DC Reveals the Suicide Squad’s True Origin in Arkhamverse Continuity (& a Game Hero Is to Blame)

The unexpected source of inspiration for Amanda Waller’s Suicide Squad in the Arkhamverse has been made public. King Shark, also known as Nanue, gives Waller and the guards a moving speech about the development and survival of sharks in a flashback to his early days in prison. This speech, which is intended to distract Waller from cleaning the restrooms, leads him to believe that monsters can be employed to kill other monsters.

John Layman and Jesús Hervás’ Suicide Squad: Kill Arkham Asylum #5 is the last issue of the tie-in comic for Rocksteady’s video game Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Five years after the events of Batman: Arkham Knight, Brainiac seizes control of the Justice League and Waller forms Task Force X, more commonly known as the Suicide Squad, to defeat them.

This flashback issue’s opening scene has a brief but telling exchange between Waller and King Shark, which appears to be Waller’s concept to utilize superpowered prisoners in a specialized squad. Waller is considering threats and control as usual, but she is motivated by King Shark’s aspirations for bigger things in his own life.

OVERVIEW
Amanda Waller becomes inspired to form the Suicide Squad by King Shark’s passionate talk about shark survival.
Waller opposes King Shark’s nonviolent strategy because he believes that monsters fighting monsters is the way to survival.

The Suicide Squad’s composition and goals are shaped by Waller and King Shark’s divergent points of view.

King Shark Inspired Amanda Waller to Start the Suicide Squad

Who Is King Shark?

Like King Shark, he has a beautiful, if violent, perspective of evolution. He describes himself and his kind as “the perfect killing machine…pitted against the most terrible and murderous beasts the world has ever known.” Chondrakha, the Shark God, is his father. After 150 million years, sharks have hardly changed from their natural state. This is because their environmental adaptations prevent other predators from outpacing them.

Even though he is the top predator both on land and in the sea, King Shark always favors peaceful resolution of disputes. This equilibrium contradicts Waller’s notion that monsters should fight other monsters. King Shark battle-picks his way to become the most formidable predator alive.

The miniseries Suicide Squad: Dream gang by Nicole Maines and Eddy Barrows, which is currently available from DC Comics, allows fans of the Suicide Squad to see what Waller and the gang are up to in the normal DC timeline.

For several reasons, the narrative of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is shocking to Arkham aficionados. It is a dismal thought that the Justice League could turn permanently bad and ought to be eliminated to protect others. Amanda Waller is given King Shark’s lecture about the historical dominance of sharks from this defeatist and paranoid point of view. The largest monsters will be the heroes of both the game and Waller’s theory of evolution.

King Shark Is Forced into Waller’s Idea of Survival

The Suicide Squad Is a Potential Nightmare for DC Villains

Waller appears to see predator competition as a means of identifying the most formidable weapon among them, despite King Shark’s belief that sharks have evolved into the most formidable marine creatures. Their divergent points of view significantly influence their approaches. Waller views survival as evidence of strength, while King Shark views strength as the path to survival.

This game of supremacy between these conflicting priorities is also contrived. Overseeing the battle of DC’s most formidable monsters is a brutal “god” whose plans do not prioritize the survival of the strongest. Waller only wants the strongest monsters under her control on the Suicide Squad so that she herself can emerge victorious — over anything she considers to be a threat.

Suicide Squad: Kill Arkham Asylum #5 is available now from DC Comics.

SUICIDE SQUAD: KILL ARKHAM ASYLUM #5 (2024)

Author: John Layman
Artist: Hervás, Jesús
Artist of color: David Baron
Artist: Dan Panosian; Cover Artist: Andworld Design

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is a live-action third-person shooter game developed by Rocksteady that takes place in the Arkham game universe. One of the four Suicide Squad members, led by Amanda Waller, will be selected by the player as they take on their hardest task to date: facing a corrupted roster of the greatest superheroes in history, including Batman, Superman, and the Flash. Teams of up to four players can play as the characters gather equipment to increase their odds of surviving.

Suicide Squad (2016)

The Suicide Squad is a group of criminals who are apprehended, imprisoned in a secret facility, and given lighter terms in exchange for taking part in risky missions. As per the DCEU continuity tradition, the incident takes place following Superman’s demise and Batman’s isolation following the events of Batman v. Superman. The person making agreements with the Belle Reve Prison convicts is Amanda Waller, the chief of the agency, who is portrayed by the acclaimed actress Viola Davis. Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flag leads “Task Force X,” along with Deadshot from Will Smith, Harley Quinn from Margot Robbie, Captain Boomerang from Jai Courtney, El Diablo from Jay Hernandez, Killer Croc from Adewale Akinnuoye, and Slipknot from Adam Beach. Karen Fukuhara’s Katana also joins the mission to keep Rick safe from the villains. Jared Leto (Joker) and Ben Affleck (Batman) have smaller roles in David Ayer’s Suicide Squad, as does Cara Delevingne’s Enchantress.

