Midnighter is known for being WildStorm's dark version of Batman, and he proved he is more tragic than Bruce with one musical theatre reference.

There are no shortage of Batman doppelgangers in DC Comics, but Midnighter stands above the rest for one simple reason: musical theatre. Originally created as part of the WildStorm Universe during the 1990s, Midnighter can be described as a more brutal version of the Dark Knight, with physical enhancements that make him an intimidating opponent in the field. While Batman traditionally relies on gadgets, martial arts training, and his detective skills, Midnighter benefits from superhuman speed, strength, accelerated healing, and a fight computer in his brain that calculates every possible outcome of a brawl before it even begins. Coupled with the fact that Midnighter lacks Batman's "no kill" rule, he makes Bruce Wayne look like a coward.

While Midnighter's brutality is part of his appeal as a character, he also has a deeply tragic backstory, one that is even sadder than Bruce Wayne's. Kidnapped as a child and brought to a woman named the Gardener, Midnighter has no memory of his life before he was turned into a living weapon. He adopted the name "Lucas Trent" as an attempt to live a "normal" life like his husband, Apollo. Midnighter has been a victim of depersonalization based on his capacity for violence, a treatment he has fought against by expressing his personality and using dark humor. So while there are some truly depressing aspects to his story, Midnighter focuses more on his present, rather than a past he'll never find the answers to.

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Midnighter may not present himself with a façade of tragedy like Batman, but he inadvertently took the crown when he directly quoted Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's musical, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. While on a mission in space to contain a deadly virus in Steve Orlando, Aco, Hugh Petrus, and Romulo Fajardo, Jr.'s Midnighter #9, Lucas picks up a crowbar and prepares to unleash carnage, smiling gleefully as he says, "At last, my arm is complete again." This references a moment in Sweeney Todd where the titular Demon Barber reacquaints himself with the straight razor he uses to kill his enemies, uttering the same line at the end of the song, "My Friends." While Midnighter's Sweeney Todd line is a lovely nod to one of the most iconic LGBTQIA+ figures in musical theatre, it's also an expression of how deeply tragic his character is.

The parallels between Sweeney Todd and Midnighter are striking, as both of them are victims of injustice, and use brutal violence as a means of revenge. In the musical, Sweeney Todd's wife was assaulted by a corrupt judge, and the barber spends the show killing off everyone responsible. At this point in time, Midnighter and Apollo had broken up, and without the love of his life, Midnighter was dangerously close to spiraling into the same directionless violence that Sweeney Todd ends up in. While Midnighter excels at using his brutal powers for good, his brand of justice always comes at the expense of bloodshed, just like Sweeney Todd. It is for this reason that Midnighter is more tragic than Batman, because the tools of justice available to him are defined by the fact that he was created for one purpose: to kill.

Ultimately, Midnighter being a Stephen Sondheim fan reminds fans that he is more than just the killing machine he was intended to be. Him referencing Sweeney Todd implies that he sees himself in the main character, a fact supported by his trajectory in DC Comics. While Batman has the reputation of being DC's darkest hero, it is Midnighter who truly deserves the title, thanks to Stephen Sondheim.

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Jules Chin Greene is a Comics Editor based in Los Angeles. She has a B.A. in English and Cinema Studies from Oberlin College, where she was awarded Excellence in Critical Writing for her thesis on Indigeneity and Anti-Imperialism in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In her free time, she enjoys roller-skating and horror movies. You can find her on Twitter at @JulesChinGreene.