Darks Days: The Casting #1 Spoilers/Discussion

[AquaLantern]

Seriously, this looks to put the "God" in BatGod..... I thought after Rebirth we would get back to a more Superman centered universe.... guess not. This also takes away the notion Batman is just a man with a lot of Money and skillz holding his own against demigods.

At least we got Doomsday Clock for a Superman-centric storyline.

[skyvolt2000]

It's never gonna be Aquaman's turn, is it...

Cyborg say HI.

[Pohzee]

Cyborg say HI.

All the Leaguers should have a shot before the Titans do.

[beetee]

If Rebirth and Metal are "their own thing", then how do they really cohere? Snyder claims he's been planting seeds for years and I know that Rebirth was kind of an a$$pull (even though I've enjoyed it so far) I mean The Casting pretty much acts to repurpose Batman and much of the history of the DCU while Doc Manhattan somehow is acting outside of it all. Is Manhattan even supposed to be aware of Sauron/Cuthulu? This is what undermined the event structure of the New52. Forever Evil wasn't connected to Mulitversity, which wasn't connected to Future's End which wasn't connected to Convergence... Even though they were all Multiverse related.

[qwerty3w]

The difference there is that Superman and Flash actually have the power level to alter things (ala the Speed Force or retcon punching) or they regularly deal with cosmic forces. Batman does not. I could see Superman having hid the tuning fork in his basement himself because Clark is actually strong enough to have lifted the thing at the end of Infinite Crisis, but the idea that Batman was able to secret it away and hide it in Superman's Fortress without anyone (including Superman) knowing is pretty much one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard.

They are at the same power level at least since Morrison's Batgod in JLA 20+ years ago. Top Batman villains as depicted these years could be global level threats as much as Cyborg Superman or Mongul. But other than Ra's al Ghul, they usually limit their playground to Gotham.

[liwanag]

doesn't it feel that the dc universe is a little bit smaller?

[Waterfall]

We've got a whole freaking story about how Clark and Lois are so super important, for whatever "reasons" that the whole history of the world can be rewritten when they kiss each others. It was about time that Superman and Flash let someone else, in this case Batman, drive a cosmic level event.

Poor Batman, he never gets spotlight.

[poroto678]

There were so many things i hated from this book.

- The All-knowing godly Joker who can defeat a GL. He knows stuff because reasons.
- Art. I HATE JRJR and Kubert.
- That "It's all tied together" bullshit. It's so unneccesary, uninteresting and old.
- Evil Batmen. Seriously? More secret societies? COme on, man.
- Batman at the center of everything. The one Leaguer with no reasons to be at the center of everything (he's a grounded chracter) is suddenly at the center of not one but TWO multiverses.

Goddammit I wanna slap Snyder. Trying to tie so much shit together probably will make everything worse and less unique. It's completely stupid.

[Frontier]

I hope the Justice League don't get shortchanged over Batman once we actually get into Metal.

I have a heavy suspicion that it will happen, but I hope not.

[liwanag]

I hope the Justice League don't get shortchanged over Batman once we actually get into Metal.

I have a heavy suspicion that it will happen, but I hope not.

this.

when they said batman-centric, they sure meant batman-centric..

[Lightning Rider]

Overall, my interest was piqued even more and I'm excited to read the story. If I had to summarize why I liked it, I'd have to say its because it feels like it's expanding the entire DCU while also tying it together more cohesively. Hawkman's narration definitely adds to that feeling. I usually roll my eyes when some big dark secret of the universe is unveiled as a focus point, like Blackest Knight, but the way the whole League is involved and the magical properties of their weapons are drawing from their different mythologies is intriguing.

Favorite parts:

-Hawkman talking about how he tried to advance civilization with every reincarnation (a previously unexplored aspect of his mythos). I like how central his narrative is to the story.
-Seeing Hephaestus' old abandoned forge and references to the "eighth" (and "ninth") metal
-The Immortals all showcasing a list of important DC characters that have existed for centuries in human history. As mentioned by many fans on here, it's fairly unexplored.
-Hal using the Batwing and mentioning his air force roots

The things I'm most ambivalent about (same as most) is Batman and Joker having some sort of supernatural inheritance. On one hand, Batman is already a mythological figure and stories like the Return of Bruce Wayne have him taking part in events of the past; on the other hand, he's already so important to the DCU and turning Bruce Wayne into some sort of reincarnated ancient tribal chieftain destined to save the universe would be overkill. I have to see how it's executed before i can fully buy into it.

In any case, I'm too interested and pleased by the inclusion of different League members and allusions to Crisis of the past not to tune in.

[Jody Garland]

I think it's less that Batman is an actual reincarnation and more that he's tapping into the primal fear aspect, a sort of tangible manifestation of fear and darkness. Snyder's interview suggests this, pointing out it ties into the theme of Batman using tragedy as fuel for heroism.

[Korath]

Yeah, I see more Batman as a sort of "(unknowingly) rebel son to this "Bat-Entity" from the Dark Multiverse, in that instead of instilling fear in the heart of the masses to make them cower and submit, he uses it to uplift them.

[Lightning Rider]

I think it's less that Batman is an actual reincarnation and more that he's tapping into the primal fear aspect, a sort of tangible manifestation of fear and darkness. Snyder's interview suggests this, pointing out it ties into the theme of Batman using tragedy as fuel for heroism.

So would that be considered a superpower? It has great thematic potential but also a lot of pitfalls that go against the character's celebrated simplicity.

[Korath]

I don't see it as superpower, more like ancient destiny weighting on Batman.