Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will make sure Kevin Conroy’s final Batman performance does not get lost to time. When dealing with characters like superheroes, there are high expectations. People build up the persona of these characters in their minds after reading words and pictures on a page, so casting someone to bring them to life can be quite challenging. With that said, Kevin Conroy is arguably one of the definitive castings for a superhero thanks to his performance as Batman across decades of work. The actor brought a real gravitas to the DC icon, making an impact on multiple generations of Batman fans. He is set to return in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, marking his 4th appearance in the Arkham universe video games. Tragically, it is also his last performance as Batman as the actor died in 2022.
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Over the last year, fans have raised concerns over the fact that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is a “live-service game” which was expected to remain always online. This means in order to experience the story of the game, you’ll need an internet connection and the servers for the game will need to remain live. While this is a massive game and will likely not disappear anytime soon, there will come a day where those servers have to go offline, that’s just the nature of these things. As such, fans worried Conroy’s last ever Batman performance would disappear, only to be experienced through something like YouTube. Thankfully, Rocksteady Production Manager Jack Hackett confirmed to ComicBook.com at a recent preview event that fans can rest easy. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will get an offline mode after launch with the team aiming for 2024 with the intent of preserving that performance.
“I completely understand that concern,” said Hackett. “To be clear, we’ve really heard that, and I understand the concern. Obviously, in the short term, that’s not any kind of risk, but I’m happy to tell you that we will support, post-launch, an offline mode where you can play through the story of this game in perpetuity. We hope to deliver that in 2024. That’s our goal. I won’t promise that under all circumstances. But, I totally get that kind of archival concern about a game like this.”
Hackett went on to praise Conroy’s in-game performance and said it carries with it an “unintentional poignance” now.
“That story should be experienced long-term. Kevin Conroy’s performance in this game is a treat, and I think players are going to really [enjoy it.] It’s poignant. It’s got an unintentional poignance in some ways now, but he had a lot of fun with it. I’ll say that. And no, we want to preserve that. So, that’s something we’ll ensure is available, and I’m happy to make that commitment.”
As of right now, it’s unclear what the fate of Batman is in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Given the title of the game, it would suggest at least one of these heroes may not make it out alive. Either way, at the very least, we are getting one last iconic performance from Batman’s signature voice actor.
