Batmans Arkhamverse Lays Brickwork for a Possible Suicide Squad Prequel

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Batmans Arkhamverse Lays Brickwork for a Possible Suicide Squad Prequel

As a long-time fan who’s been following the Arkhamverse since its inception, I can’t help but feel a sense of nostalgia and excitement as I watch Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League slowly come full circle with Batman: Arkham Origins. The way they’ve incorporated Deathstroke into their game is nothing short of genius, given his iconic role in Arkham Origins.

The game titled “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League” has experienced significant peaks and valleys since its unveiling, currently resting in a somewhat lackluster phase during its third season of additional content post-release. A Joker from an Elseworld, Mrs. Freeze, and Zoe Lawton have joined Rocksteady’s current Task Force X, which includes Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, and King Shark. This team is quite unusual, with only one character being originally part of the Arkhamverse before the events of “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League,” unless one still considers “Assault on Arkham” to be canonical.

The appearance of the Task Force X in the Arkhamverse wasn’t set in stone from the beginning. Even the initial four members chosen by Amanda Waller for the Metropolis invasion against Brainiac might not have been the original criminals recruited for the Suicide Squad, which could be formed and reformed with various diverse teams depending on ARGUS’s covert mission requirements. This flexibility in the Suicide Squad concept suggests that multiple versions of Task Force X may have been activated at different points in time, and hints of this can be traced as far back as the game “Batman: Arkham Origins”.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is Soon to Come Full Circle with Batman: Arkham Origins

Rocksteady clearly understood the implications when they chose Deathstroke as the fourth and final playable DLC character for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Though the upcoming season might not have a lot of story-driven content, it’s following the trend set by previous seasons. Slade Wilson’s Deathstroke is highly attractive to the live-service shooter game, as he serves as another strong connection to the popular Arkhamverse.

Deathstroke made his debut in the Arkhamverse during “Batman: Arkham Origins”, although he had a significant impact on the prequel, it’s clear that this is one of the character’s most memorable portrayals and one of the most distinctive boss battles in the series. Furthermore, a scene after the credits showed Waller visiting him in his cell at Blackgate Penitentiary, implying she was compelling him to join the Suicide Squad.

For the first time, the Arkhamverse subtly introduced the concept of a Suicide Squad, without revealing its significance for the franchise. It’s thrilling that Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad game, developed more than a decade later, will have the opportunity to expand on this hint.

It’s intriguing to find out if Deathstroke worked for ARGUS before his role in “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League“, but it doesn’t matter, playing as him again after a long time since “Batman: Arkham Origins” will still be exciting. To fan the flames a bit, the 2.5D spin-off of “Origins“, titled “Blackgate“, contained hints suggesting the formation of a Suicide Squad similar to the early days of the MCU’s “The Avengers“.

How Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate Teases a Mid-Continuity Task Force X

If Batman: Arkham City Lockdown is a family member that the family has decided to keep at arm’s length, then Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate could be seen as the somewhat estranged step-brother from the Arkhamverse. While Blackgate does offer an intriguing ending with a smaller Bane who has lost his Titan strength, it’s the behind-the-scenes perspective of characters like Waller and Rick Flag overseeing the Blackgate riots and evaluating potential recruits that truly stands out in Armature’s Metroidvania gameplay style.

In this scenario, the storyline introduces Bronze Tiger and Deadshot, previously seen in Arkham games, particularly Floyd Lawton (Deadshot). This was prior to the release of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which apparently had an unconventional interpretation. Batman covertly attached a tracker to Amanda Waller’s helicopter. Although it seems unlikely that another Suicide Squad game will be produced soon due to the negative response to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, the Arkhamverse still has plenty of opportunities to spin off more Task Force X stories between Blackgate and Suicide Squad, featuring a variety of criminals.

Assault on Arkham’s Canon May Be Questionable, But It Shouldn’t Be

Once upon a time, the storyline of “Assault on Arkham” was undisputed in terms of its canonicity within the Arkhamverse. However, this animated film could serve as a revised foundation for the Arkhamverse, and since it falls between “Origins” and “Asylum”, it finds itself in a previously unexplored stretch of lore.

The argument could be made that

Kill the Justice League
’s King Shark
is one of many King Sharks, not unlike how
Kill the Justice League
’s Floyd Lawton was apparently not the only Floyd Lawton—evidence that Rocksteady obviously isn’t afraid to retcon its own lore.

A more appropriate approach when creating a prequel for “Suicide Squad” would be to avoid introducing any characters who may cause controversy or contradict existing storylines, unless the developers can clearly justify their inclusion and stick to their decision. It seems that the lessons learned from previous experiences have made it clear that Batman will remain the central figure in the Arkhamverse for the time being.

Nevertheless, the Arkhamverse has been diligently constructing a base for Suicide Squad video games, and there remains a lot of room for captivating stories to unfold. Drawing inspiration from the game ‘Assault on Arkham’, future games could resurrect older, more authentic ties to the Task Force X program and portray what it was like before ‘Asylum’.

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2024-10-22 01:08