it’s not just DC Cinematic Universe that
has the tendency to get grim and gritty
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’ll
be counting down our picks for the top
10 darkest DC alternate timelines
before we begin we publish new content
every day so be sure to subscribe to our
Channel and ring the bell to get
notified about our latest videos for
this list we’ll be looking at else
world’s possible futures alternate
timelines or parallel universes outside
of the main DC continuity that are
distinctly bleak hopeless or just
all-around more hardcore or darkly
atmospheric number 10 Armageddon 2001
well we can all take comfort in the fact
that 2001 has come and gone without this
reality becoming our own or that of the
main DC Universe published in 1991 this
crossover event consisted of two special
Armageddon 2001 issues and a number of
annuals for titles like Batman Flash
Superman and more the story introduced a
future set in 2030 a bleak world ruled
by a tyrannical ex hero turned Dictator
by the name of monarch the year of the
mysterious characters ascension to power
2001 what made this event so compelling
is that the tie-in annuals explored the
fates of popular characters within this
possible future and they all went to
rather dark places number 9 Batman the
doom that came to Gotham published
between 2000 and 2001 this three-issue
miniseries followed everyone’s favorite
caped crusader through an HP Lovecraft
inspired Elseworlds reality set in the
1920s the greatest thing about this
particular experiment the fact that
Hellboy creator Mike manola served as
both the writer and cover artist
bringing his distinct brand of gothic
horror to the beloved and distinctly
spooky DC character now doesn’t that
sound like a match made in comic book
heaven a pulpy reality full of things
that go bump in the night and occult
interests the doom also took Batman’s
already dark cast of characters and gave
them a distinctly creepy spin much to
the delight of readers number 8 Superman
red Sun it’s a question that has plagued
comic book writers and fans alike for
decades
what if Superman’s Kryptonian ship had
landed somewhere else
of all the stories that toy with this
concept Mark Millar’s Eisner
award-winning Soviet Superman story is
arguably the most compelling influential
and insightful
all begins as the country’s ultimate
super weapon and deterrent before rising
to power himself and spreading the
Communist influence across the globe
with the exception of the United States
and Chile the world seems superficially
utopia but is a world devoid of choice
and harsh criminal terms in addition to
being a great Superman story it asks the
question what would we give up for world
peace number 7
Jael a rock of ages’ don’t confuse this
with a musical turned film rock of ages’
Tom Cruise has no role in this universe
a classic Justice League of America
story written by the ever inventive
Grant Morrison Rock of Ages explores one
of the darkest possible futures ever
conceived one in which darkside has
mastered the anti-life equation and has
used it to conquer both earth and New
Genesis the story begins with a group of
evil Justice League doppelgangers
invading our reality before our heroes
travel into their future a broken world
where heroes were long ago defeated and
the world has largely lost all hope of
salvation
number 6 JLA destiny the poor Justice
League of America across the universe
few iterations of the team seemed to be
having an easy time protecting their
version of Earth and this particular
reality explored across a four-issue
miniseries
the team never received their two
greatest assets and leaders Batman and
Superman
instead Martha and Bruce Wayne died in
Crime Alley while a grieving Thomas
Waynes survived to bankroll the
superhero team that would become the
Justice League this is a world of
terrorism conflicts can’t clearly be
divided into good guys and bad guys and
the Justice League simply isn’t enough
if nothing else it will give you a
newfound appreciation for Superman and
Batman number 5 The Dark Knight Returns
one of the most popular celebrated and
best-selling alternate storylines ever
committed to the pages of a DC comic
book Frank Miller’s landmark miniseries
requires little introduction taking
place in a reality typically identified
as earth 31 the story explores a
possible and rather dystopian future in
which Bruce Wayne has given up and crime
runs rampant in his City our story
begins with Bruce returning to his
vigilante ways eventually inspiring a
Gotham gang the mutants to instead
become as violent disciples in a brutal
war on crime it’s a deeply cynical story
and has spawned multiple sequels that
flesh out this twisted violent timeline
number 4 the Batman and Dracula trilogy
these two might share a number of
thematic similarities but we never could
have believed just how well they would
mesh on paper until Doug mentioned this
inspired Elseworlds tale in 1991 kicking
off a trilogy of empiric Batman stories
Batman and Dracula red rain pitted
Batman against Dracula and his minions
who have taken up residence in Gotham in
a shocking twist
