WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Dark Nights: Death Metal #4, by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, FCO Plascencia & Tom Napolitano, on sale now.

Ever since 2005's comic book crossover event Infinite Crisis, one of the most powerful superheroes in the DC Multiverse is Superboy-Prime. A violent, petulant Clark Kent from Earth-Prime with all of the powers of Superman, the teenage supervillain grew increasingly resentful and jealous of the heroes of the DC Universe that he had grown up admiring for having lost their way. In stark contrast is a twisted incarnation of a different superhero icon: The Robin King, the evil Bruce Wayne from an alternate world within the Dark Multiverse. And with Superboy-Prime and the Robin King now working for opposing factions in the current crossover event Dark Nights: Death Metal, the two powerful figures represent polemical viewpoints on the nature of superheroes in the DCU.

Superboy-Prime hailed from a world that resembled our own, where the iconic heroes and villains of the DCU existed as comic book characters. Eventually, Prime learned that not only did the heroes he idolized live in a different universe but as his world's Clark Kent, he possessed the powers of Superman. Saving the DCU during Crisis on Infinite Earths, Prime observed the reborn world from a pocket dimension but was dismayed by how much darker and more morally complex the characters and DCU had become. Breaking free, Prime murdered anyone that stood in his way as he attempted to become the hero he believed would inspire the DCU back to the greatness that he admired from simpler times.

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Superboy-Prime, eyes glowing with rage, in DC Comics

The Robin King was never particularly interested in inspiring and leading the heroes of his own world so much as slaughtering anyone and everyone that dared take him on. After murdering his parents in Crime Alley, the sinister Bruce was inspired at their funeral to become a supervillain, relishing in the joy and freedom that murder allowed him. Spending the Wayne family fortune on his villainous alter ego, the Robin King had a utility belt loaded with gadgets and weapons specifically designed to kill each of the superheroes. This wasn't an idle threat, with the Robin King killing heroes on both his own world and in the main DCU as the Darkest Knight's most murderous protege.

For all the villainous acts Superboy-Prime had committed over the years, he had always maintained his begrudging love for the DCU and its heroes. It is this desire to see an idealized DCU and his own inherent hopes as an iteration of Superman that led Prime to cut a deal with the Batman Who Laughs to join forces and rule his own world in the Dark Multiverse. And, ultimately, it is this desire and hope that Wonder Woman manages to appeal to in order to get Prime to betray the Batman Who Laughs and join forces with the heroes to oppose the Dark Multiverse invaders.

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While Superboy-Prime is far from a hero, his surprise decision to side with the resistance against the Darkest Knight may make him the most valuable figure to oppose the Robin King.

The Robin King, on the other hand, simply wants to gruesomely kill any hero that crosses his path, including the ones that Prime had admired in his childhood. With both figures relentlessly set on their goals, the unstoppable force and immovable object are slated for a collision course over their conflicting visions of the DCU as Death Metal escalates.

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