Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League’s Ending Cements Its Messy Legacy

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League has been mired with controversy since this new take on the DC supervillain team entered the “Arkham-verse.” Failing to find a player base due to how the fandom received its game mechanics and overall story, the final update for the video game has arrived. With the final entry in the game having arrived earlier this week, there has been even more controversy regarding how the Suicide Squad’s story comes to an end here and the wool that was pulled over players’ eyes. The grand finale here is one that feels “perfect” for Kill The Justice League in that it highlights simply what did not work about the story overall.

Warning. If you don’t want to be spoiled on Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League’s final update, be forewarned that we’ll be diving into spoiler territory. “Kill The Justice League” wasn’t just the name of this controversial game, it was something that Harley Quinn and her squad seemingly were able to pull off. Over the course of the game, the likes of Superman, Green Lantern, Flash, and Batman are all killed by the super villains working for the government. Thanks to the Justice League members being brainwashed by Braniac, all seemingly meet their end while Wonder Woman does the same while evading the supervillain’s mind control. Unfortunately, Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League couldn’t leave well enough alone.

[RELATED: Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Final Update Released With Patch Notes]

“It Was All A Dream”

Many wondered when Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League arrived if this would be the true death of DC’s greatest heroes in the Justice League. To say the least, many saw the deaths of some of their favorite comic book characters as quite the shock, with figures like Batman and Superman dying in ways that didn’t necessarily feel as grandeur and epic as they could have been. Ultimately, their deaths have been undone in the final update as it is revealed that the Justice League the Squad fought were indeed clones.

In the final cutscene, players are able to witness the Justice League and the Suicide Squad team-up to defeat the final Braniac, following the anti-heroes taking down several iterations of the villain across the multiverse. While Harley and her friends escape Waller’s clutches as well, Diana of Themyscira is unable to escape the clutches of the Grim Reaper. Wonder Woman remains dead after she lost her life at the hands of the cloned Superman, adding insult to injury.

Did It Even Matter?

The Arkham games that focused on the Dark Knight are still considered to be some of the best superhero video games of all time, taking a new approach to the Bat in a way that resonated with fans. For the Suicide Squad, the take fell flat in attempting an entirely new approach to its gameplay that didn’t really make use of the individual skills of these supervillains with bombs implanted inside of them. Alternate takes on the Joker, Ms. Freeze, and Deathstroke simply were too little too late in turning the tides for the Warner Bros game, to say nothing of how the cinematic worked in the updates.

Each update following the main story would use a combination of the in-game engine with two-dimensional still images that conveyed future entries following the initial game’s release. At the end of the day, the still images with overlapping voice acting felt like a poor way to convey what little story Kill The Justice League had left for players, releasing alongside the already controversy story beats that populated the entry.

What makes the failure of Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League all the more tragic is it could very well be the final entry in the Arkham universe and ending on such a sour note is a disservice to the Dark Knight’s winning streak. I don’t know the best method that could have been taken to make this game a success but most players will agree, this wasn’t it.

Want to see what the future holds for DC’s heroes and villains in the video game world? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on superhero video game representation and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.