Warning: Contains SPOILERS for MultiVersus: Collision Detected #5! Scooby-Doo is famous for being a franchise for fans of all ages, as the mysteries and antics of Scooby, Shaggy, and the rest of the Mystery Gang remain generally silly, low-stakes adventures that always have a happy ending. At least until the last Scooby-Doo crossover event, which just traumatized Scooby and Shaggy with the sight of an actual bloody murder – and I didn’t have that on my 2024 bingo card.
In a preview for MultiVersus: collision detected #5 by Bryan Q. Miller and Jon Sommariva, characters from across the Warner Bros. multiverse. have joined forces to defeat the evil entity that threatens all of their respective worlds: Nothingness. The likes of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are working with Steven Universe, Bugs Bunny and – of course – Scooby-Doo and Shaggy.
After the entire gang of universally out-of-place heroes defeat the Joker (who brought his unique brand of chaos to an already problematic situation), Scooby-Doo and Shaggy learn firsthand why the Clown Prince of Crime is a truly disturbing villain. The Joker has already stolen an ambulance and murdered the paramedics while doing so. With the Joker in the heroes’ custody, Scooby and Shaggy decide to take a look at the ambulance to see if the villain has any more tricks up his sleeve. Unfortunately, the only things in the ambulance were mutilated and bloody corpses.
I can’t believe the Joker traumatized Scooby-Doo and Shaggy (but it’s about time)
Scooby-Doo had a number of Batman Crossovers, but none like this
While the murder of innocent people is never something that should be taken lightly, it was still darkly hilarious to watch this scene unfold. Even looking at a gruesome murder scene, Scooby and Shaggy still reacted in the usual cartoon fashion. Blood literally stained the back window of the ambulance, and Scooby and Shaggy said, “nothing but two paramedics who were really out of luck”, “Rur rorruhr”. The two reacted as if they had just seen the paramedics slipping on a banana peel, not their mutilated corpses in the back of an ambulance.
While this was very funny, the truth is that Scooby and Shaggy have never seen anything this horrible before, and it was the Joker who made them witness it – and it’s about time. With the amount of Scooby-Doo/Batman intersections exist, I’ve always wondered how the Mystery Gang never found the darkest corners of Gotham City, especially when it comes to the Joker. But now, Scooby and Shaggy understand that the Joker isn’t just a silly villain, he’s a deranged psychopath, and I don’t think I’m wrong in saying they’ll never be the same again.
This isn’t the first time Scooby-Doo has been exposed to true horror
Supernatural Season 13, Episode 16 “Scoobynatural”
This scene in MultiVersus immediately reminded me of Scooby-Doo/Supernatural crossover episode: “Scoobynatural”. In it, Sam and Dean Winchester travel to the Scooby-Doo universe and bring with them a supernatural entity. Supernatural is a notoriously bloody show, and this level of horrific violence is displayed right in front of the Mystery Gang – and it’s as hilarious as you can imagine. The gang even goes through a collective existential crisis at one point, making it clear how unfamiliar they are with the true horrors of bloody violence.
Throwing Scooby-Doo and the gang into realistically gruesome crime scenes is always funny because it shows how they would react if they encountered a real killer or horrible entity during one of their silly mysteries. However, while it’s funny to you and me, Scooby-Doo and Shaggy may disagree, having been traumatized by an actual bloody murder. And even though it’s been a long time coming, I still can’t believe it Scooby-Doo really did it.
MultiVersus: collision detected #5 from DC Comics will be available on November 13, 2024.