WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Infinite Frontier #6, on sale now from DC Comics.
The DC Universe has been radically reinvented multiple times over the years, with in-universe reboots of all existence happening for a variety of reasons. But the latest one might have done more than empower the likes of Darkseid -- it may have opened up creation to be threatened once more by one of DC's most powerful entities.
Infinite Frontier #6, by Joshua Williamson, Xermanico, Romulo Fajardo Jr and Tom Napolitano, teases that the Great Darkness is the mysterious power that Darkseid and various other multiversal villains covet -- and that DC has been quietly teasing the return of the power for some time.
The Great Darkness remains one of the most mysterious forces within the DC Universe. Introduced in Swamp Thing #49 by Alan Moore and Stan Woch, the Great Darkness is seemingly the dark counter to all light in creation. In the Pre-Crisis DC Universe, a cabal of sorcerors known as the Brujería wished to use the multiversal chaos caused by the Crisis on Infinite Earths to do the impossible -- destroy heaven and replace it with the Primordial Darkness. An alliance of mystical forces (including Etrigan, John Constantine, Swamp Thing and the Spectre) worked to combat their machinations, with Swamp Thing eventually being the key to convince the Great Darkness that good and evil needed each other to exist in harmony.
But it appears another multiversal level threat has once again released the potential of the Great Darkness. In the aftermath of Dark Nights: Death Metal, Darkseid -- newly empowered by combining all his variants into one version of the dark god -- has been working behind the scenes to gain power. His apparent plans to slow down the bonds between the multiverse and increase the speed of entropy was seemingly prevented by the actions of Justice Incarnate. But in reality, the entire plan was to awaken the dormant piece of the Great Darkness hidden within Planet-Omega -- and they succeeded. Now with his assembled family by his side once more, Darkseid will seek to control the power of the Great Darkness.
The Great Darkness has already been teased in the DC Rebirth era. In the distant future of the Legion of Super-Heroes, multiple figures have been warning the universe about a mysterious and seemingly nigh-unstoppable threat, which Dream Girl and Doctor Fate suggest is a "Great Darkness." At first glance, this would seem to be a tease for the return of Darkseid to that era, similar to the Pre-Crisis Darkseid and the Legion of Super-Heroes conflict in "The Great Darkness Saga" storyline by Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen. But it could also seemingly be a tease to the power that's presented itself once more in the current DC Universe, and that could bring about the end of all things, especially now that Darkseid has openly called for him and his allies to claim it for themselves.
The Great Darkness remains one of the most powerful, mysterious and dangerous elements in the entire DC Universe. If someone like Darkseid were to fully comprehend and control the powers within the force, then they would be unstoppable, and capable of waging a final war that could end all things. There's even a chance that the Great Darkness being unleashed could take the form of the Undoing -- the sentient and final Anti-Life Equation from Future State: Immortal Wonder Woman that effectively ended all things until Diana's final sacrifice reignited life in a new universe. Notably, both variants of the unending and unfathomably powerful Great Darkness could wipe out all things in every reality -- and now, it appears that forces like Darkseid are going to try and tame it, to the doom of all.