DC's Multiverse Has Less Than a Year To Live, and the Justice League Doesn't Care

The DC Multiverse has faced many a crisis, time after time... after time. In fact, on more than a couple of occasions, the very fabric of existence upon which the realities within DC's comic lore are built has unraveled. But in the end, the Justice League usually rushes in to save the day.

In the wake of the events of Dark Nights: Metal and Justice League: No Justice, we learned of a breach in the Source Wall, the very border of the universe, which is now leaking cosmic energy, resulting in a death sentence for the Multiverse.

But for some reason, even with the Multiverse confirmed as dying in Justice League #1 from Scott Snyder and Jim Cheung, the League doesn't seem to be stressing about it... which is an odd reaction, to say the least.

In No Justice #4, we saw the entire Green Lanterns Corps trying to plug the Source Wall breach. However, even the combined power of their rings simply wasn't enough. And so, in Justice League #1, we see a dose of energy called the Totality exit the breach and begin its journey towards Earth.

As the League assesses this, though, it appears not all of them are convinced this is a Multiverse-ending issue, which really and truly isn't a gamble they should be taking. These heroes are usually proactive, but here, even with the all-planning Batman in the mix, there appears to be a surprisingly nonchalant, and dare we say lackadaisical, attitude about things, as though the Multiverse's death is a problem for another day.

Page 2: [valnet-url-page page=2 paginated=0 text='Seriously%20-%20Does%20Anyone%20Care%20that%20the%20DC%20Universe%20is%20Dying%3F']

The League's chairman, J'onn J'onnz, reveals he has Green Lantern/John Stewart ready to blast the Totality away using a wormhole, but he's wondering if there's something to be learned from it, something that might help evolve their universe. Aquaman is, to be fair, relatively pragmatic about the situation; he wants the Totality destroyed to prevent their own extinction, but even he doesn't seem particularly concerned over the greater issue at the Source Wall.

Wonder Woman is shockingly skeptical as to whether the Multiverse really is dying, which is odd given she was front and center against the Omega Titans, and was knee-deep in the trenches during the fight against the Dark Multiverse. Cyborg and Batman, like J'onn, seem more concerned with decoding whether the Totality can be helpful or not, while Flash seems to be playing devil's advocate by pointing out the pros and cons when it comes to risking making contact with it.

Superman is also shockingly unconcerned, as if to say the break in the Source Wall requires attention at a later date. This leaves readers wondering if the League is just being super-confident in their ability to solve this problem -- they do have a Batman, after all -- or if there is perhaps some level of hubris at play here that's going to turn around and bite them at some point in the near future. Pride comes before the fall, but this is something usually seen in DC's villains, such as Lex Luthor and Vandal Savage, both ironically in possession of the breach's deepest, darkest secrets.

The point is, whether it's a force for good or not is not what the debate should totally focus on. After all, even if the Totality isn't all-threatening, something else meant to end the Multiverse is likely to emerge from the breach. If this happens, the League will end up being late and, well, reactive.

When it comes to Batman and Co. they go all out to prevent these crises, which makes it all the more alarming that they're not putting pedal to the medal here. Snyder's already teasing they're making a mistake in this issue, with the breach poised to unearth cosmic abominations, new legions of evil, revive ancient gods and bring a whole new level of chaos over to the DCU if left unchecked.

The fact the Green Lanterns, from John to Hal Jordan, know this leak is killing the Multiverse is all the more reason why the League should be acting swiftly and en masse. Sure, they may have been distracted by Savage's plans to pull Earth out of its orbit, but the subsequent round table discussion makes it feel as though they're not really taking the expansion of the Multiverse as seriously as they should. It's like they're second guessing and throwing darts at the board to see what sticks, as opposed to being methodical and calculating.

As it stands, Lex Luthor seems to be the only one making moves with foresight, albeit in the guise of evil schemes in order to hasten the doom and gloom he's hellbent on having the Multiverse experience. But when Lex appears to be 10 steps ahead of Batman, you know you're in a sordid state. Hopefully, the League doesn't learn this lesson the hard way, and actually wise up sooner rather than later. Because right now, the Totality might be the just the first threat to emerge from the Wall, as hints have already been dropped that bigger, badder and more mysterious evils lurk behind it, waiting to escape and consume all we know in the DCU.