The Pros and Cons of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Featuring A Batman Appearance
After five long years, Rocksteady has revealed Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League as its super-heroic follow-up project to Arkham Knight. The new game is not a continuation of the Arkham series, either in continuity or tone, and that is one of the title's greatest strengths—especially with Gotham Knights to fill the Batman-shaped hole in the upcoming line-up of superhero titles.
Batman is arguably DC's most popular (and lucrative) superhero. But there is a good case to be made for benching the Caped Crusader in Suicide Squad. Because Batman is so reliably beloved and singularly powerful in the DC universe, writers often use him as an easy crutch to solve problems. Batman cameos have become instant hype buttons or band-aids for hopeless situations where other heroes—or, in Suicide Squad's case, anti-heroes—could shine. And this trend of having Batman swoop in to save the day hurts his character as much as it solves plot problems. When Batman always wins, especially as a God-like force of nature, the dramatic stakes immediately evaporate and everybody else ends up looking like a schmuck.
That's not to say there is no way for Batman to work in Suicide Squad, especially if Warner Bros. is looking to create a shared universe between its video games.
The darkest timeline for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is the one where Harley and the others must rescue or otherwise de-brainwash Batman to act as an "I Win" button against Superman. Narratively, this approach holds water according to established comic lore—Batman has worked with the Suicide Squad before and bested Superman before—but that is a predictable story to play through. And Batman's mythos is at its strongest when creators take big risks with the source material.
The biggest con, however, is that a Bat-intervention would deprive the Squad of agency as the game's primary heroes. There is an old internet adage that aptly summarizes Rocksteady's predicament: "Be yourself, unless you can be Batman." The trouble with having a truly awesome take on Batman, including his arsenal of iconic gadgets, seemingly-superhuman skills, and over-the-top vehicles is that it is inherently disappointing on both a narrative and mechanical level if Batman is unplayable. By contrast, if Batman is playable, he becomes the default hero in a story that should be about other characters.
A much better way to handle Batman would be to have him pop in to save the team from Superman—only to get absolutely thrashed in the attempt. He shouldn't just lose, but lose badly, as this would instantly raises the stakes for the playable characters. How are a bunch of misfit criminals supposed to take out a threat that the Batman couldn't handle?
And just because Batman is beaten and unable to fight doesn't mean he couldn't play a role in the story. Rather, Batman could act as the Suicide Squad's Alfred, supplementing their physical efforts remotely with information-gathering and detective skills. It would be a humbling moment for the World's Greatest Detective and provide unique storytelling opportunities for the Squad as well. Batman has a host of amazing supporting characters, and it would be interesting to see what he has learned from them.
Even this approach has problems and potential drawbacks, however. The Suicide Squad already has another, outstanding and under-utilized character, Amanda Waller, to act as the team handler: the tough-as-nails, takes-no-guff A.R.G.U.S. agent. Given Bats' tendency to steal the spotlight, his assistance could overshadow Waller's unless handled deftly. So if Batman is going to assist from the sidelines, a more-is-less approach would definitely be best.
There is one other option that could capitalize on hype, realize the promise of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's premise, and be mechanically satisfying, however. Superman is not referred to as the team's primary objective, but rather, their "Alpha Target." Now, that may translate to priority one, but given the game's subtitle, it could mean that Superman is just the first of many brainwashed Justice League heroes that they need to take out. And if Superman is where the game kicks off, there is only one logical "Omega Target."
Batman would also make for an exhilarating final boss fight. Players could have to take out a vehicle, face off against Bruce in one of his numerous suits of powered armor, and then finally settle the score with good old-fashioned fisticuffs against one of the greatest hand-to-hand fighters in the DC pantheon. A Batman boss battle would be the superhero equivalent to Kingdom Hearts' and Final Fantasy's Sephiroth fights and probably the best way to incorporate the character into Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. This approach isn't mutually exclusive with the idea of Batman being a supporting character, either.
Bruce could support the team while he recovers from his injuries, and then, once all of the other Justice League threats have been eliminated, he could return to try and incarcerate the Suicide Squad. This would not only be a fun twist that re-frames Batman as a treacherous (if good-intentioned) presence—it would still be consistent with his character. Batman would likely determine that the Squad is too dangerous to be left in Waller's control, and therefore needs to be imprisoned before their unique brand of brutal justice becomes standard among vigilantes.
No matter what path it chooses, Rocksteady should strive to keep humor front and center in Suicide Squad and keep the Bat-brooding to a minimum.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is currently in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.
Reviewed by Unknown
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December 23, 2020
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