Quick warning: I’m gonna be delving into serious spoiler territory here, specifically regarding the video games “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League” and “The Last of Us Part II,” so proceed with caution. On that note…
About a month ago, Rocksteady Studios released “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League,” a spin-off to their acclaimed “Batman Arkham” video game series. In “Kill the Justice League,” Batman and the rest of the Justice League are put under irreversible mind-control by an alien conqueror, turning them into villainous shells of their former superhero selves. The player takes control of the Suicide Squad, a motley crew of convicted supervillains monitored by the government, and must save the day by — surprise! — killing the Justice League.
Following up on Rocksteady’s previous Batman games, there was no question that “Kill the Justice League” was on the radar for countless video game and comic book fans alike, but upon its actual release, reception was rather polarizing. A plethora of very fair and objective complaints have arisen, such as the gameplay itself being called dull and uninteresting. These are sentiments that I fully understand, and I should preface what comes next by admitting that I myself am not the biggest fan of this game. However, there is one particularly bitter complaint, one passionately held by many gamers, that’s been kindling discourse on sites like Twitter or Reddit. A complaint so bizarre, so disrespectful towards the work and sacrifice behind this game, so dangerously tied to greater forms of cultural prejudice, that I just cannot fathom it.
It’s that you have to kill the Justice League. In “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.”
I get being attached to fictional people. I mean, characters in every medium of storytelling are written with the specific intent of captivating audiences. And when a likable character dies a tragic death? It’s sad, and for many, tears may be shed. But when your attachment to a set of characters is so powerful that you genuinely can’t stomach them dying, and that compels you to shun an entire piece of media? That’s… different. But it isn’t just the Justice League dying in general that has gamers up in arms. There’s one particular digital man whose digital death has become the source of outrage and discourse: Batman.
In one of the game’s more climactic moments, the Suicide Squad manages to overpower a brainwashed Batman, subduing him and allowing his former nemesis Harley Quinn to bittersweetly execute him. And thus, the fans reacted with fury. “Oh no! How could they do that!? This game sucks and the writers need to be fired! How could Batman just die like that?” How about because it makes sense? Because it’s been built up throughout the game, especially as a final moment between him and Harley? It’s understandable to be upset — it’s Batman after all, and the scene was clearly meant to be tragic, but that doesn’t make it objectively wrong. Newsflash: stories can make you feel bad! Many times, they actively aim to! And that’s alright.
Admittedly, there is another factor at play here, but it’s one that makes this absurd outrage look even worse. See, this isn’t just a matter of personal attachment to a character, but also a matter of legacy. This wasn’t just any Batman, after all, but rather the Arkham Batman. He was the protagonist of his own trilogy of games, voiced (alongside countless other iterations of Batman) by the now-late legendary Kevin Conroy. This was indeed Conroy’s last time voicing the hero prior to his passing, and I do concede that it’s perfectly understandable to be upset at this turn of events. The last role for this legend, the man behind Batman’s most iconic voice, has Batman unflatteringly brainwashed and shot to death? It’s unfortunate.
However, this doesn’t justify vindictively labeling it an outright disrespectful or malicious act. Kevin Conroy wasn’t tricked or forced into becoming Evil Batman Who Dies, nor was the role done posthumously by some AI deepfake digital monstrosity. Conroy voluntarily reprised the role, the same role he had performed for three previous games, portraying a superhero he had been voicing for decades only this time in an antagonistic light. The role wasn’t written with his real-life passing in mind. If anything, taking the situation further and tarnishing the role could be seen as a greater sign of disrespect given the circumstances. This was Conroy’s final performance, after all, and the game itself pays the late actor a special dedication at its end. For people online to take the memory and legacy of this actual man and weaponize it for their own misgivings over a fictional death in a video game? That shows a complete lack of genuine respect or understanding over the situation.
It isn’t just Kevin Conroy who’s supposedly being disrespected here, however. We also need to consider the reputation, legacy, and feelings of our beloved Arkham Batman! Oh wait, Arkham Batman isn’t real. He’s fictional, and also dead. But he might not even stay dead! This is a superhero world, after all, where he can easily be revived, or saved through time travel, or whatever. All in all, is the reaction truly warranted?
The sad thing is, this isn’t an isolated incident. There are greater underlying issues present that have caused even worse outrage and even harassment in the past. Let’s look at another game that had a similar reception: “The Last of Us Part II.”
This is a very intense, story-driven game that starts with Joel, the protagonist of the first “The Last of Us” game, being tragically ambushed and killed by a woman named Abby. When “Part II” released in 2020, the backlash against this decision was, to put it simply, insane. The game was review-bombed on multiple websites, entire forums were created to hate on the game, and it ultimately got to the point that Abby’s actress, Laura Bailey, began receiving death threats. The situation blew up past any reasonable point, and it still isn’t even over. With the upcoming remaster and live-action series adaptation for “Part II,” the flames have been stoked once again. Look on Google Reviews right now, and you’ll find recent copy-pastes of the same inane ramblings. Why would all of this happen? Because they disrespected Joel, obviously! How could they do this to our hero!?
To truly grasp why this is an issue, one must look at the greater culture war these incidents have contributed to. Yes, a culture war. See, there are always certain circles of fans who like to come up with elaborate sociopolitical conspiracy theories as to why their beloved fictional manly men are dying. Dig around on Reddit or Twitter and you’ll find users complaining about how Batman and Joel are just more victims of the woke media’s relentless, brutal campaign against straight white cishet male characters. Obviously. Oh, and don’t forget how both of them were killed by women! And speaking of women, did you know the writing team for “Kill the Justice League” had women on it? Just goes to show how the Liberal Agenda is ruining our video games! Oh, and Abby? She’s pretty muscular and fit, so clearly she’s TRANSGENDER! …She isn’t, and why would that matter anyways?
Frankly, the way fans have reacted to these instances of character death is excessive, and often borders or crosses the lines of genuine delusion or toxicity. As I mentioned before, it’s symptomatic of greater underlying issues with how people view media. Personally, I feel like many audiences nowadays (especially gamers) have become so used to immersing themselves in a protagonist’s role and putting themselves in their shoes that the lines begin to blur. It isn’t just Batman or Joel being killed, but also the player controlling them, and the gamer who idolized them. Eventually, these kinds of deaths begin to feel like direct, personal attacks on their identity. It would explain the outrage, but no explanation is needed to see how this train of thought is unhealthy.
In reality, every narrative needs an ending, and that includes the stories of these characters. It just so happens that death is generally a good way to end one’s story — that’s how it works in real life, after all. So it shouldn’t be seen as so jarring, upsetting, or out of the realm of possibility in fiction. After all, you never know who could be next.
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