WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Dark Nights: Metal #2, by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, on sale now from DC Comics.


DC Comics' Dark Nights: Metal #2 is crammed full with big moments, but the biggest by far is reserved in the issue's final pages, with the arrival of evil Batmen from the Dark Multiverse.

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First teased in June, these Dark Knights are corrupted versions of Batman from that shadow dimension. In Dark Nights: Metal #2, by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, these evil Batmen are summoned into the DC Universe by the Court of Owls and the Strigydae through a ritual known as the "mantling," first referenced last year in Batman #51.

The Caped Crusader disappears, and in his place opens a portal to the Dark Multiverse, through which appears first a trio of cannibalistic green-haired Robins, and then the seven evil Batmen, backed by the bat-god Barbatos, whose DC Comics history can be traced back to the 1990 story arc "Dark Night, Dark City."

But who, or what, are these evil Batmen? We know that each of them is Bruce Wayne, in some demented form, merged with someone, or something, else. When Barbatos bellows to Superman and Wonder Woman, "You want Bruce Wayne? Look around," each of these creatures from the Dark Multiverse responds, "I'm right here." What does that mean, though?

The full answers will arrive beginning next week, with the first of seven one-shots centering on each of these Batmen. "Those Dark Knights one-shots? I’m so proud of them and what those teams have done," Snyder told CBR. "Each one is about one of Batman’s nightmares about going too far."

So, who are these nightmares, these Dark Knights?

The Drowned

Batman: The Drowned #1, by Jason Fabok

Although the initial silhouette teaser released in June suggested otherwise, The Drowned appears to be the sole female figure among the evil Batmen. As hinted by the Aquaman logo superimposed over that first image, she's a malevolent combination of Batman and DC's Sea King; her depictions in Metal #2 and on the cover of Batman: The Drowned #1 underscore steampunk elements, combining 16th- or 17th-century clothing with retro-futuristic accessories.

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The Drowned be featured in her own one-shot, by writer Dan Abnett and artist Philip Tan, arriving Oct. 18.

The Devastator

Batman: The Devastator by Jason Fabok

Under ordinary circumstances, a hellish combination of Batman and Doomsday, the genetically engineered Kryptonian monster that killed Superman, would be the most frightening character in any comic. However, Metal #2 has not only the bat-god Barbatos but also the Batman Who Laughs and his four chained man-eating Robins. That's difficult to beat, but The Devastator comes close.

He'll get his moment in the sun, or rather the post-apocalyptic haze, on Nov. 1 in Batman: The Devastator #1 by writer Frank Tieri and artist Tony S. Daniel.

The Murder Machine

From Batman: The Murder Machine #1, by Ricardo Federici

With names like The Drowned and The Devastator, there's at least some room for ambiguity, but that's not the case with The Murder Machine; the malevolence is right there on the tin: Murder Machine.

"Murder Machine is looking at a world where Alfred passed away, so Bruce asks Cyborg to upload his consciousness into the Alfred Protocol," Snyder explained, "and the first thing the Alfred Protocol does when it comes online is kill every villain in Gotham like, 'You’re welcome, sir!' When the superheroes try and stop it, it kills them too, and absorbs Batman into it as an extension."

Batman: The Murder Machine #1, written by Frank Tieri and illustrated by Riccardo Federici, goes on sale Sept. 27.

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The Batman Who Laughs

The Batman Who Laughs, by Riccardo Federici

Arguably the most intriguing of these seven Dark Knights, the Batman Who Laughs merges the Caped Crusader and his arch-nemesis The Joker in one nightmarish figure. If the fetish gear, blood-red smile and razor-like talons weren't enough to keep us awake at night, he's accompanied by four ravenous Robins -- presumably fun house-mirror versions of Dick, Jason, Tim and Damian -- who call out "Crow" as they disembowel members of the Court of Owls.

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The Batman Who Laughs appears simultaneously in Metal #2 and in this week's Teen Titans #12, the first part of the "Gotham Resistance" crossover, where he describes himself as "something twisted and wrong." There,he distributes metal playing cards, "forged with metallurgy," that grant Gotham's rogues the ability to "reshape reality" to their whims.

"The Batman Who Laughs was actually one of the earliest elements in Metal," Snyder told CBR, adding that the creature is "Bruce asking, 'What if I killed the Joker and I found out that he has a toxin in his heart that essentially made whoever kills him the next Joker, and that’s why he’s always tried to get Batman to kill him?' It’s one of the darkest stories that we could do. What happens then, what happens to the family, all of that is in Batman: The Batman Who Laughs one-shot.

That one-shot, by writer James Tynion IV and artist Riley Rossmo, goes on sale Nov. 15.

The Merciless

batman-merciless

If The Merciless is somewhat reminiscent of the more traditional DC Comics depiction of the Greek god Ares, that's probably no accident: He's some combination of Batman and Wonder Woman, and judging from the preview of his one-shot, he has no love for the Olympians, or for Amanda Waller, for that matter.

Batman: The Merciless #1, written by Peter J. Tomasi and illustrated by Francis Manapul, arrives on Oct. 25.

The Red Death

The Red Death, by Riccardo Federici

Perhaps the most easily identifiable, because of the wings on his mask, The Red Death brings together Batman and The Flash in one fast-moving figure. If the costume and the Speed Force lightning effects aren't enough of a tip-off, then there are the Crisis on Infinite Earths-style red skies in the preview of his one-shot.

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According to Snyder, The Red Death is effectively Batman asking, "What if there was a catastrophe in Gotham that I wasn’t fast enough to stop and I started experimenting with the Speed Force and it all went to hell?”

The sinister speedster races in with his own special Sept. 20 in Batman: The Red Death #1, by writer Joshua Williamson and artist Carmine Di Giandomenico.

The Dawnbreaker

batman-the dawnbreaker

In the 1994 Elseworlds story Batman: In Darkest Night, we were presented with an alternative universe in which an adult Bruce Wayne is chosen by Abin Sur's power ring, and launches his crime-fighting career as a Green Lantern. But in the Dark Multiverse, an enraged young Bruce is bestowed with the ring moments after the murder of his parents, and turns its power on Joe Chill, incinerating him. It's not exactly an uplifting tale of heroism.

Batman: The Dawnbreaker #1, by writer Sam Humphries and artist Ethan Van Sciver, lands Oct. 4.


Dark Nights: Metal #2, by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, and Teen Titans #12, by Benjamin Percy and Mirka Andolfo, are on sale now from DC Comics. The "Gotham Resistance" tie-in continues Sept. 20 in Nightwing #29, by Tim Seeley and Paul Pelletier, before concluding Sept. 27 in Suicide Squad #26, by Rob Williams and Stjepan Sejic.