Should Batman Kill? Rise Against’s Tim McIlrath, Tyler Bates + DC Artist Greg Capullo Answer

Should Batman kill? It’s one of the questions we asked our all-star panel, who came together to help create the Dark Nights: Death Metal series. Along with the comic’s artist and penciller Greg Capullo, we wrangled Rise Against frontman Tim McIlrath and film composer Tyler Bates together to talk all about the series.

“I don’t think he should kill,” Capullo says. “If Batman ever were to kill, he would be the bloodiest of the bloody. He would be on a killing rampage that would never stop. He’d make the Punisher look like a pussy. Once he crossed that line, it’s over, and then he becomes exactly what he’s warring against.”

“I have to agree with Greg,” Bates, who produced the Dark Nights: Death Metal soundtrack, adds. “Then we would have no boundary for any of the situations that are written about in the comic itself. We have to have some metric for justice, I imagine, even if in our own hearts, we think he should kill once in a while.”

McIlrath’s opinion gives the no-kill argument a clean sweep. “I think heroes and villains, they need to play different roles and by different rules. If you erase that line, you blur the line between those roles.” The Rise Against singer also gave us a look into the inspiration for “Broken Dreams Inc.” one of the official songs behind Dark Nights: Death Metal.

“You take reality and you put it through your own lens and you present it the way you might see it. That might be the way you see it in your deepest, darkest dreams or some exaggerated form or the best way you can communicate what you can see,” McIlrath explains. “You take the language you speak most proficiently and then you project that onto an audience. This is all storytelling. Whether it’s with a pencil or a piano or a guitar, we’re just telling stories and that’s an age-old message of communication.”

Watch our full chat with the artists below. Three issues of Dark Nights: Death Metal are currently available, with four issues left to go in the series. Click here for all your Dark Nights needs and watch the comic-inspired video for Rise Against’s first new song in three years here.