WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Dark Nights: Death Metal #1 by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, FCO Plascencia and Tom Napolitano, available now from DC.
In 2017's Dark Nights: Metal, villainous Batmen from the Dark Multiverse invaded the DC Universe in the name of their master, Barbatos. These Dark Knights were led by the Batman Who Laughs, a terrifying Batman/Joker amalgam that proved to be one of the most dangerous villains the Justice League had ever faced. Although the superheroes ended up defeating Barbatos and the Batman Who Laughs, the latter continued to be a haunting presence in the DC Universe in the following years.
After going up against both Batman and Superman and infection several other DC heroes into his thrall, he continued to be a general threat throughout the universe and into Dark Nights: Death Metal #1.
This sequel event was largely billed as a Wonder Woman story, and the Batman Who Laughs was once again hyped up as the event's main villain. But by the end of Dark Nights: Death Metal #1, that paradigm shifts completely.
The Batman Who Laughs may be an enemy of the Justice League at large, but he is largely considered a Batman villain. After all, the character debuted in Dark Nights: Metal, an event that may have starred the whole of the DC Universe, but he is an unmistakable dark reflection of the Caped Crusader. He's the worst-case scenario, a version of Batman who has the Dark Knight's intellect and skills and the Joker's unpredictable instability.
Since Batman has been trying to defeat the villain since he was introduced, it seemed inevitable that Batman would ultimately take down his most dangerous foe. However, Death Metal #1 seriously subverts those expectations.
In the event's opening chapter, we discover a DCU that is not like the one we once knew. After a battle between the Justice League and Perpetua, all of reality was re-shaped into a dystopian wasteland ruled by the Batman Who Laughs and his lieutenants, a veritable legion of Dark Knights from across the Dark Multiverse. The Batman Who Laughs rules from Castle Bat in the North, but he has also put Wonder Woman in charge of the Hellscape to the South. He is keeping her on a tight leash, and she has no choice but to follow his orders if she has any hope of keeping what people she can safe.
However, after being ordered to destroy her Invisible Jet, Wonder Woman does something else. Instead, she uses part of the jet to forge a new weapon: the Chainsaw of Truth.
Upon figuring out that Wonder Woman is using the parts of her Invisible Jet against him, the Batman Who Laughs faces the Amazon Princess, once again to show he is in control. However, he makes a crucial mistake: he knows that the real Bruce Wayne would use these parts to create an invisible shield to infiltrate Castle Bat, as Bruce suggests earlier in the issue. But Wonder Woman has no interest in acting like Batman -- not when the fate of the entire multiverse is at stake.
"See, that's the thing, monster," Diana tells the Batman Who Laughs. "You know Bruce. He'd make a shield. But this isn't his story."
Then, at the pull of the string of her golden lasso, Wonder Woman activates her invisible chainsaw, and literally chops the Batman Who Laughs into pieces.
The moment is truly epic, and it easily ranks as one of Wonder Woman's most impressive feats. With this, Diana Prince cements herself as the lead character of this event, and the entire scope of the story shifts as she seemingly disposes of a character who has troubled the DC Universe for the past three years. While it seemed like the Batman Who Laughs was going to be the main antagonist of Death Metal, the villain may have just been taken off the board, perhaps permanently.
Despite his death, the Batman Who Laughs' real plan has just been activated, and it involves a Batman/Doctor Manhattan amalgam who could be powerful enough to bring the Batman Who Laughs back with a single thought. While the villain isn't done casting a shadow over the event yet, it certainly seems like Wonder Woman has incapacitated the Batman Who Laughs, possibly for good. Although that doesn't address the legion of Dark Multiverse Batmen or the almighty threat of Perpetua, it gets Death Metal off to a raucous start, and it shows just how savage Wonder Woman can be.