There is no confirmation of an official video game adaptation of Suicide Squad: KTJL might destroy the Arkhamverse but can at least go out with a bang if the game is as entertaining as Amazon Prime’s bloody superhero epic.
The Suicide Squad is composed of DC Comics’ villains who have been enrolled in Amanda Waller’s Task Force X, a project that sends the disposable soldiers on dangerous missions. They are kept under control thanks to explosives implanted in their bodies. As of the recent third season of The Boys, the titular team is a government-backed specialist group assigned to monitor supers who step over the line and intervene with deadly force when necessary. Suicide Squad including skilled humans who lack metahuman abilities, like Harley Quinn, alongside metahumans like King Shark, and The Boys team now includes non-powered like Mother’s Milk and Frenchie, as well as supers like Kimiko and Starlight.
Since the first season of The Boys, viewers have grown accustomed to scenes of people exploding in a cloud of gore, as when A-Train inadvertently killed Hughie Campbell’s girlfriend Robin. Many who analyzed Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League trailers infer the game may have an M-Rating. This means the Suicide Squad game could include just as much brutality as The Boys in its depiction of Task Force X being killed by remote detonation, much like 2021’s The Suicide Squad movie. Whether the Brainiac-controlled heroes will perform any grisly kills remains to be seen. DC Comics media like the Injustice comics and animated film have already shown examples of how Superman’s power can be terrifying when used without restraint, and Homelander has repeatedly illustrated the destructive power of an unhinged Superman archetype in The Boys.
Unlike The Boys, The Superheroes Of Suicide Squad: KTJL Are Mind-Controlled
Since the Vought-produced of The Seven are already pastiches of the Justice League, it is easy enough for players to see a battle against The Flash or Superman as the video game approximation of The Boys trying to take down A-Train or Homelander. In The Boys, the team often goes to elaborate lengths to find ways to contain and kill Compound-V empowered supers. The Suicide Squad needs to kill a Justice Leaguer in KTJL, permanently, if it hopes to capture the vibe shared between The Boys and The Suicide Squad (2021). Introducing B and C-list villains simply to have them die off quickly is expected at this point. Suicide Squad: KTJL can follow the example of The Boys and use its original Arkhamverse continuity to deliver a story with unexpected, lasting consequences, the kind that would not be permitted in the mainline DC Comics setting.
Even if the Suicide Squad game evokes The Boys with its brutality and its depiction of superheroes as the enemy, the similarities would remain more aesthetic than thematic. “A team of criminals fighting the world’s foremost super-team” somewhat accurately describes both The Boys and the premise of Suicide Squad: KTJL, but the specifics of the conflicts set them apart. The Boys is an extremely political and topical story. Some fans think Brainiac is a perfect villain for Suicide Squad’s video game since his ability to control heroes lets the Squad battle the Justice League without compromising the heroes’ integrity. In of themes, the narrative of the Injustice game series is closer to that of The Boys. In that continuity the death of Lois Lane and the destruction of Metropolis led Superman to become a totalitarian dictator, which is closer to the trajectory of The Boys' fascist-leaning Homelander.
Since Brainiac is an intergalactic threat who forcibly controls the Justice League the conflict in KTJL is essentially a traditional comic book narrative about a battle against a supervillain. The Boys follows in the footsteps of The Watchmen, Alan Moore’s highly political subversion of superhero media. These works analyze the roles of superheroes in society, with characters like The Comedian and Homelander who serve as jingoistic icons of American might while harboring intense bigotry and propensity for violence. Suicide Squad: KTJL could have secret villains beyond Brainiac, which might make for an interesting twist, but it is unlikely to add themes to its story beyond those already present. The comparisons to The Boys remain superficial, therefore, but there are enough of them that fans of the gritty comic and TV series may find enjoyment in KTJL.
Suicide Squad: KTJL May Be The Closest Thing To A Game Version Of The Boys
In the third season, Queen Maeve, the series’ Wonder Woman analogue, fought with The Boys against Homelander. Wonder Woman is the one Justice League member not under Brainiac’s control in KTJL, so it is reasonable to expect a similar vibe if Wonder Woman battles a mind-controlled Superman alongside a ragtag group of criminals. Apart from Hughie, a character who grew over time, the of The Boys are exceptional humans with well-developed skill sets, with or without powers. The pill developed by Lex Luthor in Injustice provided a rationalization for non-powered characters going toe to toe with superhumans in the fighting game, and compound V-24 provided a similar plot device in The Boys’ latest season.
The Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League deserves to capture the feeling of playing rejects of society who have the audacity to stand against their world’s godlike champions and walk away victorious.
