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The Justice League turning evil in Rocksteady StudiosSuicide Squad: Kill The Justice Leagueis billed as some big shocking and controversial moment, but the only thing jaw-dropping about it is the way it was handled. Whilst everyone’s favorite superheroes turning evil is nothing new, the method in which it went down was the epitome of wasted potential.
For many going through the game for the first time you would expect this big world-changing event to be explained, or at least fleshed out a little as the story goes on, but it never really does. So to help shed some light on this unfortunately underfed story, here’s why the Justice League is evil in Sucide Squad: Kill The Justice League.
Warning: Spoilers For The Plot Of Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League.
Why Are The Justice League Evil?
The Justice League turning evil isnothing new. Over the years various comics, cartoons, movies, and spin-offs have all had their moment of “The Justice League’s now bad” and it’s been handled withvarying degrees of success. Potentially themost mishandledis Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League.
From the very beginning for the first few minutes, the group of Arkham’s Finestaren’t told by Amanda Wallerwhat their latest suicidally tough mission is going to be. It’s only when they’ve got their explosives in their necks and arebreaking into the Hall Of Justicethat the proverbial penny drops.
The order that you fight the Justice League is The Flash, Green Lantern, Batman, Superman then The Flash again asBrainiac transforms into himfor the final boss fight.
According to Waller, at some point before the start of the gameMetropolis was visited by Brainiac, with “Visited” being the polite way of putting it. In this particular universethe League hadn’t met Brainiac yet, so they assumed that he was another alien visitor. That is until hecorrupted them with his advanced technologyand turned all of them but Wonder Woman into his permanent puppets.
Metropolis descended into hell shortly afterwardsand theplucky membersof the Suicide Sqaud are dispatched to murder the former protectors of the planet.
Unfortunately, the fights with the iconic caped crusaders arewoefully underbakedand devolve into blasting abig spongy targetfor very long and drawn-out boss brawls.
How Did Brainiac Corrupt The Justice League?
For those who start the game fresh or are a considerable chunk in and are waiting for a flashback to explain how everything went sideways,don’t hold your breath. Brainiac’s arrival, communication with, and then corruption of the Justice League isnever shownor even addressed.
Whether leaving it out was intentional, accidental, or cut for some reason is unknown but you and the rest ofthe Suicide Squad are just dumped into Metropoliswithout much explanation. However, even though it’s not revealed in-game, the events that transpired before your first steps arefound within the A.R.G.U.S. Tapes.
It’s truly the best way to tell your story, throughoptional dialogue listened to inside a menu, but in the tapes, we hear how Brainiac arrived.The Justice League went onboard his ship to talkto this new alien and were attacked.
The most relevant A.R.G.U.S. Tapes areTape Five through to Eight. You can happily skip the rest if you’d rather get just the relevant information.
What Happens In The A.R.G.U.S. Tapes?
Locking valuable information like howthe Justice League became corrupted by the main villain, who himself is barely in the game, is a massive head-scratcher for fans. Normally this sort of event is shown, developed and at some point in the future the corrupted members are able to fight back.
This does happenvery briefly when Wonder Woman ties the Flash with her Lasso of Truthand Barry tells Diana that she needs tokill him and the other membersas it’s the only way. But then theynever do anything with itand the Justice League are just shown as mustache-twirling evil villains.
So for those who were left confused, or just don’t fancy sifting throughlist after list of Audio Logs, here’s what happens to the Justice League according to the Argus Tapes in-game.
We’ll only beabridging the relevant Argus Tapesto keep things simple.
Tape Five
Whilst the tapes before are allpointless background fluff, Tape Five is where we first hear the Justice League reacting toBrainiac’s arrivalwhilst preparing for a huge parade in their honor. From the outset, they haveno idea who is coming, only that they’re probably not friendly.
BothBatman and Wonder Woman are cautiousof the new visitor and adamantly tell the others that they should treat it as a potential incursion on the planet that’s waiting to happen. WhileGreen Lantern and a hesitant Superman push for diplomacyand communication with the visitor.
The Flash is terrifiedeither way but agrees they should talk but break open a can of violence should it all go sideways.
Despite how it all goes down at the end of the game, Batman has perhaps the biggest “I Told You So” owed to Green Lantern and especially Superman.
Tape Six
Tape Six opens withBatman and Wonder Woman commenting that they’re unhappywith what’s about to happen. Brainiac has agreed to talk, but onlyonboard his ship. Which Diana and Bruce explicitly say to the others that it means the meeting is going to bea trap.
The rest of the tape is the groupbickering about the decisionto go aboard Brainiac’s ship. Superman pushes that it’s an act of compassion, whilst Batman chides him by pointing out that they’re being reckless. He also implies that the League members have let their “strength” go to their heads and if it’s a trap,they’ll leave Metropolis undefended.
This particular exchange is another brilliant example of howBatman was done dirtyin Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League. He knew what would happen, but nobody listened.
Tape Seven
Tape Seven kicks things off withBrainiac’s meeting with the Justice League. He offers them the position of Lieutenants whilst claiming that he canunlock their full potential. Batman instantly rebukes his offer angrily, Superman tries tosympathize with Brainiacbut also rejects him.
Green Lantern rejectsand also monologues a little about his Oath, whilst Wonder Woman yells at Brainiac that he won’t claim this universe. It’s at this point the tapes imply that Brainiac has beendoing the same thing in other universes. The Flash then does something heroic in an attempt to escape Brainiac but we’re not told what it is.
This is a scene that really should have been a cutscene instead of an audio log as it carries a lot of story weight.
Tape Eight
Tape Eight begins withWonder Woman and The Flash recovering. It turns out The Flash broke the sound barrier and wasonly able to get out with Dianaat the last possible second.
According to the two of them,Superman was subdued with Kryptonitebefore they could react and it’s not revealed what happened to Batman or Green Lantern. Though it’s safe to assumeBrainiac instantly one-shot them as well. The tape ends with the two of them making a plan to evacuate Metropolis as The Flash leaves.
In Tape Nine we just hear Wonder Woman in the Sanctum reacting to what’s implied to bea corrupted Flash returning.
