SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Batman: The Devastator #1 by Frank Tieri and James Tynion IV, on sale now.


Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s far-reaching, multiversal series Dark Nights: Metal has centered around perhaps the most unlikely hero for such an event: the traditionally grounded Batman, whose sphere of influence generally doesn’t reach far outside Gotham, let alone across the multiverse. Just as the known DC Comics Multiverse is home to countless other heroes, though, the Dark Multiverse houses variants of these same characters – some of which have been featured in the various one-shots spotlighting each of that newly-discovered reality’s Dark Knights.

RELATED: Batman: The Devastator – The Dark Multiverse Begins To Infect The DCU

Readers finally get a look at DC’s other flagship hero in Batman: The Devastator #1, where Superman and Batman – who eventually becomes The Devastator – go head-to-head in a brutal and ultimately fatal encounter. In this issue, the Man of Steel is shown to have turned evil, for reasons that are speculated but never fully revealed, and while Frank Tieri and James Tynion IV’s story provides plausible reason for Batman’s turn towards darkness, the scenario begs the same question for Superman. Just what would or could make the Man of Steel of Earth -1, or any incarnation of the character in the Dark Multiverse, evolve from his role as the template for all superheroes into something darker, if not an outright villain?

Is Superman Really a Good Guy Gone Bad?

The Dark Multiverse has been presented as a reality where nightmares that shouldn’t exist are given form, if only temporarily by way of its seemingly unstable nature. One of the most pervasive fears throughout the population of the normal multiverse is that of its greatest and most powerful hero going rogue and using his tremendous powers and talents against them. Kal-El himself has even shared these fears over losing control of his abilities, or somehow having them turned against others. These fears are certainly the grist for the birth of one, or more, worlds in the Dark Multiverse – a world that by anyone’s standards is most definitely one that should not exist.

The Superman of Earth -1 is clearly one who at one time bore no difference from his mainline Earth-0 counterpart, and was regarded by Batman as the best of the world’s superheroes. In the Dark Multiverse, though, heroes don’t always stay heroes, and the darkness at its core has already shown seven different ways that Batman can be turned from an extraordinary hero into a despicably evil villain. This inherit darkness has apparently found a way to corrupt Superman, as well – whether the mechanism was a solar storm, Lex Luthor’s machinations, or Darkseid’s influence as postulated in Batman: The Devastator, evil triumphs in the Dark Multiverse, in ways that would never happen in a multiverse where the good guys come out ahead on a regular basis.

RELATED: Dark Nights: Metal – Superman’s Crucial Role, Revealed

The sampling of histories shown across the Dark Multiverse in the various Metal tie-ins points towards the idea that these histories largely started out similar – Superman becomes the world’s greatest hero, Bruce Wayne’s parents were murdered, etc. Like most what-if scenarios, though, a singular moment creates a divergent path that changes a character’s future, and in the Dark Multiverse, that moment is a catalyst that transforms seemingly flawless heroes into tried and true villains. On pretty much any world in the “bright” multiverse, Superman would have ultimately overcome whatever evil had possessed him before he took a life, but in the DM, he not only succumbs to this darkness, but causes his strongest ally to embrace a form of evil himself. The corrupt heart of the Dark Multiverse seemingly has the power to likewise corrupt even the purest of heroes, like Superman.

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Is Even Superman Predisposed to Turning Evil in The Dark Multiverse?

But is that corruptness an impurity that’s introduced into an otherwise pristine character, or is it one that’s implanted from the character’s very beginnings? Maybe that contamination of darkness lies dormant in the core of every being inhabiting the Dark Multiverse, only to emerge at a pivotal, game-changing moment. Maybe there are truly no heroes who are 100% honorable, selfless, altruistic, etc. – 99%, maybe, but with a dark, fundamental flaw inside of them that can, and likely will, make them turn given the proper circumstance.

Maybe there’s a version of Superman somewhere in the DM who is still a do-gooder, but unlike Superman of Earth -1, isn’t so initially pure of heart – one who wouldn’t go out of his way to save Lex Luthor after one of his schemes backfired, for instance. Or one who would unhesitatingly kill General Zod to save countless lives, rather than consider it to be any kind of dilemma. If the Dark Multiverse genuinely is born out of nightmares, and populated with worlds that couldn’t exist, then perhaps the idea of a truly morally centered hero can’t exist there, either.

Can A Dark Multiverse Superman Ever Triumph?

Or, maybe there are heroes with upstanding morals who try to fight the good fight in a world of endless darkness and corruption, but are ultimately destined to fail in a reality where darkness ultimately consumes all. A hero like Batman, who lives closer to the darkness that most, might logically be the one to succumb to it sooner, as has happened with each of the Dark Knights seen so far. But a hero like Superman, whose iconic image often is set against the backdrop of a bright blue sky and shining sun, and in fact draws his power from a sun that offsets darkness, would symbolically be the last to fall prey to the nature of the Dark Multiverse.

Somewhere in that multiverse, perhaps there’s a Superman who feels that same pull towards the darkness, but faces a constant internal battle to resist it. A Superman in the Dark Multiverse might be the moral opposite of a crook who knows he’s doing something wrong, but continues to do it anyway, because that’s simply who he is. But in a world that’s destined to die in the darkness, even Superman can’t resist its dark influence forever. Just as the greatest villains ultimately see defeat in our world, heroes in the Dark Multiverse are destined to likewise eventually go down – Superman would just be the last one to do so.

RELATED: Batman: Devastator’s Origin Is Basically A Batman v Superman Elseworlds

Outside of Batman: The Devastator #1, there hasn’t been any kind of exploration of what kind of Superman might exist in the Dark Multiverse. David Finch’s variant cover for Dark Nights: Metal #3, however, gave a tantalizing and possible peek, although no background was provided within that issue. Still, a multiverse, dark or otherwise, is a big place, and there’s plenty of room for Superman to stand out as a hero who fights the darkness, as a hero who embraces it, or as an outright villain.