Summary

• Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League takes place in the Arkhamverse five years after Batman: Arkham Knight, and introduces several DC characters to the series for the first time.
• The game features the eponymous Task Force X, consisting of Harley Quinn, Deadshot, King Shark, and Captain Boomerang.
• The Justice League members, including Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern, have been brainwashed by Brainiac and serve as antagonists.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League throws the spotlight on the eponymous Task Force X as they do battle with mind-controlled versions of Superman and his allies, who have fallen under Brainiac's mind control, with plenty of other DC characters also having been confirmed to appear. Unlike the Batman: Arkham games, it will take place outside of Gotham, visiting Superman's home, Metropolis, and giving the developers the chance to introduce characters from the wider DC Universe.

Rocksteady confirmed Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will take place in the Arkhamverse five years after the events of Batman: Arkham Knight. Despite this, there's currently been no announcement that any of the Bat Family - other than the Dark Knight himself - will be returning from those titles. From the promotional footage and previews so far, the game still looks set to have an impressive roster of other DC characters with several villains from the Batman: Arkham games returning, and the reveal of major DC heroes who had previously only been mentioned in Easter eggs.

1 Task Force X (A.K.A. The Suicide Squad)

Harley Quinn, Deadshot, King Shark, and Captain Boomerang

The titular Suicide Squad - officially known as Task Force X - is a team of supervillains forced into doing dangerous missions by Amanda Waller with the promise of a reduced prison sentence should they succeed - and the threat of an implanted bomb exploding should they stray from their orders. The Suicide Squad's line-up has changed across its many iterations and stories in comics, movies, and TV, and Rocksteady's take will consist of Harley Quinn, Deadshot, King Shark, and Captain Boomerang, with players able to switch characters throughout Suicide Squad: KTJL's campaign.

Task Force X was teased in Batman: Arkham Origins, but it has taken many years for the team to appear fully in the Arkhamverse.

Although characters such as Deadshot and Harley Quinn have been depicted as villains throughout the Batman: Arkham games so far, they are likely to be playing the roles of antiheroes as part of Task Force X in the upcoming Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, much like they do in other recent Suicide Squad comics and media. This will be the first time in the games that players are introduced to Rocksteady's take on Captain Boomerang and King Shark, but the two had made an appearance in the Arkhamverse in the 2014 Batman: Assault on Arkham animated movie.

The version of Deadshot in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is confirmed to be the "real" Floyd Lawton of the Arkhamverse, with the version seen in previous Batman: Arkham games deemed an impostor.

It had been previously stated that Batman: Assault on Arkham took place after Batman: Arkham Origins, and about two years prior to the events of Batman: Arkham Asylum, but considering the fates of some characters in the trigger-happy film who are now confirmed to appear in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Batman: Assault on Arkham will likely be made non-canon. This would enable Rocksteady to offer up completely different interpretations to the ones seen there, and likely ones that resemble their more recent iterations in media, such as the Suicide Squad live-action movies that were released after Batman: Assault on Arkham.

2 Amanda Waller Will Appear In KTJL

Waller Is In Charge Of Task Force X

Task Force X is the brainchild of Amanda Waller, so it should be no surprise that she will be appearing in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Waller previously appeared in Batman: Arkham Origins to recruit Deathstroke in the game’s post-credits scene, and was behind several of the events in its spinoff, Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate.

Deathstroke has been teased via an Easter egg in the second Suicide Squad Insider episode and may also be coming to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's post-launch content according to leaks.

Waller can be seen assembling this iteration of Task Force X in Arkham and she communicates with the team both in-person at the ARGUS base in the Hall of Justice, and remotely via communication devices when they're in the field. Waller will be giving directives to players throughout the game with her detonator primed and ready should anyone stray from her orders, which would lead to messy results.

