Here’s what happened to Batman between Arkham Knight & Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
We all thought it was the end for Batman after the way that Arkham Knight ended back in 2015, but here he is alive and - well, he’s seen better days - in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
The latest multiplayer co-op shooter from Rocksteady Studios is set in the same universe it’s spent its last three games building up, with characters like Harley Quinn, The Penguin, and Batman himself all reprising their roles from the same universe.
However, there’s been a massive five-year time jump between the events of Arkham Knight and Suicide Squad. So, here’s what you need to know about the events that happened in between.
Batman faked his own death
Click to enlargeIf you were dedicated enough to get the Knightfall Protocol ending in Arkham Knight, you’ll know that Batman led the world to believe that he was dead. After defeating Scarecrow and the rest of the villainy plaguing Gotham, he ensured that he was seen entering Wayne Manor in his Batman attire, shortly before the entire building went up in flames.
However, a post-credit scene later showed a couple of thugs terrorising citizens in Crime Alley once again, a street that you’d have thought Gotham’s elite would know to avoid by now. Before they can deal any real damage, a Batman-like figure appears on the rooftops above, only to explode into a fit of fiery fear that’s reminiscent of Scarecrow’s fear toxin.
The ending of Arkham Knight was open to interpretation. Throughout the events of the game, a side-quest led players to believe that Batman was training Azreal to take on the cowl after Bruce Wayne snuffed it. Alternatively, Rocksteady might have followed in Christopher Nolan’s footsteps and had Batman fake his death.
Now that we’ve played some of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, we know that it’s the latter. Bruce Wayne did fake his own death, only for him to return to the limelight a few years later.
Batman joins the Justice League
Click to enlargeWhile Batman was dead in the eyes of the world, metahumans started to emerge in the Arkhamverse. Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and The Flash started to crop up and eventually formed the Justice League to keep the world safe from villainous threats.
It’s then that the Justice League ends up finding Batman and convincing him to come out of hiding, As such, Batman joined the Justice League alongside the metahumans with the whole world now knowing his true identity. After all, that was revealed by Scarecrow during the events of Arkham Knight.
So to recap, by the time the events of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League roll around, Batman has had his identity revealed, faked his death and gone into hiding, and then re-emerged from hiding to join the Justice League. Oh, and Brainiac has descended upon the Earth and possessed him for his own nefarious purposes.
We know all of this thanks to an early mission in Suicide Squad that takes the crew to the ‘Batman Experience’ in a museum. While wandering its halls, you can interact with a bunch of buttons that essentially recap the events of the previous Arkham games. At the end, you’ll see a mural of Batman and Superman shaking hands. Interacting with this gives a very brief summary of everything that happened between the end of Arkham Knight and Suicide Squad.
You’re all caught up! If you’re looking for more Suicide Squad guides, we’ve got plenty more on our homepage. We’ve covered the complete cast list, as well as the DLC roadmap for the future content coming later down the line. Looking for similar games to play? Check out these other games that you could play instead of Suicide Squad.
