Spoilers Ahead for Batman: Arkham KnightWhen it comes to superhero gaming, few other studios can stand in the same league as Rocksteady for its work on the Batman: Arkham series. This knack for high-quality action adventure games continued within its sequels, and it seemed like the studio's talents would pour into its latest project, Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, without the team even missing a beat.
Unfortunately, the reception to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has been less than positive, to say the least. Despite years of development and a handful of delays already, the project has once again been pushed back after a recent gameplay reveal was hit with divisive backlash. Many feel the game is drifting away from what made past Rocksteady games special, opting to instead cash in on the live-service model, but it remains to be seen if these worries are justified. Still, the notion can't be shaken that Rocksteady had a potential smash-hit already set up for it after Batman: Arkham Knight, instead of choosing its current trajectory.
Batman: Arkham Knight's Unresolved Cliffhanger
Rocksteady has already confirmed that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will take place in the same universe as the Batman: Arkham franchise. So, while a follow-up to 2015's Batman: Arkham Knight never came to be, the narrative in this game will technically be a sequel to the events of Batman's last adventure.
Gluing the two projects together further is the return of Kevin Conroy voicing Batman, marking this as his final appearance as the DC superhero after he passed away last November. While the game is sure to be entertaining in its own way, there is a lingering feeling that Rocksteady should have just stuck with Batman instead as he is infinitely more interesting and popular than the Suicide Squad.
At the end of Batman: Arkham Knight, the Dark Knight of Gotham defeated Scarecrow and locked away the memory of DC's villainous Joker deep in the recesses of his mind, never to be haunted again. Prior to this, Scarecrow unmasked Batman, revealing his true identity to Gotham City, causing Wayne to activate the Knightfall Protocol.
This was a contingency plan devised by Bruce and Alfred in the scenario that his secret identity was ever compromised. Bruce returns to Wayne Manor with members of the press outside, as the mansion (and therefore the Batcave) explodes in a burst of flames, seemingly killing Wayne in the process and ending matters on a cliffhanger.
There is Now Untapped Potential for Future Batman Games
This was to protect his loved one's identities as well, as they could easily be connected to Bruce. By removing any trace of either persona, Bruce could potentially save his loved ones from public scrutiny. This ending opened the door to other interesting scenarios that could be explored in future titles.
WB Games Montreal's Gotham Knights, while not canonical, did follow the same plot thread of a world without Batman and the rest of his apprentices picking up where he left off. While an effort was clearly put into the project, it sadly wasn't on the same level as what fans would expect from Rocksteady's work. The opportunity for Rocksteady was there to take on a similar kind of story or something else entirely, perhaps flashing forward years in the future to an older Batman passing the mantle to Terry McGinnis in a game inspired by Batman Beyond.
Likewise, Rocksteady could have even had Batman team up with Superman in a new installment, as Superman was teased in Batman: Arkham Knight. All in all, it just feels like a chance to explore engaging new Batman-led stories was replaced by a decision to lean into fashionable trends at the time, and if Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is received poorly it could be a blight on Rocksteady moving forward.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League releases on February 2, 2024, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