Patman becomes a vampire in the process
losing his humanity but becoming an
immortal supernaturally powered
vigilante Mensch would go on to further
develop this dark and brooding world and
his unique take on Batman across two
sequels Batman bloodsport and Batman
crimson dawn number 3 injustice this
video game and its sequel are among the
more satisfying straightforward fighting
games – grace modern consoles but at
least as far as comic book readers are
concerned this alternate realities
greatest gift has been the accompanying
comic book series which has taken on a
life of its own within the safety of
this alternate reality the writers have
crafted a delightfully convoluted world
in which Superman pushed to the edge by
having been tricked into killing a
pregnant Lois Lane becomes a planet-wide
dictator and rigid enforcer of the law
superheroes are killed left right and
center tragedies abound friendships are
destroyed the earth is thrown into chaos
and it’s all uh turley thrilling number
2 Kingdom Come this dark beautiful and
mature Elseworlds story created by Mark
Waid and Alex Ross set a new bar for DC
storytelling when it was published in
1996 set in 2020
Kingdom Come focuses on an aging version
of the characters we know and love who
have since been succeeded by a more
violent self-serving nihilistic and
egotistical breed of so-called heroes
when this finally results in catastrophe
a grim world weary Superman steps in to
try to set things right
resulting in a major clash of capes with
Batman trying to stop the conflict from
reaching it’s potentially catastrophic
conclusion it’s a staggeringly
insightful deconstruction of the genre
set in a world we hope the main
continuity can avoid number one
flashpoint we’ve got to give it to the
creative team that crafted this
game-changing crossover event flashpoint
had a lot of moving parts but Geoff
Johns and company made it work perhaps
most impressively despite there being so
many dark and gritty alternate Earth’s
before theirs
the team managed to create a dark and
deeply compelling reality that didn’t
feel at all derivative
after using the speedforce to save his
mother in the past the flash creates a
bleak new timeline where Atlantis and
themá– Serra are at war and where Bruce
Wayne’s death causes his parents to
become Batman and the Joker it’s a world
divided and a deep Howard Barry Allen
must fix this reality of broken nations
and heroes do you agree with our picks
check out these other great clips from
WatchMojo and be sure to subscribe and
ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos
has the tendency to get grim and gritty
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’ll
be counting down our picks for the top
10 darkest DC alternate timelines
before we begin we publish new content
every day so be sure to subscribe to our
Channel and ring the bell to get
notified about our latest videos for
this list we’ll be looking at else
world’s possible futures alternate
timelines or parallel universes outside
of the main DC continuity that are
distinctly bleak hopeless or just
all-around more hardcore or darkly
atmospheric number 10 Armageddon 2001
well we can all take comfort in the fact
that 2001 has come and gone without this
reality becoming our own or that of the
main DC Universe published in 1991 this
crossover event consisted of two special
Armageddon 2001 issues and a number of
annuals for titles like Batman Flash
Superman and more the story introduced a
future set in 2030 a bleak world ruled
by a tyrannical ex hero turned Dictator
by the name of monarch the year of the
mysterious characters ascension to power
2001 what made this event so compelling
is that the tie-in annuals explored the
fates of popular characters within this
possible future and they all went to
rather dark places number 9 Batman the
doom that came to Gotham published
between 2000 and 2001 this three-issue
miniseries followed everyone’s favorite
caped crusader through an HP Lovecraft
inspired Elseworlds reality set in the
1920s the greatest thing about this
particular experiment the fact that
Hellboy creator Mike manola served as
both the writer and cover artist
bringing his distinct brand of gothic
horror to the beloved and distinctly
spooky DC character now doesn’t that
sound like a match made in comic book
heaven a pulpy reality full of things
that go bump in the night and occult
interests the doom also took Batman’s
already dark cast of characters and gave
them a distinctly creepy spin much to
the delight of readers number 8 Superman
red Sun it’s a question that has plagued
comic book writers and fans alike for
decades
what if Superman’s Kryptonian ship had
landed somewhere else
of all the stories that toy with this
concept Mark Millar’s Eisner
award-winning Soviet Superman story is
arguably the most compelling influential
and insightful
all begins as the country’s ultimate
super weapon and deterrent before rising
to power himself and spreading the
Communist influence across the globe
with the exception of the United States
and Chile the world seems superficially
utopia but is a world devoid of choice
and harsh criminal terms in addition to