3 Colonel Rick Flag Was Revealed Ahead Of Launch

Flag Is Amanda Waller's Second-In-Command

As revealed in the second Suicide Squad Insider episode on the Warner Bros. Games YouTube channel, Colonel Rick Flag will be Waller's second-in-command. Not much has been shown of Flag except for a moment where he tries to assert his dominance over the team, namely Deadshot, but this isn't the first time the character has appeared in the Arkhamverse.

In Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate - which took place 14 years prior to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League - Flag and Waller worked together to stage a riot at Blackgate Prison. The reason for this was to cover up their true motive of releasing Bane from his cell. Although Batman did stop this, Flag and Waller left with two potential recruits for Task Force X, Bronze Tiger and that game's version of Deadshot.

4 Gizmo And Toyman Upgrade Weapons For Task Force X

The "Support Squad" Is Here To Help

Amanda Waller has employed the Teen Titans' villain Gizmo, and Toyman - who have both been incarcerated in Arkham - to create gadgets and vehicles for Task Force X. The characters have been referred to as part of Waller's "Support Squad", and Gizmo's intelligence and ability to create powerful equipment from everyday items, and Toyman's mechanical genius that enables him to turn innocent children's toys into deadly weapons will be a powerful asset to the team. Gizmo will be working primarily on vehicles for the squad, while Toyman is responsible for perfecting the team's gear.

5 The Penguin Returns

The Arkhamverse's Penguin Provides Task Force X's Weapons

Rocksteady's take on Penguin is being carried over from the Batman: Arkham titles to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. When players last saw this version of Oswald Cobblepot in Batman: Arkham Knight's GCPD Lockdown DLC mission, he had already been incarcerated by the Dark Knight and the GCPD in the game’s main campaign, and his thugs were trying to break him out in the wake of Batman's supposed "death". Nightwing foiled this plan, however, and Penguin was put back in jail.

In Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Penguin appears slightly older than he was in Batman: Arkham Knight, and has set up a gun-running operation in Metropolis instead. After being captured by Task Force X, Cobblepot will be using his connections to provide the team with their guns throughout the game.

6 Hack Is A Part Of Suicide Squad's Secondary Team

Hack Can Enhance Task Force X's Physical Abilities

In the comics, Zalika has the ability to travel through the internet and download files to her brain. Donning the alias "Hack", she can easily hack into a system without using any form of gadgetry. Rocksteady confirmed that Hack would be using her “Digital ghost” abilities as part of Suicide Squad: KTJL's secondary team to support players as they navigate the game's world. One feature that was mentioned was the ability to upgrade the characters' neck bombs.

While Waller will be using these devices to keep Task Force X in line throughout the game's campaign, Hack's upgrades are something players will have control over. These upgrades will focus mostly on enhancing the Suicide Squad's physical attributes, allowing for better melee attacks and traversal techniques.

7 Poison Ivy Returns To The Arkhamverse

A Child Version Of Poison Ivy Adds "Afflictions" To Weapons

Although Poison Ivy died during the events of Batman: Arkham Knight, sacrificing herself to rid Gotham of Scarecrow's fear toxin, she will be returning in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. However, this will not be the version of Poison Ivy that players are familiar with from past Arkhamverse stories - in fact, this version only goes by "Ivy" - as she has come back as a child with none of the memories of her predecessor, much like the different incarnations of Groot in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies.

Ivy seemed to have been raised by Lex Luthor in a laboratory and forced to do his bidding. After being forced to work for Waller in a scene that's bound to be controversial considering the character's age, Ivy will be able to grant "afflictions" to melee weapons, grenades, and more, granting them extra special damage abilities such as fire or ice.

8 Brainiac Will Take On The Suicide Squad

Brainiac Is Kill The Justice League's Main Villain

Brainiac's Skull Ship looms high over Metropolis, and it's clear that he is the true villain of Suicide Squad: KTJL behind the brainwashing of several Justice League members. The mind-controlling Superman foe was a key antagonist in DC's fighting title Injustice 2, and is the main villain of the third LEGO Batman game, but this is his first appearance in Rocksteady's Arkhamverse.

