WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Dark Nights: Death Metal #7, by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, Yanick Paquette, Bryan Hitch, Nathan Fairbairn, Alex Sinclair, FCO Plascencia & Tom Napolitano, on sale now.
Dark Nights Death Metal just reached its epic conclusion after seven issues of time-bending madness. Wonder Woman was able to achieve god status by absorbing the remaining anti-crisis energy and killed the One Who Laughs in a brawl for the fate of the entire DC multiverse. Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman, and the rest of the DC villains and heroes inspired the Hands of the Multiverse to save their existence and reset the timelines altogether. This set off a cosmic chain of events that restored Earth and created countless new parallel dimensions resulting in a brand new DC Omniverse.
The new "Infinite Frontier" status quo set to begin in March has many unanswered questions. What happens to Batman's enemies after fighting side by side with not only Batman but the entire Bat-Family? We know the Hands of the Omniverse reset the continuity because of everyone's bravery in the face of the most extremely violent and dire circumstances. So what are the likes of Joker, Bane, Deathstroke, Poison Ivy, and the rest of Batman's rogue's gallery going to do upon their return to Gotham?
The final battle for the omniverse was epic, to say the least. Every conceivable hero and villain teamed up against the One Who Laugh's evil army, comprised of the most evil and twisted versions of Batman and the Justice League the Dark-Multiverse has to offer. The battle seemed endless, and while the combined forces were able to stem the tide for a short time, everyone was overrun eventually. After witnessing this much death and destruction first hand how could Gotham's super-criminals return to just being petty thieves and murderers?
It seems like it would be incredibly hard to go back to robbing banks and planning jewel heists after just fighting an evil Batman Tyrannosaurus Rex hybrid or killer Robin goblins side by side with the heroes. Lex Luthor told everyone at the end of Dark Nights Death Metal #7 that everyone's memories were restored. Gotham's villains should ask him for advice because he's definitely traversed the line between hero and villain better than anyone.
Lex Luthor was seen at the end of Dark Nights Death Metal #7 in the Hall of Heroes with the rest of the Justice League breaking down the creation of the Omniverse. Lex Luthor's relationship with the Justice League is one of the most complicated relationships in all of comics. He has tried to kill the Justice League numerous times and created the Legion of Doom to ensure their existence was snuffed out. But he has also worked with the Justice League on several occasions when his own existence was in danger. Lex may hate the Justice League, but he loves himself enough to put his rivalries aside to ensure that he survives another day.
During DC's Rebirth era, Lex Luthor's character development has taken him from Metropolis's new protector to becoming Pepetua's acolyte of the dark-multiverse. While DC's Omniverse is creating wild new possibilities, the more things change, the more things are likely to stay the same. Once Batman's rogue's gallery is back in Gotham again, it probably won't take long for them to return to their villainous ways. After all, Lex Luthor knows better than anyone how to always find his way back to the dark side.