Highlights

  • Injustice 3 should steer clear of the multiverse concept to avoid tackling an already overused theme in media.
  • The endless stream of creativity in the multiverse can lead to some interesting projects, but also disappointing ones, like what has been seen with recent superhero films and games.
  • To keep fans engaged, Injustice 3 should focus on delivering a compelling story set solely on Earth-49, avoiding a reliance on multiverses - even though NetherRealm has experience with the concept thanks to Mortal Kombat 1.

NetherRealm is, arguably, at the top of its game right now. Though Mortal Kombat 1 has proven to be a tad divisive among franchise fans, it still sold very well, and received a fair amount of critical praise upon its release last year, being just the latest in a long run of great NetherRealm fighting games. Naturally, fans are already speculating on what could come next for the studio, and though Mortal Kombat 1 still has plenty of DLC set to come out, many fans are already longing for a return to the Injustice series.

Debuting all the way back in 2013, Injustice saw NetherRealm take a second crack at the DC universe, though this time they weren't trading blows with the Mortal Kombat cast. Set in a universe where Superman establishes a tyrannical, dystopian government run by superheroes, Injustice featured a captivating core premise, and its fighting mechanics were some of the best NetherRealm had ever put out. The series' popularity climbed to new heights with the release of Injustice 2 in 2017, and pretty much ever since then, fans have been asking for a third installment. But while a potential Injustice 3 has an obvious direction ahead of it with the multiverse, it should steer clear.

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Injustice 3 Shouldn't Step Into the Multiverse

NetherRealm's most recent release, Mortal Kombat 1, introduced the concept of a multiverse to the franchise for the first time. While alternate timelines had already been explored, Mortal Kombat 1 was the first to really dive head-first into the notion of alternate realities, each filled with their multiversal versions of beloved Mortal Kombat characters. Naturally, NetherRealm might want to carry this concept over to the next Injustice game, especially with there being a precedent for multiverses in DC comic history, but it should avoid doing that for a few big reasons.

The Multiverse Is Getting Too Saturated

The multiverse, by its very nature, lends itself to an endless stream of unlimited creativity, where absolutely anything and everything is possible. In a comic book setting, this means that classic tropes can be twisted, beloved characters can be transformed, and well-known storylines can be subverted. Unfortunately, many modern-age multiverse stories don't really live up to that promising premise.

While the multiverse has been a concept in media for decades, it's gained a newfound wave of popularity thanks in large part to excellent movies like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Everything Everywhere All At Once. However, while these movies do a great job of embracing the multiverse premise and using it to further the action, plot, aesthetic, and character arcs of the movie, they were unfortunately followed by a wave of movies that did not, with the MCU's Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness and DC's The Flash being severe critical disappointments that failed to explore their multiverse premise in any truly substantial, intriguing way.

It feels as though the multiverse craze in modern media is only just beginning, but due to the sheer volume and disappointing quality of many of these projects, it already feels like many audiences are sick of the multiverse concept altogether. And to make matters worse, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has just failed to use the concept properly in the realm of video games.

Injustice 3 Should Avoid the Multiverse At All Costs

The Injustice franchise has already dabbled a little bit in multiverses, with the first game's plot revolving around the prime DC heroes being suddenly teleported to Injustice's dystopian Earth-49. But Injustice's plot remained compelling by remaining restrained, only bringing together these two universes. Injustice 2 stripped things back even further, focusing solely on Earth-49, with the multiverse only being used as a backdrop for the game's online challenge towers.

Though there's potential for NetherRealm to fully explore this multiverse concept for Injustice 3, it would be much better off continuing to pair things back from that original game, delivering another compelling story set solely on Earth-49. Many superhero fans are simply bored of the multiverse, and Injustice 3 would run the risk of turning them away if it relied too heavily on it.