During the events of Dark Nights: Death Metal, Wally West reveals Doctor Manhattan's energy is Connective Energy, and after he restored the DC Universe, the Quintessence's members used that same energy against Perpetua. The Batman Who Laughs takes Wally prisoner to get Manhattan's powers, but Wonder Woman suggests using both the Connective and Crisis Energies to create an "Anti-Crisis". The event also features the "Final Bruce Wayne," an amalgamated version of Batman and Doctor Manhattan created when an alternate-universe Batman recreates the accident that transformed Doctor Manhattan into a god-like being. The Batman Who Laughs was able to capture this alternate and extract his brain before he could properly harness his powers, allowing the Batman Who Laughs to transplant himself into the body, transforming the villain into "The Darkest Knight" to create a Multiverse consisting of chaos.