Brainiac is set to pose a huge threat to Task Force X considering he has already defeated some of the DC universe's most powerful superheroes and has assumed control of them prior to Suicide Squad: KTJL's story. According to actor Jason Issacs, Brainiac's core motivation is to rebuild the advanced civilization he has lost, and the post-launch roadmap revealed that he will attempt to do this through the multiverse, using characters' DNA to pull their variants from other dimensions called "Elseworlds".

9 Joker Will Appear In Kill The Justice League

An Elseworlds Joker Is The First Post-Launch Character

The first Elseworlds character confirmed to be added to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is Joker. Joker appeared in every previous Batman: Arkham game, but died in the series' second entry Batman: Arkham City. The new, younger version of Joker who appears in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is different from the Arkhamverse's, however.

This Joker comes from a universe where he is part of the Suicide Squad, making him naturally fit better into the game's team-based dynamic as a playable character. Despite this, the Suicide Squad Insider episode that revealed the game's take on the character - which can be found on Warner Bros. Games' YouTube channel - hinted that he may be "unhinged in a different way" and isn't quite sure of himself yet.

10 The Justice League Vs. The Suicide Squad

Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, & Flash

As Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's title suggests, the Justice League is going to play a major antagonistic role in the game. So far, the Arkhamverse's versions of Superman, Flash, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern have been introduced through the game's promotional material. Trailers have shown Superman and Flash as victims of Brainiac's mind control, with a Flash-centric trailer showing the speedster with a purple veiny look under his mask, indicating his brainwashing. Superman had this same look in the DC FanDome 2020 reveal trailer for the game, which explained his uncharacteristic decimation of an ARGUS agent with his heat vision - an act which even shocked the Suicide Squad - moments earlier.

Wonder Woman, however, doesn't have this brainwashed look. Although she can be seen fighting the Suicide Squad, deflecting Deadshot’s gunfire and using her Lasso of Truth on Captain Boomerang, Wonder Woman has also been spotted fighting Superman and Flash, which means she could potentially be an ally to Task Force X in the end. John Stewart's Green Lantern has also fallen victim to Brainiac's mind control, making him a truly dangerous opponent with his ability to create anything from weapons to restraints using his Oan power ring​​​​​.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is also set to include Batman, with the late, great Kevin Conroy reprising the part for the Batman: Arkham sequel. As with most of the other Justice League characters in Suicide Squad: KTJL, The Dark Knight also appears to have been mind-controlled by Brainiac and brutally murders a security guard as Task Force X watches on in disbelief. With the title confirmed to take place five years after the events of Batman: Arkham Knight, Rocksteady uses Batman's return to bridge the gap between the games and show the formation of the Justice League.

Batman faked the death of Bruce Wayne at the end of Batman: Arkham Knight after his identity was revealed to the public by Scarecrow.

11 Lex Luthor Was Revealed In 2023

The Suicide Squad Has To Save Lex Luthor From The Flash

Sony's February 2023 State of Play gave fans the biggest look at Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League to date, and revealed that Task Force X would need to save Superman's long-time foe, Lex Luthor, from the Flash. Through the State of Play's Suicide Squad: KTJL footage, Lex Luthor can be seen in a version of the iconic green Warsuit he has donned to go toe-to-toe with superpowered beings such as the Man of Steel on several occasions in the comics. The appearance of this suit seems short-lived, as it is quickly damaged and Luthor is captured soon after.

Following some delays to the title, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is finally due to release on February 2, 2024, and those who pre-ordered the game's Deluxe Edition will also be granted 72-hour early access to the game starting January 30, 2024. With the game's first post-launch season announced and revolving around Joker, there is sure to be more speculation as to which DC characters the three other confirmed seasons will introduce to the game.

Sources: Warner Bros. Games/YouTube (1, 2)