being a great Superman story it asks the
question what would we give up for world
peace number 7
Jael a rock of ages’ don’t confuse this
with a musical turned film rock of ages’
Tom Cruise has no role in this universe
a classic Justice League of America
story written by the ever inventive
Grant Morrison Rock of Ages explores one
of the darkest possible futures ever
conceived one in which darkside has
mastered the anti-life equation and has
used it to conquer both earth and New
Genesis the story begins with a group of
evil Justice League doppelgangers
invading our reality before our heroes
travel into their future a broken world
where heroes were long ago defeated and
the world has largely lost all hope of
salvation
number 6 JLA destiny the poor Justice
League of America across the universe
few iterations of the team seemed to be
having an easy time protecting their
version of Earth and this particular
reality explored across a four-issue
miniseries
the team never received their two
greatest assets and leaders Batman and
Superman
instead Martha and Bruce Wayne died in
Crime Alley while a grieving Thomas
Waynes survived to bankroll the
superhero team that would become the
Justice League this is a world of
terrorism conflicts can’t clearly be
divided into good guys and bad guys and
the Justice League simply isn’t enough
if nothing else it will give you a
newfound appreciation for Superman and
Batman number 5 The Dark Knight Returns
one of the most popular celebrated and
best-selling alternate storylines ever
committed to the pages of a DC comic
book Frank Miller’s landmark miniseries
requires little introduction taking
place in a reality typically identified
as earth 31 the story explores a
possible and rather dystopian future in
which Bruce Wayne has given up and crime
runs rampant in his City our story
begins with Bruce returning to his
vigilante ways eventually inspiring a
Gotham gang the mutants to instead
become as violent disciples in a brutal
war on crime it’s a deeply cynical story
and has spawned multiple sequels that
flesh out this twisted violent timeline
number 4 the Batman and Dracula trilogy
these two might share a number of
thematic similarities but we never could
have believed just how well they would
mesh on paper until Doug mentioned this
inspired Elseworlds tale in 1991 kicking
off a trilogy of empiric Batman stories
Batman and Dracula red rain pitted
Batman against Dracula and his minions
who have taken up residence in Gotham in
a shocking twist
Patman becomes a vampire in the process
losing his humanity but becoming an
immortal supernaturally powered
vigilante Mensch would go on to further
develop this dark and brooding world and
his unique take on Batman across two
sequels Batman bloodsport and Batman
crimson dawn number 3 injustice this
video game and its sequel are among the
more satisfying straightforward fighting
games – grace modern consoles but at
least as far as comic book readers are
concerned this alternate realities
greatest gift has been the accompanying
comic book series which has taken on a
life of its own within the safety of
this alternate reality the writers have
crafted a delightfully convoluted world
in which Superman pushed to the edge by
having been tricked into killing a
pregnant Lois Lane becomes a planet-wide
dictator and rigid enforcer of the law
superheroes are killed left right and
center tragedies abound friendships are
destroyed the earth is thrown into chaos
and it’s all uh turley thrilling number
2 Kingdom Come this dark beautiful and
mature Elseworlds story created by Mark
Waid and Alex Ross set a new bar for DC
storytelling when it was published in
1996 set in 2020
Kingdom Come focuses on an aging version
of the characters we know and love who
have since been succeeded by a more
violent self-serving nihilistic and
egotistical breed of so-called heroes
when this finally results in catastrophe
a grim world weary Superman steps in to
try to set things right
resulting in a major clash of capes with
Batman trying to stop the conflict from
reaching it’s potentially catastrophic
conclusion it’s a staggeringly
insightful deconstruction of the genre
set in a world we hope the main
continuity can avoid number one
flashpoint we’ve got to give it to the
creative team that crafted this
game-changing crossover event flashpoint
had a lot of moving parts but Geoff
Johns and company made it work perhaps
most impressively despite there being so
many dark and gritty alternate Earth’s
before theirs
the team managed to create a dark and
deeply compelling reality that didn’t
feel at all derivative
after using the speedforce to save his
mother in the past the flash creates a
bleak new timeline where Atlantis and
themá– Serra are at war and where Bruce
Wayne’s death causes his parents to
become Batman and the Joker it’s a world
divided and a deep Howard Barry Allen
must fix this reality of broken nations
and heroes do you agree with our picks
check out these other great clips from
WatchMojo and be sure to subscribe and
ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos
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