Summary
Major spoilers forSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leagueahead.
Batman is undeniably an antagonist inSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, being one of five bosses and one of four Justice League members infected by Brainiac that Task Force X is ordered to kill. However, this doesn’t essentially mean he’s a villain, nor does it mean he deserves his fate inSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
Oddly, these circumstances echo the same story beats as inBatman: Arkham Knight, particularly when Batman’s Joker-infected blood began subsuming him into the homicidal clown once exposed to enough of Scarecrow’s fear toxin. This is a plot point that can be easily overshadowed by Jason Todd’s Arkham Knight and how overwhelmingly present his infinite militia is, but it’s crucially important and fluidly connectsRocksteady’sArkhamtrilogywith an overarching throughline of Joker tampering with TITAN and the effect that had on him.
Rocksteady’s Batman Undergoes Huge Changes Between the Arkham Series and Suicide Squad
Cut toSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League,taking place five years afterArkham Knight’s events, and Batman’s life couldn’t be any more different. He’s now unmistakably a hero in the eyes of the public if he wasn’t already, and he no longer lurks around in shadows since he has Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Flash to depend on. Batman’s true identity is also public knowledge in the present day with his whole backstory unveiled and honored in Metropolis.
Rather, when Batman appears in the flesh for the first time inSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguehe is a terrifying pursuer and that fear is reinforced by the player’s knowledge of how Batman prefers to hunt criminals, whom players take the role of in Task Force X. In more ways than one, both literally and figuratively,Arkham Knighttruly is the finalBatman: Arkhamgame—unless a prequel is announced in the future, that is. This is true in the literal sense becauseSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leagueno longer features Batman in a playable role as the protagonist and he is killed in the game’s story, meaning a future sequel couldn’t feature him even if another actor was replacing Kevin Conroy.
Of course, this doesn’t mean Rocksteady can’t reach its hands into an Elseworld dimension and pluck out a new Batman like it’s done witha new Joker as the first post-launch DLC characterdebuting inSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
Rocksteady must have known it would be moving on definitively from Batman—and maybeBatman’s corner of the DC mythologyfor the most part—when it came toSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leagueand that Task Force X’s adventures were where the studio wanted to concentrate its efforts now, regardless of who ends up recruited as part of ARGUS’ ephemeral and half-baked team of super-criminals. As to whether Batman dies a hero or lives long enough to see himself become a villain, the answer is more complicated than either distinction.
Batman’s death isn’t sensational or remarkable in the way that his Justice League companions’ were as he’s plopped down on a bench and put down. Bruce Wayne also isn’t free from Brainiac’s mind control when he dies, which is profoundly tragic since he ended up becoming what he fought valiantly to prevent inArkham Knight: being possessed by an insidious presence disfiguring him into a murderous villain. Batman also commits murder as seen at the beginning ofSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s nostalgic and suspenseful journey down memory lane, revisiting Batman’s story fromArkham AsylumtoArkham Knightthrough pre-recorded audio logs and cardboard standees in anelaborate Batman Experience exhibit.
Batman’s technically killed before in the Arkhamverse, too, whether intentionally or not, but using batarangs lethally was a new endeavor for a Batman mind-controlled by Brainiac that players likely would have experienced if Joker’s incorporeal being managed to irreversibly wear Bruce’s body like a skinsuit. Unable to control his actions, Batman isn’t a traditional villain inSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leagueand neither isFlash, Green Lantern, or Superman—it’s Brainiac who is the villainous mastermind.
The League is puppeteered and weaponized, making Bruce’s subsequent death a horrible tragedy. It doesn’t help that Harley Quinn self-righteously monologues in his face before shooting him, either.
Criminals antagonize their heroic arch-nemeses because they humiliatingly beat them and throw them in prison, and despite how awfully dismissive Bruce is of Harley throughout theArkhamgames he would never be considered more morally grey than her based on her actions throughout the Arkhamverse. Moreover, this stance is hypocritically contradicted by Rocksteady’s portrayal of Wonder Woman.
Bruce Wayne also isn’t free from Brainiac’s mind control when he dies, which is profoundly tragic since he ended up becoming what he fought valiantly to prevent inArkham Knight: being possessed by an insidious presence disfiguring him into a murderous villain.
It’s upsetting thatBrainiac is never seen as the true villain inSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leagueuntil it’s far too late. But because the game is told from the perspective of the characters who are traditionally antagonists, there’s no reverence held for the downfall of the Justice League—at least, that would have been true, if not for how the game handles its depiction of the Themysciran.
Wonder Woman’s death is given solemn, respectful treatment even though she’s still a Justice League member, presumably because she wasn’t brainwashed. The Justice League being brainwashed now shouldn’t have made a difference in terms of how TFX perceived them because they’re supposed to already despise superheroes, though, and therefore mourning Diana makes no sense. Flash saves TFX’s lives twice in the first couple of hours ofSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, for example, and Captain Boomerang still urinates on his corpse.
Harley’s history with Batman undoubtedly colors how she perceives him with or without Brainiac’s control, but him being evil now is a consequence of Brainiac and nothing more. Nonetheless, TFX then uses their arch-nemeses’ new makeovers as an excuse to exact their petty revenge.
Batman’s always been a hero, and Harley doesn’t let him die without subtly acknowledging that, butSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguegets to demonstrate what he would be like as a villain with Rocksteady turning him into the element he swore to protect Gotham City from before putting a bullet in his head.
One glimmer of a positive perception of Batman thankfully does come after the game’s credits, though, whereLois Lane offers a heartfelt tribute to the Caped Crusaderand reads a touching quote Bruce had delivered to the Daily Planet. This may be the only acknowledgement of Metropolis and the Arkhamverse at large hopefully still understanding how much of a hero Batman was up until the end.
Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League
WHERE TO PLAY
Play as the Suicide Squad to take down the World’s Greatest DC Super Heroes, The Justice League. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, is a genre-defying, action-adventure third-person shooter from Rocksteady Studios, creators of the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham series.
