The following contains spoilers for DCeased: War of the Undead Gods #1, on sale now from DC Comics.
Though the heroes of the DC Universe found a way to cure the corrupted Anti-Life Equation virus creating zombies in DCeased, it cannot save the Bat Family heroes who fell to the Anti-Living early on.
Writer Tom Taylor and artist Trevor Hairsine have launched the final chapter of their zombie saga with DCeased: War of the Undead Gods. The prior sequel series, DCeased: Dead Planet, concluded with DC's heroes developing a cure for the Anti-Living, which was then distributed across the globe to save the Earth and its inhabitants. However, the cure seems to only work on Anti-Living that remain mostly unharmed. Therefore, Batman/Bruce Wayne, Nightwing/Dick Grayson and Robin/Tim Drake (who succumbed to the virus early on in the very first DCeased series) cannot be brought back since they were killed by their loyal guardian, Alfred Pennyworth.
DCeased: War of the Undead Gods #1 shows Batman/Damian Wayne telling Alfred and Dr. Leslie Thompkins about the cure, causing Alfred to walk away for a moment to mourn his actions. Damian tries to console him, saying, "You couldn't have known. Even Bruce didn't know. You did what you had to do at the time." Damian's words provide little comfort to Alfred though, who responds with tears in his eyes, "Please, do not try to absolve me of this. They could have been saved. I pulled the trigger. Three times. I killed my sons."
What Happened to Batman, Nightwing and Robin in DCeased?
In 2019's DCeased #1, the Anti-Life Equation virus began when Darkseid tried to rip the Equation out of Cyborg with the help of Desaad and the Black Racer. The process instead turned Darkseid into an Anti-Living monster, who then destroyed his planet, Apokolips. Desaad sent Cyborg back to Earth, the hero behaving as a carrier for the techno-organic virus and spreading it across the globe in seconds once he connected to the Internet. The Anti-Life Equation infected anybody looking at a digital screen or who became wounded by an Anti-Living individual.
Dick and Tim fell to the virus while looking at screens in Wayne Manor, infecting Bruce after attacking their heroic mentor. After Dick and Tim were killed, Bruce used one of Mr. Freeze's suits to slow down the virus from taking hold over him, having Alfred on standby with a shotgun once he eventually turned. The last page of DCeased #2 is the Anti-Living Bruce charging Alfred, who says, "It shouldn't have ended this way. Not for you. I'm sorry, son," accompanied by the word "BANG" for the issue's final panel.
The DC Universe Is in Great Danger in War of the Undead Gods
Despite the virus being cured, the threat isn't over for this DC Universe's heroes. The Anti-Living Darkseid traveled all the way to New Genesis to infect the New Gods in DCeased: Dead Planet, and the final chapter explores the universe in danger as the powerful Anti-Living begin to spread across the cosmos.
DCeased: War of the Undead Gods #1 is written by Taylor with interior pencils by Hairsine, inks by Andy Lanning, colors by Rain Beredo and letters by Saida Temofonte. Main cover art for the issue is by Harisine and Beredo, with variant covers contributed to by Dan Mora, Francesco Mattina, Kael Ngu and Sun Khamanaki. The issue is now on sale from DC Comics.
Source: DC Comics