Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s Biggest Deadshot Mistake isn’t Floyd Lawton

Ever since it was revealed that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League featured what looked like a new Deadshot in the Arkhamverse the character has been mired by discourse. Naturally, Rocksteady doesn’t elaborate on this in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s narrative campaign even though it’s mentioned a couple of times in dialogue out of sheer necessity for continuity’s sake.

This Floyd Lawton being the ‘real’ one is volleyed as an intriguing plot point and yet, not unlike how Harley Quinn is now over the Joker, this isn’t dove into or clarified in the campaign. Batman already has a shared history with the proclaimed fake Deadshot, and it wouldn’t have been a stretch to believe Batman encountered this Floyd at some point, either. However, this isn’t where Deadshot’s depiction is most underbaked.

Deadshot’s Rivalry with Green Lantern in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is Inconceivable

Harley Quinn has more baggage with Batman than this Floyd ever could and perhaps Rocksteady wanted to single out that hero-villain relationship, but pitting someone as powerless and insignificant as Deadshot against a Green Lantern is unquestionably absurd. Green Lantern is an omnipotent, intergalactic guardian; meanwhile, it’s meant to be believed that John Stewart would have time to deal with a threat as petty as Floyd, an expert marksman with no superpowers.

This rivalry pairing also had no obligation since King Shark has no rivalry with a Justice League member, which is ironic because he’s the only character who might be able to stand a chance against any of the Justice League on his own. Perhaps choosing another recurring Task Force X member would’ve made for a more succinct rivalry depending on whether this recruit was overpowered or not.

Deadshot’s Daughter is Likely to Join Him in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

The whole bit with Floyd’s daughter wasn’t explained thoroughly in the story, either, but if post-launch expansion leaks are true, that could be a throughline Rocksteady eventually wraps up with Floyd and Zoe being playable alongside one another. Now, with John dead, it’ll be interesting to see if Floyd and Zoe can reach some semblance of closure if post-launch expansion leaks do end up being legitimate.

Deadshot definitely wasn’t chosen for his storied history in the Arkhamverse, though, because that rich lineage between Arkham Origins to Arkham City apparently belongs to another man entirely, regardless of whether the character comes from a different dimension or not. Generally speaking, if lore is delivered exclusively within audio logs or other extraneous means then it can’t be expected to have that much of an impact on the main narrative anyhow because many players may not decide to peruse such content.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s World-Building is Lackluster Compared to the Arkham Games

Audio logs buried in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League do remark on some of these beats to a degree, but it’s telling when story details such as these are thrown into wholly missable audio logs and it only ever infers that the information they provide is extracurricular and nonessential to macrocosmic world-building.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League needed to find the time to pack the story with this new Deadshot’s backstory in order for it to be remotely relevant or impactful and yet no lore could justify Floyd ever being a viable antagonist for Green Lantern. Not only is Deadshot punching above his weight class in thinking he would last a minute against him, but Rocksteady not taking adequate care to explore that rivalry in the story suggests that it isn’t worth the trouble of trying to piece the fragments of their history together afterward.

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League

Released

February 2, 2024

ESRB

M17+ For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Violence

How Long To Beat

10 Hours

Metascore

70