Actually killing the Justice League in new Suicide Squad game has internet enraged

Who would have thought the biggest issue with a game called Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League would be that you kill the Justice League? Okay, that’s a little inflammatory so we’ll explain but be warned, there are massive spoilers ahead.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is now live for those brave enough to have purchased the Deluxe Edition that grants Early Access. There was a little hiccup at the start of that launch as Rocksteady had to take the game offline to fix a bug that automatically completed the story, but things seem to be in working order now.

The game sees you play as one of the four members of the titular Suicide Squad in a looter shooter romp that as you might have guessed, has you hunting down the Justice League. Unfortunately for the folks at Rocksteady, people have been posting spoiler-laden clips of the game all over the internet and one in particular has prospective players pissed.

One more spoiler warning before we go ahead and explain what’s happening.

Okay, a viral clip of the death of Batman in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has quickly spread and fans of Rocksteady’s Arkham series are fuming.

We and others are guilty of reducing the outrage to a simplistic spat over having to kill the Justice League in a game that has Kill the Justice League in its title. While there are certainly some folks whose anger begins and ends there, others say it goes a little deeper than that.

The primary issue with Batman’s death in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is a perceived disrespect to the legacy of the character on which this game was founded. In the clip above, you’ll see the same Batman from the beloved Arkham games unceremoniously shot in the head by Harley Quinn after some back-and-forth.

“There was quite literally a million ways to handle Batman’s death without it being THAT insulting,” Twitter user SynthPotato explained, echoing the sentiments of hundreds of other critics. “Batman dying isn’t the issue, it’s treating it like the writers hate his f**king guts that’s the issue.”

When other users suggested that it was likely not the intention of Rocksteady to diminish the impact of their previous titles, SynthPotato fired back. “It’s already tarnished the Arkham games by being a convoluted live service hellscape that shoots their legacy in the head,” they argued.

Outside of this drama with Batman, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has been heavily criticized by players, content creators, and reviewers for its lackluster implementation of live service mechanics.

Whether it will be able to undergo any sort of redemption with updates and new content remains to be seen.