WARNING: The following contains spoilers for “I Am Here” in Dark Nights: Death Metal: Legends of the Dark Knights #1 by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Joshua Williamson, Tony S. Daniel, Marcelo Maiolo and Tom Napolitano, available now.

The Dark Multiverse is home to an infinite number of twisted reflections of characters from the regular DC Universe. In these worlds, events take different directions, characters appear in different shapes and the result is often a sort of amalgam. In both Dark Nights: Metal and its sequel Death Metal, fans have met multiple evil versions of Batman who hail from this Dark Multiverse, including the Red Death, the Murder Machine, the Darkfather, the Batom and their maniacal leader, the Batman Who Laughs.

Each of these versions of Batman is the result of one of Bruce Wayne's nightmares. But now, in Dark Nights: Death Metal: Legends of the Dark Knights #1, DC introduces even more evil versions of Batman, and one of them is a cross between the Dark Knight and the 2000 AD fan-favorite character, Judge Dredd.

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Death Metal Judge Dredd Cannibal Batman

In Legends of the Dark Knights #1, readers find out in more detail how the Batman Who Laughs merged with the Batmanhattan to become the Darkest Knight. After the villain's brain was transplanted into the Bruce Wayne/Dr. Manhattan amalgam, the Batman Who Laughs became an all-powerful glowing blue being. With his power, he peered across the Dark Multiverse, observing every alternate version of Batman and learning everything he could about them. Here, fans see many new Batmen who are combined with some of his greatest enemies, including Bane Batman, a Mr. Freeze Dark Knight, a Court of Owls Caped Crusader, among others.

But most notably, there is also a Batman who is wearing an armor inspired by 2000 AD's Judge Dredd. He's got the black, green and gold armor, the red visor and an assault rifle. This Judge Dredd Batman can be seen executing the Penguin, showing that he doesn't abide by the real Batman's no-killing rule and that he has absolutely no mercy.

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An image of Batman with his mask of, punching Judge Dredd

At first glance, it's unclear how there can there be a version of him mixed in with a character from another comic book universe, since every alternate version of Batman from the Dark Multiverse hails from a nightmare. Well, it's because Batman and Judge Dredd have met before. In fact, in the '90s, there were four miniseries that chronicled an extended crossover between the two characters: Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgment on Gotham, Vendetta in Gotham, The Ultimate Riddle and Die Laughing. The existence of a Judge Dredd Batman in the Dark Multiverse implies that these stories are still canon in the DC Rebirth continuity. If Batman came across Judge Dredd before, then one of his nightmares could be born of him wondering what would happen if he ever became like the ruthless law enforcer.

This Batman could even be a nod to the Batman Who Laughs himself, a character who bears a striking resemblance to Judge Dredd's Judge Death. Hopefully, another tie-in issue will see these two characters meet, as the results would surely be something to behold.

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