Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Teases Joker’s Return

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League appears to be teasing the return of the Joker. Rocksteady Studios created one of the most prestigious superhero video game trilogies out there. The Batman Arkham series was a gamechanger, allowing studios to realize that they could make AAA superhero games without them tying in to a film. The games were praised not only for their innovative and addicting gameplay, but also their rich stories which really got to the core of the Batman mythos. It managed to take some big swings that you wouldn’t see in a Batman project outside of the comics. In the second game, Batman: Arkham City, the game ends with the Joker dying of a disease. Batman intended to save him, but due to the Joker’s own acts of chaos, the vile containing a cure shatter and he dies. In the third and final game, Batman: Arkham Knight, the game opens with the Joker being cremated, but Rocksteady still found a way to keep him present in the story. The Joker appears as a hallucination throughout the story and even ends up becoming a mental obstacle for Batman to overcome, somewhat becoming the final boss of the game in Batman’s mind.

With that said, the Joker was definitively dealt with. However, he may be appearing in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, a direct follow-up to Batman: Arkham Knight. Rocksteady Studios released a new image of the Daily Planet taken over by Joker-esque graffiti and decorations as well as a rebranding to “The Daily Chuckle”. While they don’t explicitly say the Joker will appear, it does seem to be pointing to his branding. The studio noted it would reveal more about this in its next Insider episode, which is a series of dev diaries talking about the game. This will likely either focus on a post-launch update for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League or some side content within the game. We’re not sure when this will drop, but given the game is only a couple of weeks away, we can probably expect it very soon.

We wouldn’t expect Mark Hamill’s Joker to make a return in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League unless this is somehow presented through flashbacks. Given Harley Quinn is a playable character, they do have someone we can explicitly connect back to that version of the Joker. However, rumors and speculation suggest that this may be someone acting as a copycat of the Joker and taking on the mantle. This would likely give Harley some motivation to stop him, but we’ll just have to wait and see what comes of this.