DC hinted at its darkest justice league yet, but it didn't follow through - why not?
More iterations of the Justice League than anyone could count exist. Like the main world version, some have been absolute pinnacles of truth and justice; still others have been despicable villains, such the Crime Syndicate. DC never assembled the darkest Justice League that supporters of the Dark Multiverse expected, though.
DC chose to profit on the Dark Multiverse idea by presenting the warped what-ifs of their most well-known stories once it was first proposed. These "new" tales nearly always featured terrible results and characters either turning bad or villains winning where they shouldn't have, which would have some fans noticing that the winning villain would make an amazing Justice League. The publisher never followed through with the idea, leaving readers wondering what may have been even if DC was developing toward a really warped Justice League. DC would have most certainly produced the darkest Justice League fans have ever seen if they had assembled these characters on a team together.
Twisted by Grief, Lois Lane Turns into a Horrific "Superman".
Among the worst events in Clark Kent's life was the death of Superman; among the worst events in Lois Lane's life was likewise Superman was left totally alone to try to stop Doomsday as he frantically sought to accomplish. Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern—none of them could be there to support him. Either they hadn't reached it in time or they had been already defeated. Under the original Death of Superman plot, Superman dies in the process even though he beats Doomsday. Though ultimately she moves past it, especially when Superman arrives, Lois Lane is engulfed in loss.
Sadly, the Dark Multiverse does not follow such pattern. Rather than moving past the death of her love, Lois is engulfed in hate and sorrow for the environment she lives among. Superman passed; the planet carried on as if nothing had happened. The Justice League kept showing up for events including news conferences and environmental preservation efforts. Profiting off the loss of a man who gave all to our planet, people sold goods based on Superman's passing. Overcome with resentment, Lois Lane meets the Eradicator, who bestows upon her superhuman abilities. The homicidal frenzy that follows spans the earth.
Blackest Night Spawns DC's Most Horrific Lantern
The original Blackest Night Green Lantern narrative had zombie copies of friends and enemies both rising as Black Lanterns to wipe out all life in the planet. Hal Jordan saved everyone in the main universe by turning becoming a White Lantern. The Black Lanterns won and destroyed all life in the universe in the Dark Multiverse, though. Trapped between his Black Lantern ring and his White Lantern ring, Sinestro, turned into a Limbo Lantern, was one of the final survivors. Sinestro lives a terrible lifestyle that causes him to be split between creating and destroying life.
The narrative finishes with Sinestro reseting the cosmos with Lobo as a baseline using his White Lantern power. This results in a somewhat terrible cosmos in which everything is war-torn continuously. Horrified by the reality he helped create, Sinestro seeks to flee into another universe by breaking through the Multiverse's limitations. Considering how unhappy he is with the outcome of him using his White Lantern to generate life, his Black Lantern ring continuously begs him to kill life and might be quite disastrous if he reached another universe.
DC's Darker Infinite Crisis Completely Reinvents Blue Beetle
Infinite Crisis, an event that totally spiraled out of control, marked still another turning point in DC's history. It began with a scheme just known to Blue Beetle Ted Kord. Ted was sadly killed before he could notify anybody as he sought to untangle it. Things kept getting more intense as the Justice League was utterly ignorant of what was happening; this resulted in the satellite Brother Eye almost ruling over the Earth and an other universe version of Lex Luthor virtually rewriting the planet in his image.
Ted Kord not only finds the conspiracy but also takes over in this sinister other reality. Ted out-wits the Justice League with Brother Eye on his side, beating Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman and turning them into OMACs to serve his will. This keeps on until Ted loses his humanity entirely to Brother Eye and turns into an emotionless android personally. The principal objective of Brother Eye has always been total annihilation of super-humans. It's difficult not to see Brother Eye would wish to kill those Earths as well if he discovered there was an entire multiverse out there, or a universe where he failed. This would provide him an ideal justification for desiring to start invading others and escape out from his universe.
Tara Markov's Power-Up Would Make Her a Dark Justice League Heavy Hitter.
Terra has always been among the toughest Teen Titans members. Tara Markov appeared to be merely an innocent fourteen-year-old girl, but it turned out she was a spy employed by Deathstroke. According to some readings, she is indeed terrible—not only a young child coerced into serving Deathstroke but also a merciless villain who relishes causing pain to others. Terra had little trouble betraying the Teen Titans, and while she was vanquished, that is not the case for this terrible what-if.
Tara Markov grabs the same drug Deathstroke uses to boost his brain capacity in this other take. Her powers then much expand with it. Terra renounces her Teen Titan identity and adopts Gaia's name, then launches a deadly frenzy. Her improved geokinetic ability lets her control Kryptonite, therefore she slaughters Deathstroke, kills the Titans, and even kills Superman. Terra then takes over the world and torments the few surviving fragments of humanity, which she would most definitely be all-too pleased to do on another planet.
Why didn't DC Form this Dark Multiverse Justice League?
Fans agreed generally that these characters will come back as their own Justice League variant following their introduction. Unbelievably, this crew never came through. Death Metal came and went without these characters resurearing. Though some Dark Multiverse characters like Duke Thomas's Final Knight have escaped, they have never been seen again—odd because Limbo Lantern Sinestro was actively seeking escape from his realm. As it stands, this looks to be the only Justice League DC could have assembled from too dark sources.
There are a number possible explanations for DC's avoidance of this gloomy Justice League. The firm might have been reluctant to present such distorted images of its legendary heroes since it would have offended some readers. Alternatively, DC might have worried about how such a dark squad might affect the whole DC Universe's tone. Whatever the motivation, the idea of a dark Justice League still a fascinating one and DC might get back to this one someday.
