There was a lot going on in the Dark Nights: Death Metal comic book series and there are still so many things that remain a mystery. Sometimes it's necessary to give a second read-through, and there is nothing wrong with that.
What's extra cool about re-reading Death Metal and all of its tie-ins and one-shots, however, is the opportunity to pick up on some Easter eggs and obscure references that may have been missed when readers were too busy trying to figure out just what is going on.
10 Wonder Woman's Frontwoman-Worthy Chainsaw
While The Batman Who Laughs thought that Wonder Woman was following his orders to destroy her Invisible Jet, Wonder Woman was actually melting part of it down to create a new weapon against him: A chainsaw. But, why a chainsaw?
For one, chainsaws are pretty cool, and Dark Nights: Death Metal is all about looking cool. And two, it's most likely an homage to Wendy O. Williams, the frontwoman of the punk-heavy metal band the Plasmatics, who famously used chainsaws to destroy guitars on stage.
9 An AC/DC Joke From The Batman Who Laughs
When Wally and Diana are talking about the Anti-Crisis energy, The Batman Who Laughs drops in on their secret meeting and makes a joke about what they should be calling the Anti-Crisis and Crisis Energy.
In a reference to one of the biggest ongoing rock 'n roll bands of all time, The Batman Who Laughs suggests that they call it Anti-Crisis and Direct-Crisis, or AC/DC. This is not only a shout-out to the band's name, but also to fan theories on the name's meaning.
8 Mad Max: Ivy Road
In the one-shot issue called Dark Nights: Death Metal Guidebook, there's one story that focuses on Wonder Woman's compassion towards Poison Ivy who is one of her prisoners in Hell. When Ivy manages to escape, Wonder Woman tries to reason with her that she won't be able to handle what has happened to what's outside Hell.
Upon reaching the surface, Ivy sees that everything is barren and dead and she falls to her knees screaming, in an homage to Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road.
7 Harley Loves Her Looney Tunes
In the Dark Nights: Death Metal Guidebook, there's a chapter centered around Harley Quinn and her large hyena. After the hyena is exposed to radiation, it saves Harley from Captain Boomerang and Harley decides to name the hyena George.
Due to Harley's love of Warner Bros. cartoons, this is most likely a reference to various Looney Tunes shorts in turn that reference Lennie from Of Mice and Men with "I will name him George, and I will hug him, and pet him, and squeeze him!"
6 Future Damian Wayne
In "This Man. This City.", a Frank Tieri and Francesco Francavilla story within the Dark Nights: Death Metal Legends of the Dark Knights #1 one-shot, readers learn the origins of the Batman that became the sentient city Castle Bat.
In this story, Bruce Wayne is much older and he sacrifices his son Damian in order to become Castle Bat. However, this Damian is an older version from "Batman in Bethlehem," a comic where he became a trench-coated Batman who sold his soul to save Gotham.
5 Motorhead References Throughout
What would Dark Nights: Death Metal be without references to actual heavy metal and rock legends? Throughout the comic series, there are two overt homages to the late, great heavy metal bassist-vocalist Lemmy and his band Motörhead.
For Lemmy, Harley Quinn wears a bent cowboy hat that greatly resembles Lemmy's signature hat, especially when little Jarro the telepathic starfish-looking alien hangs out on the crown. The other reference is the Death Metal design of Darkseid, who slightly resembles Snaggletooth, the name of Motörhead's logo beast.
4 Jar-Shank Redemption
In Dark Nights: Death Metal #3 by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, FCO Plascencia, and Tom Napolitano, Jarro and Batman reunite when the Trinity breaks the superheroes out of the prison on New Apokolips.
While everyone else in the box-shaped prison is in their regular superhero costumes, Jarro is over in a corner in classic cartoon prison stripes, breaking rocks with a mallet and referencing the Rita Hayworth poster from The Shawshank Redemption— though Jarro uses a Starfire poster to hide his escape route.
3 Some Iconic Batmobiles
Another chapter in the Dark Nights: Death Metal Legends of the Dark Knights one-shot is about Batmobeast, the Batman that became an evil Batmobile/monster truck.
When he explains how he put a piece of himself into every piece of tech on the Earth, the panel shows various Batmobiles from different Batman mediums. Two of the vehicles that are featured are the Batmobile from Batman: The Animated Series and the one from the 1989 Tim Burton-directed Batman film.
2 Superboy-Prime's Earth Is The Ultimate MetaVerse
At the very end of the Superboy-Prime-focused Death Metal one-shot, Superboy-Prime punches The Batman Who Laughs (who has now transformed into an even more powerful being) and wakes up back on his own Earth, though it's slightly different from what he remembered.
Throughout the issue, Prime thinks back on his actual life with his girlfriend in the mid-1980s, when his character was introduced. In this updated version of his home, it's hinted that it's set in 2020 since DC comics are now released on Tuesdays.
1 Lex Luthor Can't Help But Mock Superman
Within the Death Metal Guidebook, there are notes scrawled by Lex Luthor about the various characters. While most are pretty bare-bones, there's one that stands out on a re-read.
On the page that shows Superman's as New Apokolips' living battery, there is a circle around the "S" shield on Superman's chest and a note from Luthor that just says "Hope! Ha!" This is a reference to the 2004 limited series Superman: Birthright that first introduced the concept of the "S" being a symbol for hope.