WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #2, by James Tynion IV, Steve Epting, Javier Fernandez, Nick Filardi and Travis Lanham, on sale now.

After having an impressive 2019, The Batman Who Laughs is poised to continue his reign of terror into the new year. His battle with Apex Lex Luthor has only been building up steam, and now he may have even gotten a secret weapon that, if he can control, could give this denizen from the Dark Multiverse the kind of destructive power he's been looking for: The Phantom Stranger.

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The Batman Who Laughs has been shown to be terrifyingly effective at catching unexpected heroes. During the events of Dark Nights: Metal, he was able to kidnap the Monitor for his plans to wipe out all life in the multiverse. Since then, The Batman Who Laughs has infected multiple heroes with his variant of the Joker Toxin, corrupting them into darker versions of themselves, and he even seems to have been able to spread that infection around the world more effectively than anyone expected.

While the Secret Six distract the DC Universe's heroes (and even villains like Apex Lex), The Batman Who Laughs has established a base in the Slaughter Swamp, which is where he has the Phantom Stranger held captive. The villain explains that, on his Earth, he had to fight the immensely powerful Spectre. However, The Batman Who Laughs came out on top after finding a spell "to cage him and kill him." That's the same spell The Batman Who Laughs is using here to keep The Phantom Stranger prisoner.

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Created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, The Phantom Stranger has served as a magical aid to humanity since his introduction in 1952. He's had multiple origins over the years, ranging from a fallen angel to a scientist from the end of time to even Judas Iscariot himself, cursed to walk the Earth until he's redeemed. Unlike most heroes though, he operates on an entirely different level of morality and justice.

The Phantom Stranger has forced other heroes into missions while only joining up with them when it suits his needs. He's so powerful that even other magical beings are under the impression that he's essentially invincible. The hero is also something of a counter to the Spectre, who went toe-to-toe with the Anti-Monitor. So the fact that the Batman Who Laughs has not only found a way to find him but to also trap him is very worrying, as it suggests the villain has some very deadly plans for the hero. However, The Batman Who Laughs previously captured the Monitor and used him in his attempt to destroy all life in the multiverse, which may be related to what's going on here.

While things might get more difficult for The Batman Who Laughs now that Lex Luthor has sent Mercy Graves off to recruit the Joker, this does also prove just how quick the composite villain can be when he's not the center of attention. He could even be operating on multiple plans, as any good version of Batman would. If the heroes want any chance of stopping whatever he has planned next, they might need to find out about the villain's prisoner before it's too late.

DC's Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #3 releases Feb. 26 from DC Comics.

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