Warning: contains spoilers for DCeased: War of the Undead Gods #8!There are many powerful villains in the DC Universe, but few are as strong as Darkseid, the God of Apokolips. The embodiment of evil and tyranny, Darkseid rarely respects anyone, since he views most life as below him. This is especially the case with the Justice League, who constantly stand in his way. Surprisingly, however, he has consistently admitted to respecting one non-powered Justice League hero.
The DCeased universe is possibly one of the darkest in the entire DC Multiverse. It is a universe that has been overrun with a zombie-like virus, created by a perversion of the Anti-Life Equation. After many years and many more deaths, the heroes manage to come up with a plan to stop the virus by destroying its source – Erebos, the source of all Anti-Life. This will end the virus for good, but tragically, in order to pull this off one of the heroes needs to sacrifice themselves. Damian Wayne’s Batman is the one who chooses to do it. Damian manages to keep this a secret from the rest of his team, knowing they’d try to stop him. When they finally become aware of the plan, Darkseid – who has allied with the Justice League – compliments Damian’s plan, finding his actions “most impressive.” Readers get to see Darkseid’s exact thoughts and more in DCeased: War of the Undead Gods #8 by Tom Taylor, Trevor Hairsine, Lucas Meyer, and Andy Lanning.
Darkseid Admires Damian Wayne’s Batman
Darkseid was the one who originally unleashed the corrupted Anti-Life Equation, way back in DCeased #1. He was the first victim to fall under the control of Erebos, and when he recovered, he joined the Justice League purely to take revenge. To this end, Darkseid sought to destroy the Anti-Life Equation, despite it being something he’s been seeking for most of his history. However, it’s Damian Wayne who figures out a way to actually strike the killing blow, managing to create a whole new universe in the process. It’s a moment where a mortal’s genius and sense of resolve makes them relevant on a cosmic level, and Darkseid is impressed, volunteering his congratulations unprompted, even as the Justice League make it clear no-one wants his opinion. It’s appropriate that Darkseid is willing to acknowledge Damian in this way during his final triumph, as he paid the prior Batman Bruce Wayne the same honor.
Darkseid Is Consistently Impressed by Batman
Way back in 2004’s Superman/Batman #12 by Jeph Loeb, Michael Turner, and Peter Steigerwald, readers got to see the first time Batman impressed Darkseid. Darkseid had managed to manipulate Kara Zor-El into serving him. Naturally wanting to save his cousin from Darkseid’s clutches, Superman traveled to Apokolips along with Batman, and Bruce reprogrammed some of Darkseid’s weaponry to explode. While Darkseid initially thought the Dark Knight was bluffing, he quickly realized that Batman was perfectly willing to let Apokolips, and everyone on it, explode unless Darkseid agreed to release Kara, calling Bruce’s ruthlessness “an admirable quality.”
On that occasion, Darkseid’s admiration was essentially an insult, given that he was admiring Bruce’s dark side. However this time, it’s a true compliment, as Darkseid seems to appreciate that Damian is willing to give everything he has to end the reign of an astronomically more powerful enemy. Darkseid may be evil, but he’s also one of the most ambitious and dauntless beings in existence – something he also sees in Damian. While Damian perishes in the explosion, his sacrifice crowns him as the hero his father had always hoped he would become, and the Justice League – including Darkseid – celebrate the heroic end of Batman.
DCeased: War of the Undead Gods #8 is on sale now from DC Comics!
