Looking for details on Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Rocksteady’s next triple-A offering? You’re in the right place.
First announced at DC FanDome 2020, and set in the Arkham-verse previously created by Rocksteady, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will see DC’s antihero team working together to stop an alien invasion (headed up by supervillain Brainiac) that threatens the world and has seen the Justice League brainwashed.
Players will have four playable characters to choose from, each with their own “unique moveset” and “enhanced traversal abilities”: Harley Quinn (Dr. Harleen Quinzel), Deadshot (Floyd Lawton), King Shark (Nanaue), and Captain Boomerang (George “Digger” Harkness). While players will be able to play the Suicide Squad game entirely solo, you’ll also have the option to play with up to three other players via online co-op.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is scheduled to release sometime in 2022, making it an exciting year for DC fans as Warner Bros. Montreal’s Gotham Knights is also set to release this year – as is The Batman film.
Want to know more? Read on for everything we know about Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League: cut to the chase
- What is it? A Suicide Squad game from Rocksteady
- When can I play it? TBC 2022
- What can I play it on? PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League release date and platforms
Suicide Squad is due to release at an unspecified date in 2022 for PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PC.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was technically announced on August 7, 2020 via the game’s official Twitter account. An image of Superman facing away with a target locked upon his head revealing the games’ title confirmed its existence before pointing fans to DC FanDome 2020, a virtual online convention due to take place later that month – where Rocksteady officially unveiled the Suicide Squad game’s 2022 release window and first trailer.
Outside of a 2022 release window, Rocksteady and Warner Bros. have yet to give a specific release date for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
Historically the developer has launched games between May and October (you can see this below), suggesting this could be the release window to expect for the Suicide Squad game. However, the pandemic has disrupted development for many studios, meaning we could see the game releasing closer to the end of the year.
- Urban Chaos: Riot Response – May 19 (Europe) and June 13 (North America)
- Batman: Arkham Asylum – August 25, 2009
- Batman: Arkham City – October 18, 2011
- Batman: Arkham Knight- June 23, 2015
- Batman: Arkham VR – October 11, 2016
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League trailers
Gameplay trailer
The first gameplay trailer for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was revealed at The Game Awards 2021. The team is tasked with taking down The Flash and Brainiac, which of course won’t be easy. We see Harley Quinn, King Shark, Captain Boomerang and Deadshot in action, who each have their own unique movesets and abilities.
Story trailer
At DC FanDome in October 2021, another new trailer landed for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. It gives fans even more details about what to expect, from Amanda Waller recruiting the Suicide Squad through to lots of gunfire and fighting in Metropolis.
There are plenty of references to previous Batman: Arkham games as well as characters you might not have expected to see cropping up here, like Poison Ivy and her vines halfway through. Check it out for yourself:
Reveal trailer
As part of DC FanDome on August 22, 2020, Rocksteady premiered the first trailer of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. It opens with a look at what seems to be supervillain Brainiac’s lair, before confirming the game’s location as Metropolis. Panning down we get the reveal of Harley Quinn, followed by her fellow Task Force X members: Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, and King Shark.
Suicide Squad instigator Amanda Waller speaks to Quinn through comms telling them to make their way to the Metropolis Grand Hotel as “alpha target” is now in the open and needs engaging. After a montage where the group takes on hordes of Brainiac’s army – to OutKast’s B.O.B – Bombs Over Baghdad – they reconverge on a roof. Quinn then tries to remember who they should be on the lookout for, until being suddenly interrupted by a helicopter explosive.
As the smoke clears, it appears that Superman has saved the helicopter pilot – only to decimate the human moments later via heat vision, while seemingly under the control of Brainiac. The group quickly realize that the Man of Steel is their “alpha target”, and the trailer ends as a boomerang comically hits Superman’s head, with Captain Boomerang uttering: “You shouldn’t have done that, shark”. Check it out below:
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League story and setting
Details of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s campaign are limited for the time being, but we do know that it’s an “original narrative” set in the DC universe and a continuation of the Batman: Arkham-verse (the universe created by Rockstead in its Batman: Arkham series of games).
The Suicide Squad game picks up sometime after the events of Arkham Knight and sees Amanda Waller (AKA “The Wall”) putting together a task force of Arkham inmates, known as the Suicide Squad, to undertake a covert mission in Metropolis – with Waller implanting lethal explosives in the inmates’ heads to encourage them to get on board.
When the ragtag team arrives, they quickly realize that Brainiac is attempting to invade the planet and, in an attempt to do so, has brainwashed the Justice League (including the Flash, Superman and Green Lantern). To save the planet, the Suicide Squad needs to hunt down each brainwashed Justice League member and eliminate them – oh, and takedown Brainiac.
Metropolis will serve as the open-world in Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad. The city is best known as the home of Superman, takes inspiration from the likes of Toronto and New York, while also being neighbors with Gotham. Hill described Metropolis as the game’s “fifth character” and hopes it will serve as a “love letter to DC fans”.
We’re hoping to the majority of Justice League members make an appearance in Kill the Justice League, including Aquaman, Wonder Woman and Batman. The latter of which will be an interesting conundrum, considering how Batman: Arkham Knight ended. Several rumors suggest The Dark Knight might work alongside the Suicide Squad in their attempts to thwart the mind-controlled Justice League – though this hasn’t been confirmed.
Rocksteady creative director Sefton Hill spoke about the narrative links that will continue on from the Arkham series, during a DC FanDome panel, stating that: “a lot of through threads and storylines you’re gonna see come to fruition in this game”.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League gameplay
We’ve only seen snippets of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s gameplay so far, but we do know some solid details.
