The Justice League had weaknesses. So do the dragons. So we learn them. And we use them. We hit them once. Exactly where it hurts. So even if the Deathwave comes, we'll make sure good makes one last stand. If there's a single memory left, it'll be of you. And you won't be a bunch of hollow survivors living in the corpse of the old world... You'll be the Justice League.
Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Dark Nights Metal #1 is a one-shot with a cover date of February, 2021. It was published on December 29, 2020.
Synopsis for "Dark Nights: Metal"
At the climax of the Dark Multiverse's invasion into the Multiverse, led by the dark god Barbatos, the Justice League donned armor made from Element X to destroy his Dark Knights, and raise the Earth back out of the dark. However, in this story, Barbatos had remained one step ahead-- the League's armor is corrupted, and the heroes are seemingly destroyed in flames.
Following the League's defeat, Barbatos' dark army attacks the Earth and ravages it, as the story begins to eat itself alive, with all of existence being dragged down into dark. Earth-0 is but the beginning of the slaughter-- Barbatos carries his attacks of destruction and death to the other 51 realities, bringing with him what the survivors would know as the Deathwave-- the wave of obliteration brought by the death of the Dark Multiverse itself, and the last terrible gasp of existence.
Duke Thomas, armed with dimension-hopping Monitor armor and now referred to as the Last Monitor, flees into the Multiverse, determined to halt the Deathwave and save the remaining worlds. But he is unsuccessful, and one by one, each of the universes fall to Barbatos, before being consumed by the Deathwave.
Following the destruction of the 51st universe, Duke teleports back to where it began-- his home, Earth-0, which has become a desolated wasteland. It is revealed here that Duke Thomas has a power he didn't know he had until after the world ended-- the ability to see into the past, to see things, places and people as they were.
Suddenly, the Dragons of the Bat appear-- and much to Duke's horror, he recognizes the former Justice League, transformed into hideous beasts by the corrupted armor, with Batman now Barbatos' new vessel.
Appearing in "Dark Nights: Metal"
Featured Characters:
- The Last Monitor/The Signal/Batman/The Final Knight (Duke Thomas) (First appearance & origin)
Supporting Characters:
- The Joker (Only appearance; dies)
- Justice League (Flashback and main story) (Single appearance)
- Detective Chimp (Flashback and main story) (Only appearance; dies)
- The Flash (Flashback and main story) (Only appearance; dies)
- Hawkgirl (Flashback and main story) (Only appearance; dies)
- Hawkman (Flashback and main story) (Only appearance; dies)
- Nightwing/Dragon-Slayer (Dick Grayson) (Flashback and main story) (Only appearance; dies)
- Red Tornado (Flashback and main story) (Single appearance) (Destroyed)
- Tempus Fuginaut
Antagonists:
- Barbatos (Flashback and main story) (Only appearance; dies)
- The Batman Who Laughs (Only appearance; dies)
- Dragons of the Bat (Possessed) (Single appearance)
- Aquaman/Tyrant Wyrm (Arthur Curry) (Flashback and main story) (Only appearance; dies)
- Batman/Barbatos (Bruce Wayne) (Flashback and main story) (Only appearance; dies)
- Green Lantern/The Death Construct (Hal Jordan) (Flashback and main story) (Only appearance; dies)
- Superman/Krypthorax (Clark Kent) (Flashback and main story) (Only appearance; dies)
- Wonder Woman/The Hydra Diana (Flashback and main story) (Only appearance; dies)
- Joker Dragons (Flashback only)
Other Characters:
- Batman (Earth 12) (Appears only as a corpse) (Single appearance)
- Marvel Family (Earth 5) (Flashback only) (Single appearance)
- Captain Marvel (Dies in flashback) (Single appearance)
- Captain Marvel, Jr. (Dies in flashback) (Single appearance)
- Mary Marvel (Dies in flashback) (Single appearance)
- Owlman (Earth 3) (Statue only) (Single appearance)
- Tiger-Men
- Zatanna (Appears only as a corpse) (Single appearance)
- Bat Tribe (Mentioned only)
- Bear Tribe (Mentioned only)
- Bird Tribe (Mentioned only)
- Bozo the Iron Man (Mentioned only)
- Darkseid (Mentioned only)
- Doomsday (Mentioned only)
- Wolf Tribe (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Dark Multiverse
- Earth 0 (Destroyed)
- Atlantis (Mentioned only)
- Gotham City (Flashback and main story) (Destroyed)
- Ha of Justice (Ruins)
- Justice League Watchtower (Single appearance)
- Metropolis (Flashback and main story) (Destroyed)
- Daily Planet (Flashback only) (Destroyed)
- Oblivion Bar (Ruins)
- Plastic Forest (Single appearance)
- Earth 3 (Destroyed)
- New Crime City (Single appearance) (Destroyed)
- Earth 5 (Destroyed)
- Earth 12 (Destroyed)
- Neo-Gotham (Destroyed)
- Earth 18 (Destroyed)
- Monument Valley (Destroyed)
- Earth 37 (Destroyed)
- Earth 51 (Destroyed)
- Tiger Empire
- Royal City
- Tiger Empire
- Earth 10 (Mentioned only)
- Earth 0 (Destroyed)
Items:
- Element X (Flashback only)
- Green Kryptonite
- Green Lantern Ring (Flashback and main story)
- Helmet of Fate
- Lasso of Truth
- Parall-Axe (Single appearance)
- Power-Suppressing Goggles
- Signal Armor
- Utility Belt (Flashback and main story)
- Power Ring (Mentioned only)
See Also