Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League is out now for gamers who buy the sport’s costlier version which incorporates, amongst different perks, just a few days of early entry. Which means some DC Comics followers are effectively on their approach to weighing the deserves of Rocksteady’s first post-Batman sport, even because it’s nonetheless set within the Arkhamverse. However in response to one early scene within the sport, Rocksteady nonetheless does not think about WB Montreal’s Batman: Arkham Origins to be a part of that story universe.
Please word this story incorporates minor spoilers for Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League (and the Arkham sequence) previous this level.
About an hour into the sport, your ragtag group of playable villains will discover themselves in The Batman Expertise, an interactive exhibit set within the Metropolis Historical past Museum devoted to the Darkish Knight himself. Because the anti-heroes discover this area, you’ll be able to activate a large number of shows that debate Batman’s many heroic deeds, in addition to his deep rogues gallery of defeated ne’er-do-wells. You’ll be able to hearken to Gotham reporter Jack Ryder’s voiceover as he places into context every of the Massive Bads proven all through the exhibit.
However as you get to the top, you may discover that not one show appears to name again to 2013’s Arkham Origins, a prequel sport developed by WB Montreal in between Rocksteady’s efforts, 2011’s Arkham Metropolis and 2015’s Arkham Knight. For years now, Rocksteady has persistently referred to its Arkham video games as a trilogy that started with Arkham Asylum. These video games are certainly Rocksteady’s trilogy of initiatives, however to name the Arkham sequence a trilogy appears to be plainly flawed. Is it meant to be hostile towards WB Montreal? Maybe it is truly respectful, suggesting the staff does not wish to take credit score for the sport wherein it was not concerned. Or perhaps it is an order from the highest, a speaking level that Warner Bros. considers necessary for causes not made public.
Regardless of the case could also be, Suicide Squad appears to maintain the custom alive by outright ignoring any villains or occasions from Arkham Origins. Whereas some baddies seen in Origins, akin to Deathstroke and Firefly, are displayed within the museum, the voiceover connected to their show solely appears to reference their involvement in Rocksteady’s chapters of the Arkham saga.
For instance, Firefly’s exhibit mentions his burning of fireplace departments–a recurring aspect mission in Arkham Knight–but not Batman’s battle with him atop a bridge in Origins. Equally, Deathstroke’s show remembers his arrival in Gotham with a militia behind him–another Arkham Knight story beat–but ignores his melee duel with Batman in Blackgate jail. There’s additionally no show for Black Masks, one of many primary characters within the story of Arkham Origins, at the same time as secondary villains from Rocksteady’s efforts like Deacon Blackfire and Zsasz every get their very own moments.
Lengthy prior to now, it has been apparent that Rocksteady’s method of ignoring Arkham Origins is a alternative. It is simply unclear whose alternative it’s and why they’ve chosen it. Admittedly, I’ve solely simply began taking part in the sport, so I could come throughout some sort of Arkham Origins acknowledgment within the hours to return, however this early alternative to say Origins, and subsequent lack thereof, appears to be the writing on the wall: At Rocksteady, Arkham Origins primarily stays an Elseworlds storyline.