Nearly a decade on from the release of its last game, Rocksteady Studios is finally about to re-enter the stage with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League– though perhaps not how many would have hoped it would. A live service looter shooter wasn’t something anyone would have anticipated (or hoped) Rocksteady would ever make, and the fact that that’s exactly what its next game is going to be hasn’t gone down well with a large section of the studio’s fanbase.
But though there’s no shortage of things that have sparked skepticism for nearly anything and everything to do with the upcoming Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, one part of the game – or one character, to be more precise – that we’re more than a little optimistic about is Harley Quinn, who may not have been part of the DC mythos for as long as so many of its most iconic villains have been, but has grown into an incredibly popular fan-favourite nonetheless. Set to return in Suicide Squad as one of four main playable characters, Harley is obviously going to be one of the game’s most vital elements, and based on her excellent portrayal in Rocksteady Studios’ Batman: Arkham games, there’s every reason to believe that she has a good chance of being one of Suicide Squad’s highlights- but what exactly can we expect from what role she will play in the game?
Harley Quinn is already one of DC’s most fascinating characters, but the fact that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is set in the same universe as the Batman: Arkham games makes her an even more intriguing prospect. There’s multiple reasons for that, chief among them being that given how much we saw of her throughout the Arkham games, there’s probably going to be more texture and depth to her characterization than there will be for most characters in the game. There are, of course, others in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League who’ve previously appeared in the Arkham games, but none of them had roles as prominent as that of Harley Quinn. That means we’re going to be much more familiar with her history and characterization in this particular universe, as well as her relationships with a number of other characters and narrative elements.
Take, for instance, the fact that the Arkhamverse’s Batman is set to appear in Suicide Squad, playing a major role as one of several Justice League members who have been brainwashed by Brainiac and have now been designated as targets to be killed by the titular Suicide Squad. Harley has obviously had her fair share of run ins with the Dark Knight in the Arkham series, and it probably wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to assume that she still holds a grudge for the part he played in the Joker’s death- which, in turn, means she’s going to be all too happy to have Batman in her crosshairs, likely without too many qualms about the fact that the man she’s hunting doesn’t have control over himself and his mind as things stand.
That history between Harley Quinn and Batman is also going to filter through in the actual gameplay, interestingly enough. Each of the four Task Force X members that will be playable at launch is going to have their own unique methods of traversal and moving through the open world of Metropolis, and where Harley is concerned, that will involve gadgets that she’s stolen from Gotham’s Caped Crusader, including his grapple gun and even a Bat Drone that she can use as a point to grapple to when needed. Whether that’s just a taste of tech stolen from Batman shaping her gameplay experience or the extent of it remains to be seen, but it’s nonetheless interesting to see how Rocksteady is leveraging the established history between the two characters.
Other characters from the Arkhamverse are set to return in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League as well, including some who have crossed paths with Harley Quinn in the past. For instance, there’s Oswald Cobblepot, also known as the Penguin, who serves as a weapons dealer for Task Force X during their time in Metropolis, providing them with anti-metahuman weaponry as they attempt to kill the superpowered Justice League. There’s also Floyd Lawton, aka Deadshot, who may not have had many interactions with Harley Quinn in the Arkham series (other than in the official prequel comic series for Arkham Knight), but like her, has an established history as a familiar character in Rocksteady’s universe.
The Riddler is also set to return in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and much as he did with Batman in the Arkham games, will be challenging Task Force X to solve puzzles scattered throughout the city of Metropolis. Whether or not he has an actual, prominent role to play in the main story itself remains to be seen, but if he does, we’d be surprised if his and Harley’s time together in Gotham City wasn’t brought up in any meaningful way. Same goes for Ivy, a reincarnated version of Poison Ivy- though she has no memories of her past life, Harley is obviously familiar with who she is, which means there’s some interesting storytelling potential where the dynamic between those two is concerned.
Of course, you can’t really mention Harley Quinn without also mentioning the Joker. Her character has been intrinsically tied to Joker’s for as long as she’s been around, something that more often than not tends to be central to her storylines across DC media- but with the Joker very conclusively dead at this point in the Arkhamverse, it should be interesting to see what that means for Harley Quinn’s arc. We’ve seen her grieve the Clown Prince’s death in the Arkham games, and we’ve seen what impact that had on her, which means it’s very unlikely that that’s going to be a prominent part of the story in Suicide Squad (unless Rocksteady just wants to tread over old ground again)- but again, we’d be more than a little surprised if the now-dead criminal mastermind didn’t exert at least some influence on Harley’s characterization and personal arc even from the grave.
Interestingly enough, leaks have claimed that the Joker is going to return as a playable post-launch character at some point down the line. How Rocksteady pulls that off remains to be seen – given that he was literally cremated on-screen, one would imagine doing so would be more than just a little complicated – but if he does return, seeing him and Harley Quinn sharing the screen again should prove to be fascinating.
One way or another, it’s clear that Harley Quinn is probably going to be one of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s most intriguing elements, especially where the story is concerned. Rocksteady has made several promises that in spite of its live service nature, Suicide Squad is still very much a cinematic, narrative-driven experience, and if that does indeed turn out to be true, Harley Quinn could potentially be a great centerpiece in that experience. Whether or not that experience will be let down by the game’s live service looter shooter trappings is, of course, the big question- though with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League set to launch imminently, we at least won’t have to wait too long to find out.
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