Rocksteady’s upcoming Suicide Squad game has been in a bit of hot water since its gameplay reveal due to how poorly received multiplayer superhero outings have been lately. It’s incredibly likely that any proposed plans for future games of the like will be shelved indefinitely as a result, but in the meantime, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will need to try to break that mold and become something future games can hope to strive toward in the third-person shooter genre, which means it needs to dodge any pitfalls that previous superhero games have tumbled into.
Marvel’s Avengers will always be remembered as the ensemble multiplayer superhero game that had outstanding potential with beloved source material to draw inspiration from, but was unable to churn out enough quality content that many fans would be pleased to come back to—including any new villains or enemies—aside from an abundance of cosmetic skins. That said, the best thing Marvel’s Avengers had going for it was its story campaign, and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is not wrong to have pursued a comparable opening to its own narrative.
Rocksteady’s Metropolis is Celebrating the Justice League Before Brainiac’s Invasion
Marvel’s Avengers smartly chose to feature Kamala Khan as its story’s main protagonist. Kamala was a brilliant choice because her adoration of the Avengers could represent the player’s excitement about seeing the Avengers. Her humble perspective was an experience that culminated in Marvel’s Avengers’ introduction with the player and Kamala both meeting the Avengers during the Avengers Day celebration in San Francisco.
This helped to establish that the Avengers were already widely appreciated by the public and honored as heroes with a ceremonious event where merchandise is sold and fans can learn more about Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, Thor, and the Hulk. The events of Avengers Day soon turn disastrous for everyone involved, and in the wake of the ensuing destruction the Avengers disband and are quickly turned against by the public.
In Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s narrative, it can be presumed from what has been shown thus far that Metropolis was having its own celebratory festivities honoring the Justice League on the day that Brainiac invaded the planet. This is made obvious by the fact that the city is full of Justice League memorabilia, standees, and balloons, which already seems like a hyperbolic expression of Metropolis’ gratitude since enormous statues of Justice League members are erected throughout the city as well.
Indeed, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s Metropolis looks more like a museum exhibit display for the Justice League than an actual lived-in city, which at least demonstrates how massively popular the superhero ensemble is and how commercial they have become. Then, similar to Marvel’s Avengers further, a disaster will inevitably occur amid celebrations and conveniently, too, since it gives Rocksteady a reasonable excuse to have the Justice League roster assembled together in Metropolis before Brainiac arrives.
Brainiac will be able to gain the upper hand and brainwash the entire League aside from Wonder Woman, at least based on what has been revealed through narrative trailers, and that’s when Task Force X is introduced. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League won't have a five-year gap afterward, but it will have had a five-year gap since Batman: Arkham Knight in the proposed timeline.
If any other opening comes to fruition in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League it would be quite a turn of events because the only way that the League’s memorabilia being strewn about Metropolis makes sense is if there was a city-wide celebration going on in the meantime. This gives Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and Marvel’s Avengers a common narrative thread, especially when each features its respective comic giant’s star ensemble group, and it will be interesting to see if Rocksteady can hoist its own game to heights that Crystal Dynamics was unable to.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League releases on February 2, 2024, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