The Suicide Squad game will be set in an open-world depiction of Metropolis, which we’re hoping will be almost like a larger-scale version of Rocksteady’s Arkham City. This open-world approach should mean there’s plenty to explore and we’re hoping there are plenty of Easter Eggs (like in Arkham City).
We also know that you’ll have the option to play the game solo or multiplayer. Players who opt for solo play will be able to switch between other members of the squad as they please, with the uncontrolled team members being handled by AI to play alongside you.
If you want friends to join you, they can jump into the shoes of the squad members you don’t want, with up to four players able to play at once. According to Rocksteady, this is going to be a seamless gameplay experience and the co-op will be drop-in, drop-out, so you can have friends playing with you one minute and go solo the next without it impacting your game.
You’ll have four playable characters to choose from, each with their own “unique moveset” and “enhanced traversal abilities”: Harley Quinn, King Shark, and Captain Boomerang. While these exact abilities and moves haven’t been specified, we did get a look at each of the anti-heroes’ unique playstyles in the gameplay trailer released at The Game Awards 2021. From what we saw, Harley is pretty agile, can land powerful melee attacks and has a grappling hook in her arsenal, King Shark is all about brute force but can whip out a chunky gun when he needs, Deadshot lends firepower to the group (capable of both sniping and aerial assaults) while Captain Boomerang is extremely fast on his feet, with his boomerang taking out ranged enemies with ease. As expected then.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League news and rumors
New Artwork
Ahead of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s appearance at DC FanDome 2021, some new key art was released. The Artwork gives us a fresh look at the game’s four main playable characters: Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang and King Shark.
Look what we have here…Tune into DC FanDome 10/16 @ 10:00am PT to see more. #DCFanDome #SuicideSquadGame pic.twitter.com/dGreeK4ToOSeptember 24, 2021
No more additional characters?
It looks like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League won’t be expanding its roster of playable characters beyond the four that have already been confirmed. As reported by PCGamesN, a press release for the game states that “yhe game’s original narrative follows the four Suicide Squad members as they take on an impossible mission to save Earth and kill the World’s Greatest DC Super Heroes,” which strongly suggests no more will be added. This definitely casts doubt on previous rumors that the game will be an evolving live service title in the style of Marvel’s Avengers.
Gotham Knights delayed
Gotham Knights, the DC game announced alongside Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has been delayed, its release date moving from sometime in 2021 to sometime in 2022. This means that both games are set to launch in the same year, making 2022 a big one for DC fans.
At the moment, there’s no indication that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will be delayed like its more heroic counterpart, as Suicide Squad was already slated for a 2022 release and is in development with a separate studio.
Is Warner Bros Interactive leaning into live service?
According to a spotted advert for an internship (via IGN), Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment’s upcoming projects are going to have a “heavy focus on live service”.
There’s a section of the advert which states that “WBIE is currently involved in a variety of new projects, ranging from casual games to core games featuring our well-known franchises on all platforms (console, digital, mobile) with a heavy focus on live service. “
Generally, live service elements in a game will see it being updated by its developer after release with things like new features or storylines. It’s not uncommon in games these days and can be effective when done right but it can also be controversial when a game doesn’t get off to a strong start eg. Marvel’s Avengers.
Although Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League isn’t referred to directly here, it is one of the games that Warner Bros will be publishing in the next couple of years. However, Rocksteady hasn’t actually confirmed that there will be any live service elements in Kill the Justice League, so at the moment we can’t be sure if they have any involvement in Kill the Justice League.
Gotham Knights developer WB Games Montreal has told IGN that its co-op and single-player game won’t involve games-as-a-service elements, which means that there’s no guarantee every game published by Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment is going to be subject to this. Certainly, we haven’t seen any clear evidence that Suicide Squad will include live service elements and as result, we’re going to need to wait for official confirmation from Rocksteady before we can be sure.
Mugshots
The official Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Twitter account tweeted out some neat mugshots of the game’s playable characters which you can see below:
“Where is Waller? Tell her I do not belong here.” pic.twitter.com/RUJQzl8qdxDecember 1, 2020
“I’ll be back! I always come back!” pic.twitter.com/td2TnjC04FNovember 26, 2020
Voice actors
So far, two out of the four Suicide Squad members have been confirmed, with long-time Harley Quinn veteran voice actor Tara Strong resuming the role once more. King Shark, on the other hand, will be voiced by WWE wrestler Nuufolau Joel Seanoa a.k.a. Samoa Joe.
While no official word on the voice of Captain Boomerang, it’s heavily rumored that Chris Parson has been given the role. He previously voiced Junkrat in Overwatch and there is a huge resemblance when listening to the two.
Deadshot is a little harder to pin down. Chris Cox previously voiced the one-shot wonder in Arkham City and Arkham Origins, both of which are set in the same universe. This Deadshot has been confirmed to be the Floyd Lawton interpretation of the character too, however, there’s a huge gaping flaw why it doesn’t seem to be Cox that’s returning.
For one, the audio clip sounds nothing like his version, and two – the most damming – this Deadshot is black, as opposed to the white version Cox portrayed. Therefore, without an established voice immediately jumping out at people, many believe it may be an up-and-comer. However, King Shark was killed in the direct-to-video Assault on Arkham, so the question of what is actually ‘canon’ is very much up in the air.
Outside of the Suicide Squad itself, Debra Wilson is confirmed to voice Amanda Waller. Wilson previously voiced Waller in 2017’s Batman: The Enemy Within.
