Before the Arkham series introduced a beloved line of Batman games, DC Comics had limited success in the video game space. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will look to be the latest in a hot streak for the company as Marvel is beginning to make its mark on the industry. The title is currently being developed by Rocksteady, creator of the Arkham trilogy, which is cause for excitement for fans as its stellar resume puts it in the best place to make the new game centered around Amanda Waller's reluctant heroes. It's unclear how much inspiration it will pull from the likes of Batman: Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, and Arkham Knight, but they did so much well that it may be a missed opportunity to neglect them entirely.
Promotional material for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has been limited, but what has trickled from the developer has been insightful, showing essential story beats, a change in location, and more emphasis on team-based gameplay. One of the most noticeable differences between the upcoming game and the Arkham series is the tone. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League seems to be more comedic in atmosphere, and while this is indicative of the comics and characters that it's adapting, the release shouldn't ignore the benefits of a darker tone that Arkham utilized so well.
Arkham's Amazing Atmosphere
Batman has been subject to plenty of tonal changes since his inception in 1939, but most would agree that the character flourishes in a darker, more noirish, and mystery-driven setting and story. The silly slapstick nature of Adam West's 1960s Batman undoubtedly has its charm, but stories like The Long Halloween, The Black Mirror, and The Court of Owls that Gotham Knights is drawing influence from are far more revered from a narrative standpoint. Batman is a detective first and foremost, which lends itself well to tales that are more serious and thrilling.
The obstacles that The Caped Crusader has to overcome are huge, but harder still is having to push back against a Gotham City that simply doesn't want to behave. Arkham Asylum is perfect for people who want to experience a horror-esque game without running into tropes of the genre, and this is because the setting, story, characters, and world-building all join to make an end product that never wields anything other than a gloomy atmosphere and a gloriously dark tone. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will be different simply because of the character dynamics it will inevitably present.
Suicide Squad's Eccentric Personalities
Much of the tone of the Arkham games is possible because the stories they tell center around one man's desperate grip on crime and villainy. It feels like an impossible feat, and while Batman preaches the importance of justice, he's also doing it because it makes him feel important. It's his fight and his alone. The Suicide Squad, however, have a far more reluctant and involuntary way of fighting bad guys as their characters and their backstories are littered with evil deeds. As such, they are less restricted by the weight of the task at hand and so the relationship they develop with each other will provoke a change in overall tone.
This is perhaps clearest in recent film adaptations like the aptly-titled The Suicide Squad, which carries serious themes that would otherwise be more atmospheric if they weren't balanced out by a healthy dose of comedy. This will influence the characters, storytelling and tone of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League as any darker narrative threads will be tacked by an ensemble of personalities that find as much fun in annoying each other as they do creating chaos.
Harley Quinn is Arkham's Legacy in the Suicide Squad
It doesn't seem like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will be heavily connected to the Arkham series despite taking place in the same universe, but Harley Quinn features in both. To have Rocksteady's crowning trilogy feel all together different would do a disservice to the character that plays such a significant role in what came before. When Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League releases Harley Quinn will be in more Rocksteady-developed Arkham games than The Dark Knight himself, and it's essential that her character carries the events of the trilogy with her into the upcoming release.
This doesn't have to be by way of quippy dialogue and not-so-subtle Easter eggs that could isolate new players. It could be something as simple as a change to her character model to resemble how she was in Arkham Knight or a blink-and-you'll-miss-it flashback to one of her many stand-out scenes in the trilogy. Her character has been open to interpretation a plethora of writers since her debut in Batman: The Animated Series, but crafting a version of Harley Quinn that doesn't feel like the one players had come to know in Rocksteady's previous games would only make the Arkhamverse feel less connected and cohesive. Maintaining a similar tone to the Arkham trilogy in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League would be doing right by her character, and opting for an entirely new atmosphere could ruin it.
Batman may be more suited to a darker atmosphere than the Suicide Squad, but that's not to say that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League should neglect it entirely. It will undoubtedly be a more comedic affair and fans will expect, and even look forward to it, but there has to be a reason that the game is placed in the Arkhamverse outside of it being developed by Rocksteady. It's a huge risk as players will be keeping a keen eye on continuity, and so the developer has to be extra careful ensuring the upcoming game fits alongside Batman's stellar but grim adventures.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League launches early 2023 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
