight everything he needed to unleash new and fresh horrors on the entire Multiverse. On the last page of Death Metal #4, the evil and powerful Bat welcomes them to what he's declaring to be "The Last 52".

This is obviously a reference to DC's New 52 reboot publishing initiative, where a new Multiverse and continuity of 52 Earths was created back in 2011. Naturally, the concept of The Last 52 indicates that the Batman Who Laughs seems confident that his new creation will the final time the Multiverse will ever be reformed, which can't be good. Whatever he fashions will be the stuff of nightmares and horror for the Justice League and their allies. To have it be described with such finality is certainly worrisome, but perhaps the League will be able to regroup and continue to resist the changes with the remaining sparks of hope they might have left as Death Metal continues.

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