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Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Disrespects Arkham Batman
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Feb 11, 2024
After seeing how Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League handles Batman from the Arkham games, John can't help but feel like the character was outright disrespected in how the game handles him. Here is how the game lets down one of the greatest superheroes ever. Head to Game Sandwich for articles: https://www.gamesandwich.com/ Follow us and let's talk about video games, their stories, and the people that make them! 📱Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@game.sandwich.official ✖️Socials: https://twitter.com/TheGameSandwich 🎮Join our Discord: https://discord.com/invite/6GrQYXYdSf #gaming #batman #suicidesquadkillthejusticeleague #dcgames #warnerbros
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Hey guys, welcome to Game Sandwich. My name is John Hanson, and I think Batman is absolutely
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disrespected in Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League. Let's get into it. Before we start though
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obviously there are spoilers ahead, so click off this video if you haven't seen what happens yet
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Whether you like or hate the live service direction of Suicide Squad Kill the Justice
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League, I think its greatest sin is how it treats this version of Batman that we have
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loved in the Arkham games before. I wouldn't say Rocksteady was determined to decimate the
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Arkham version of the Dark Knight that it itself established, but there is a lot that doesn't feel
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right about how he is handled here. What he's been up to since Arkham Knight and joining the
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Justice League would be a lot more interesting to see in person. Him willingly going into an
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obvious trap unprepared is completely out of character, and an unceremonious end for him
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drastically feels unfulfilling. Let's start things off with Batman's return. After Arkham
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Knight we had a pretty good idea that Batman was still alive after the Nightfall protocol
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that had him faking his death and blowing up Wayne Manor, but it was still somewhat ambiguous
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A scene showing a Batman-like figure attacking some thugs in an alleyway with what was obviously
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Scarecrow's fear toxin, that was a really cool ending to that game. The figure we saw very easily
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could have been Bruce, but there were also other potential choices to take on the cow
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Damian Wayne or Jason Todd would have been options that could have been pretty cool in my opinion
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By no means am I disappointed that Bruce continued his work, but it's the method in which Suicide
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Squad tells us this with past context rather than showing us. In the Hall of Justice you can go
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through various exhibits and learn about Batman's adventures in the Arkham games. There's some great
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stuff here, including Bruce calling the Justice League his friends. That's a great development for
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a character that in the past would constantly push away the Bat family when they tried helping him
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in those Arkham games. The problem is that we never saw that character development ourselves
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Rocksteady is just telling us that it happened. By this point the Justice League has been working
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together for years. In our eyes though, we jump from scary Batman in an alley to one that has
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come to Metropolis and is a good leader and a teammate. That's a drastic jump for the player
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We want to be shown that development through a direct sequel or a Justice League game directly
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not be told that it happened almost a decade later in a game that treats him as a side character
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Then we have the actual brainwashing. While the act is never shown in-game, we have recordings
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of the Justice League talking about negotiating with Brainiac beforehand. In the recording
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Batman is straightforward with his distrust of the giant skull in the sky. Wonder Woman and Flash
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agree with him, but Superman wants to talk with one of DC's most dangerous villains peacefully
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The Batman we know would have backup plans in place for this meeting. Even if Superman convinced
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him to not outright attack Brainiac, there is no way the character would go into this meeting
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willingly without accounting for all scenarios. This is a direct betrayal of one of Batman's core
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characteristics that we've experienced time and time again, but are now meant to buy into him
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simply agreeing to this meeting in good faith? When would Batman ever do that with a potential
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extraterrestrial threat? On its own, Batman being brainwashed by Brainiac is not a terrible decision
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Rocksteady could do some interesting things with that idea. However, it never capitalizes on that
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potential in smart or satisfying ways, instead having the character outright kill Tim Drake
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off-screen with no explanation and be so easily outsmarted by Harley in the boss fight. I get
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that he is being controlled, but wouldn't it have been more interesting to see the character regain
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his faculties and be forced to deal with the ramifications that he's killed innocent people
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crossing his most guarded moral line? How would Bruce come to terms that his hands have innocent
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and family blood on them? Before I mentioned how cool it is when Batman is hunting down the squad
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so why isn't that a focus in his boss fight? Instead, he's turned into a bullet sponge
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Scarecrow knockoff. Was it really impossible to make a unique encounter with him using the
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free flow combat the Arkham games were famous for or have him work on picking off the SS members
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one by one? Nah, instead let's give Batman laser eyes and make him scream NOOOOO when he's defeated
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It doesn't fit how we know the character to approach his challenges. The disrespect doesn't
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end there, unfortunately. After defeating Nightmare Batman, Bruce is treated like a joke for the rest
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of his screen time. In regards to the Suicide Squad's treatment of him, it makes sense. Harley
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would poke fun at him and want to kill him since this version of the character is still very evil
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She hasn't joined the good side like she did in Injustice 2. It's the fact that he's drugged up
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and beaten down but still throwing insults that doesn't sit right. The story very easily could
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have fit in a thread where Lex finds a way to remove the brainwashing to give Bruce the role
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of a new voice to help lead the team, make him the first boss of the game and have him help save
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the other Justice League members from the sideline while you do the heavy work. Instead, we get an
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angry punching bag for what seems like forever. Finally, Batman's death is the most uneventful
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way to finish off such a celebrated character. After being drugged and riddled with bullets
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Bruce just lets the Suicide Squad carry him across town while berating them. The only fight in this
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character is through his voice. We've been in his shoes as he endlessly fought through 4 games
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where the odds were stacked against him and not once did he ever back down. Why is it that Suicide
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Squad has a version that is so willing to die for Brainiac with no fight to preserve himself
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He sits on a bench and just lets a bullet end him. That's not the Batman I know
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Just looking at Rocksteady's handling of Batman and Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League
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I can't accept that this is the same character I played in Arkham Asylum, City, Origins and Night
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That character was always prepared, unwavering in his commitment to justice and deserved a
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bigger send off than a quick one liner and a bullet to the head. To Rocksteady, this may be
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in the Arkham universe, but to me it's not in canon. I don't mean any ill will towards the
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developers and I think Kevin Conroy did an amazing job voicing Bruce as he did countless other times
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throughout the years. But I can't help but come away from this whole ordeal feeling empty
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What did you think of how Batman was treated in Suicide Squad? Did you find his representation
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here as big of a betrayal as I did? Sound off in the comments below and if you made it this far
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why don't you hit that like button and come discuss it in more detail in our discord
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Thank you so much for watching. you
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