WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for James Tynion IV, Juan Gedeon, and Rus Wooton's Dark Knights: Death Metal - Multiverse's End #1 and Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Ariel Olivetti, and Ariana Maher's Empyre: Captain America #1-3, on sale now.
A multiverse ending crisis often lets the unexpected survivors rise to the challenge, redefining the way people perceive them. But in DC's Dark Nights: Death Metal - Multiverse's End #1, things have never seemed bleaker. With only six confirmed realities surviving Perpetua's purge of the multiverse, the race to rescue the survivors and stop Perpetua is reaching a fever pitch.
With whole worlds gone and Superman trapped on his own Earth, the remaining heroes of the multiverse found an unexpected source of strength in Captain Carrot, their anthropomorphic bunny version of Superman. And with all the speeches and emotional strength he gave to heroes and civilians alike, it is hard not to believe he similar to, if not more inspiring than, Marvel's Captain America.
With the multiverse on the verge of collapse, Captain Carrot agreed to a mission to destroy Perpetua's towers, which were feeding her negative energy to fuel her rampage. But Captain Carrot had also suffered a blow from Perpetua recently, having been helpless to stop her Apex Predator army from wiping out his team, the Zoo Crew, and then his entire world. Though guilt-ridden and grieving, Captain Carrot put his personal issues aside to focus on the only thing that truly mattered in that moment: saving who was left.
Traveling to Earth-X, a Nazi infested planet, Captain Carrot fought alongside Guy Gardner and Kid Flash to free the civilians and help them escape to their ship. Along the way, he met and inspired a young girl who thanked him for rescuing her by claiming that he couldn't have done it if she hadn't been so brave. With a character like Captain Carrot on the roster, it seemed like only a matter of time before Guy Gardner would make a wisecrack at his expense, but even Guy seemed impressed by Captain Carrot's ability to inspire others. He even thanked Carrot for helping when Kid Flash nearly broke down in the middle of mission due to grief. But once again, Captain Carrot was there to remind her what was important and that people needed them to inspire hope, not despair.
Captain Carrot's speeches not only reminded people what was important, but brought them together in ways that most other characters couldn't have managed on their own. This is something he shares with Captain America, who faced a very similar situation during the Empyre crossover event.
Needing to organize troop deployment in Empyre: Captain America #1, the Star Spangled Avenger gathered a small group of soldiers who began calling themselves the new Howling Commandos to reach the Pentagon. Though his suggestion to send the U.S. armies to other parts of the world in need was refused, Captain America did not give up. Rallying the troops under his command, they traveled South to Mexico City, seeking to prevent the Cotati from starting an extinction level seismic event. In the process, Captain America managed to save NATO leadership and convince even the Skrull and Kree that they needed to work together to stop the greater threat of the Cotati.
Both heroes managed to unify the forces they had to work with and managed to save countless people in the process. But in Captain Carrot's case, he did it after losing literally everything that mattered to him and all he had to work with was a group of heroes he didn't know that well to save people who weren't actually his own species. But he put aside his pain to do the right thing like any hero would. So while Captain America may have united a world against an alien invasion, Captain Carrot united what remained of the multiverse to help save all of existence.