'Dark Nights: Death Metal' starring Wonder Woman and 'hundreds of evil Batmen' set to change things up for DC
Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo caught lightning in a bottle with their 2017 series 'Dark Nights: Metal'. Now they're coming back for an encore with 'Dark Nights: Death Metal' but there are going to be a few changes in place.
Since the New 52, DC has tried really hard to let go of the old in favor of the new, a tactic that hasn't exactly paid dividends for the publisher. But once 'Death Metal' arrives, we could be looking at a newly integrated DC Universe, one that'll remain rooted in its past while still investing itself heavily in the future.
Earlier this month, Snyder revealed on DC Daily that the duo's plan for 'Death Metal' was to "take sort of elements of the stories that fans loved and should be impactful to the DCU and bring them all into one big connective story. So what Doctor Manhattan did in Doomsday Clock, what's been happening in Leviathan, what happened all the way back to Crisis on Infinite Earths through multiple Crises, is all referenced in Death Metal."
"So that's how you make it bigger to me. The point wasn't to make more evil Batmen or more you know. We did, there's many more. There's hundreds of evil Batmen in this and all that stuff is in there. It's like it's definitely like a rock party out of control in the desert, Burning Man you know, like, apocalyptic celebration."
However, Greg Capullo has confirmed in a recent tweet that the story will not be about Batman, though he will be featured as a character. In fact, this time around the spotlight will be on none other than Wonder Woman, who will take on the persona of the Queen of Hell in the storyline.
"Last Knight was the end of our Batman that began with Court of Owls," Capullo tweeted in response to a fan who asked if 'Batman: Last Knight on Earth' would lead into the upcoming series. "Death Metal is really a Wonder Woman story-tho Batman is in the story as well."
That's pretty much what Capullo and Snyder had said back when 'Death Metal' was first announced but it is nice to have some confirmation that this will most definitely be Wonder Woman's turn to shine.
"As soon as Scott and I were done with Batman: Last Knight on Earth [Snyder and Capullo's miniseries set in the far future, starring Batman] and said we were done with Batman, everybody thinks, 'yeah, right, they're lying'," Capullo told the Hollywood Reporter back in February.
"No, really, seriously. We intended that to be the last of our Batman. That was sincere. That's not to say we would never, ever do anything with the character — he's a prominent character in the DCU! But Batman is a supporting character in this. This is very much a Wonder Woman driven story, and as Scott said, 'we've wanted it do it for a long time.'"
'Dark Nights: Death Metal' #1 is scheduled to arrive in stores on May 13 but with the coronavirus pandemic halting distribution on comics, it remains to be seen if the book will be delayed or not.