Suicide Squad Director Reacts After the Crow Reboot Reveal Draws Comparisons to Controversial Joker Design

Director of Suicide Squad David Ayer offers his thoughts on the adaptation of the 1994 superhero fantasy The Crow, which stars Bill Skarsgård. The social media is ablaze with analogies to the DCEU Joker. Thirty years after the late Brandon Lee portrayed a vengeful undead rockstar, Skarsgård’s portrayal of Eric Draven, often known as the Crow, was first seen in Vanity Fair. The It and Barbarian star adopts a ghostly appearance, his torso covered in tattoos that echo Draven’s gothic style. His eyes are smudged with makeup that resembles a raccoon, and the eyeliner is quite heavy.

These stills of The Crow’s bare-chested appearance, the eye makeup, and the loosely drawn, random set of tattoos have prompted comparisons to Jared Leto’s controversial Joker, who wore a similar pale-faced appearance in his divisive DC Extended Universe premiere. David Ayer joined the conversation on X by tweeting a single raised eye emoji. The American director, whose most recent production is the 2024 thriller The Beekeper starring Jason Statham, is aware of the similarities.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Review – “Not Enough to Save The Day”

Despite being a chic co-op action game with fantastic characters, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is just another example of the overdone class-based multiplayer shooter genre, with far too many gameplay chances lost. Remarkably few great DC property-based games have been released since Rocksteady’s 2015 Batman: Arkham Knight. Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League’s attempt to translate Rocksteady’s thrilling comic action to the cooperative shooter genre is entertaining at times, but the fighting is not as effective.

Five years after Batman: Arkham Knight ends, Brainiac’s extraterrestrial invasion destroys much of the planet. A significant portion of the populace disappears, and Batman, Superman, and other Justice League members become corrupt. But to save the day, Amanda Waller and her freshly formed Suicide Squad have come to Metropolis. DC villains Harley Quinn, Deadshot, King Shark, and Captain Boomerang will be under player control in a narrative that does not hesitate to kill off well-liked characters in a cheesy manner.

OVERVIEW

The game Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League boasts excellent character designs and voice acting, and it is extremely visually gorgeous.
The gameplay is unsatisfactory, with monotonous fighting and underwhelming boss fights against mentally possessed Justice League members.

The AI-controlled squad members in Metropolis can be ineffectual, and the city itself lacks the complexity and interactive aspects of Rocksteady’s earlier titles.

Rocksteady’s Artists Are the Real Heroes

Kill Suicide Squad the Justice League is a stunning game with some of the most amazing artwork and designs ever seen on DC characters. The voices of the characters in the game, who are playable, contribute a charming and frequently humorous element. In a narrative that fully realizes Amanda Waller’s deepest anxieties and paranoia, Debra Wilson’s portrayal of the character is remarkable.

The Suicide Squad Take out the Justice League
While there are amusing moments in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, the film does not really stick with you.

Positives: A few enjoyable moments in the Arkham realm
Cons: Stunning artwork featuring well-known DC characters
Action games do not offer much unique gameplay.
It is terrible how the Justice League members are portrayed.

Another standout performance by Kevin Conroy from the cast of SSS: KTJL is his portrayal of the brainwashed Batman in his last role. Batman can be heard disparaging the squad and the generic swarms of foes that the player’s characters are unable to vanquish throughout the most of the game. Fans of the Arkham games will love a few tasks that are specifically focused on Batman, such as discovering plastic explosives fashioned like bats. One of the most disheartening things about the game, though, is how DC’s iconic heroes—even if they are mind-controlled—are portrayed.

The voice actress of Lois Lane narrates a heartfelt homage to Kevin Conroy and his legendary depiction of Batman following the credits of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. 

A few interesting elements of SS: KTJL’s writing, like as the cast’s banter and the tidbits of information revealed by Lois Lane during her terrified livestreams, contribute to the story’s characters and the sense of dread that the remaining members of humanity share. Nevertheless, the unsatisfactory gaps in the writing get worse as the plot develops. The Arkham-verses Justice League is introduced in the game, but very little time is spent getting to know these new versions either before or after they turn become Brainac’s pawns. The game’s boss fights, which become more difficult with each boss encounter, exhibit this lack of character characterization.

The game can be finished by one player alone or by up to four players working together in cooperative online multiplayer. Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League is presently being developed with an offline mode.