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Highlights
- Rocksteady is fully committed to its upcoming game Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
- Despite speculation, the return of Batman in Suicide Squad does not guarantee another mainline Batman: Arkham entry, according to associate design director Johnny Armstrong.
- Rocksteady is focused on creating an immersive and engaging experience in Suicide Squad, aiming to mix frantic gameplay with a compelling narrative that will keep players coming back for more.
Fans hoping for another Batman: Arkham sequel after Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League may wish to temper their expectations, as Rocksteady is seemingly committed to the later game’s provocative subtitle. When Batman: Arkham Knight was released in 2015, players thought they would be seeing the end of Rocksteady’s beloved Arkhamverse franchise, and the only new entries to come since were the short-lived Batman: Arkham Underworld for mobile devices and Batman: Arkham VR.
Players were thus taken by surprise when Rocksteady announced Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League at the inaugural DC Fandome event. As its name suggests, Suicide Squad will pit the members of Task Force X against a brainwashed Justice League – including Batman as voiced by the late Kevin Conroy. Despite seemingly faking his death and going into hiding at the end of Batman: Arkham Knight, it appears that the Arkhamverse version of the Dark Knight has returned for one last battle in Suicide Squad – except this time fans will be on the receiving end of his brutal, crime-busting methods.
Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad Should Be a Step Toward an Actual Villain Game
Superhero games seem to be all the rage right now, but with the release of Suicide Squad, it may be time for a supervillain one instead.
Some players have speculated that Batman’s surprise comeback in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League could pave the way for another mainline Batman: Arkham entry, but associate design director Johnny Armstrong is advising them not to get their hopes up just yet. In a recent interview with GamesRadar, Armstrong addresses the possibility of another Batman-centric game in Rocksteady’s universe. “I mean, we’re really enjoying working on a Suicide Squad now,” he said during the interview. “But I can assure you that, as the title says, we do really kill the Justice League. So…”
This isn’t a solid confirmation that the Arkhamverse is ending after Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League launches in February, and there have been rumors of Rocksteady continuing or even rebooting the series in some capacity over the past few years. However, Rocksteady appears to be entirely focused on its current game for the time being, and Armstrong went on to describe how Suicide Squad mixes frantic gameplay and a gripping narrative to hopefully keep players coming back for more. Rocksteady studio product director Darius Sadeghian recently backed this notion by assuring fans that Suicide Squad will still have the same “DNA” that made the Batman: Arkham series a success.
Only time will tell if Suicide Squad can continue this success, as the game has been met with various controversies since its 2020 announcement. One of the resulting debates is where the Arkhamverse franchise can go after Suicide Squad, especially if Batman and the rest of the Justice League are indeed going to die as the game’s subtitle implies. There are many ways for Rocksteady to continue the Batman: Arkham series in the future, but for now the studio is understandably focused on Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
