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Justice League Unlimited’s comic continuation proves that Darkseid’s disappearance in the series finale may have made things worse for the DCAU.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Justice League Infinity #1 by JM Dematteis, James Tucker, Ethen Beavers, Nick Filardi and Tom Napolitano, on sale now.
Darkseid is one of the biggest threats in the DC Universe and the DC Animated Universe was no different. In the original Justice League animated series, Superman once thought Darkseid was so bad that he even considered killing the lover of Anti-life. If not for Batman, Superman may have gone through with it. It’s a good thing he didn’t back then according to Justice League Infinity. This comic continuation of the Justice League Unlimited animated series gives a glimpse of a universe without this deadly villain and somehow it’s even worse.
In the JLU finale episode “Destroyer”, Darkseid proved how big a threat he was by destroying the Legion of Doom and, whilst commanding the armies of Apokolips, being almost too much for the entire might of the Justice League to handle. The battle reached a surprising conclusion when Lex Luthor offered Darkseid the thing he wanted most: the anti-life Equation. Upon taking it from Lex, the two vanished. Both presumed dead, the threat from Apokalips was over and it looked like the universe was a better place without him.
Justice League Infinity #1, which takes place shortly after the series ended, shows exactly what happens in a world without Darkseid — and it’s not as cheery as the ending to the show. What starts out as a fun birthday party for the Flash turns into a raging battle when Granny Goodness arrives. Darkseid’s former lieutenant and a horde of Parademons come through a Boom Tube and immediately start attacking the League members present.
Though the goal of Granny’s attack is lost on the League, another unexpected arrival reveals all. Darkseid’s son Kalibak Boom Tubes in too with his own forces and reveals all. Without Darkseid, Apokolips is a mess of chaos of confusion, directionless without its fearsome leader. With the throne of Apokolips empty, a power vacuum has emerged and both Granny and Kalibak are desperate to be the one that fills it. They both have the same plan, something that will ensure the people will rally behind their rule — destroy the Justice League.
Though this desperate grandstanding is far from the more well-organized schemes of Darkseid, the potential consequences of the conflict turn out to be undeniably worse. Mister Miracle explains that if Granny and Kalibak’s forces weren’t fighting the League and fought each other instead, the devastation from the ensuing conflict wouldn’t just lead to their own destruction but the entire planet’s as well.
Mister Miracle is able to Boom Tube the troublesome fiends of Apokolips away before the battle can spill into the world beyond the League’s walls. Without the Justice League though, the combined force of these two warring factions clashing could have caused untold destruction, just as Mister Miracle predicted. If that had happened, who knows what devastation it would have unleashed upon the universe, or whether it would even have ended on a single planet.
Though Darkseid was obviously the biggest threat the League faced, there was an advantage to keeping him around. When he was in charge, the League at least knew what to expect. Crashing a surprise party in the League’s own home is completely out of left field and shows that, from now on, the heroes of the DCAU will have to expect the unexpected when it comes to Apokolips.
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