Warning! Spoilers for Dark Nights: Death Metal #7 by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, FCO Plascencia, Jonathan Glapion, Yanick Paquette, Bryan Hitch, Nathan Fairbairn, Alex Sinclair, and Tom Napolitano
Being a costumed superhero takes a certain level of foolish optimism. And according to the architects of existence, no reality is as irably foolish as DC's Multiverse. With the publisher's latest crisis, DC Comics lore.
In the universe-shattering conclusion to Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's encore to Dark Nights: Metal, Wonder Woman ventures down to the Forge of Worlds and binds herself to the Lasso of Truth, becoming a full-fledged god. With the powers of a divine being on her side, Diana engages in a celestial fist-fight with the Darkest Knight, an incarnation of Batman from the Dark Multiverse who wields godlike abilities of his own. During their final battle, the Darkest Knight reveals that the creators of existence have witnessed the chaos of the Multiverse and are on their way to wipe the slate clean.
As the two titans clash, the Darkest Knight makes Wonder Woman a very tempting offer - back down and allow him to slay the Hands of Creation, and in exchange the denizens of Earth-Prime will be left alone to live in peace. Fully aware of the consequences of her actions, Wonder Woman refuses the offer and slays the Darkest Knight. Witnessing Wonder Woman's selfless act, the Hands come to an interesting conclusion; Earth-Prime is very stupid... but also very noble.
Dark Nights: Death Metal #7 brings an end to a story Snyder had been writing for years, a story with a question at its core - is the universe inherently good or bad? Snyder seemingly answered this in his run of Justice League when Perpetua, goddess of Doom, asked the people of Earth-Prime to choose between comion, mercy, and hope or greed, vengeance, and fear. Doom wins out, and the Justice League was temporarily erased from existence.
But even after having humanity's shortcomings shoved in her face, Wonder Woman refused to give up on it. With the help of a recently humbled Lex Luthor, Diana rallies together a motley crew of DC's mangled survivors to resist the forces of hate and cruelty. And when forced to choose between relinquishing her principles or annihilation, Wonder Woman chose to ride into oblivion with honor. Thankfully, doing the right thing occasionally pays off, and the Hands (taking on the appearance of Golden Age Wonder Woman) reward Diana's faith in the goodness of the universe by granting the Amazon the power to help restore reality.
In the end, humanity is neither good or bad; it is beautifully ridiculous, just as the Hands of Creation suggest. At times, Snyder paints the world of DC Comics as a savage, dog-eat-dog contest for survival, but even in its most apocalyptic moments the heroes still shine brightly. Characters like Wonder Woman and Batman represent humanity's stupid optimism in the face of all that is awful. When their principles are challenged, they still do what is right without so much as blinking. It is foolish... but irable.
