WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Deathstroke Inc. #7, now on sale from DC Comics
Among DC’s most famous villains is the pantheon of baddies that usually make up the Legion of Doom. Introduced in the Challenge of the Super Friends animated series, the Legion has slowly made its way to the mainstream comics — debuting as a primary threat in the core-DC Universe in recent years, although they seemingly splintered apart following Dark Nights: Death Metal.
Deathstroke’s recent actions result in the Legion of Doom officially making their return in Deathstroke Inc. #7 by Joshua Williamson, Stephen Segovia, Hi-Fi, and Steve Wands — setting up the alliance of supervillains to become a major wildcard in the coming conflicts surrounding the mercenary, like the upcoming Shadow War.
The Shadow War storyline teased across multiple DC titles — including Batman: Urban Legends, Robin, and Deathstroke Inc. — is poised to be a major gamechanger for the current status quo of the universe. The conflict will largely focus on the fallout of Deathstroke’s teased murder of Ra’s al Ghul, pitting his newly restructured Secret Society against the heroes aligned with Batman and Robin, as well as the vengeful forces led by Talia al Ghul. The conflict is already dragging in multiple sets of characters and has even been teased as the potential death of multiple major characters, including potentially even Talia herself. But it seems that another one of DC’s most powerful groups is also set to get involved, confirming one of the darkest villain alliances ever is still going strong.
Deathstroke Inc. #7 largely focuses on Deathstroke meeting his “son” Respawn, revealed to be a clone of Deathstroke and Talia created (and abused for years) by Ra’s. However, the issue ends focusing on a different villainous DC mainstay: Lex Luthor. Returning to Metropolis after a failed mission to control Batman Inc. in Badhmisia, Lex is contacted on his “personal” line by the rest of the Legion of Doom. While T.R.U.S.T. — the cover for the Secret Society used to recruit Deathstroke and Black Canary at the beginning of Deathstroke Inc. — has been exposed, one of its stated intents was to create a deterrent to forces like the Legion of Doom (which almost doomed the multiverse as part of Luthor’s plans). But it seems to have had the opposite effect, as the Legion is now poised to target the Secret Society directly.
Since Dark Nights: Death Metal, Luthor — along with the Joker, Cheetah, Gorilla Grodd, Sinestro, and Black Manta — have been largely focused on their own solitary missions. As such, it’s been implied that the Legion of Doom is more or less out of the picture. But Cheetah’s run-in with Deathstroke is enough to spurn the Legion of Doom back into action — with many of them wanting to eliminate Deathstroke immediately. Instead, Lex is more intrigued by Deathstroke’s recent actions — and is content to see “what kind of trouble Slade gets into” before making a move against him. This all suggests that the Legion of Doom is very much still a thing in the world, despite Lex secretly also being a part of the Totality (a group dedicated to preventing the kind of threats created by the Legion of Doom in the first place), which counts Talia as a member.
It’s an intriguing set-up, as the Legion of Doom were powerful and cunning enough not just to almost destroy the Justice League but even played an important part in fighting back against Perpetua. Their return — especially as the Shadow War and Dark Crisis pick up steam — is a portent of chaos in the future. The Legion of Doom could become the threat that disrupts the balance in a dangerous time, potentially interfering and turning the battle ugly. Or perhaps the Legion of Doom will become a surprising ally in the conflict — even helping the heroes fight against Deathstroke. No matter which side of the fight they end up on, the Legion of Doom getting involved likely means a lot more danger for everyone involved.
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