Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguehas some exciting implications moving forward as a continuation of the Arkhamverse, as well as featuring playable characters some fans may not be closely acquainted with yet. Even if fans think they know Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, and King Shark,Rocksteady’s universe is its own canonand can therefore surprise fans. One of these features is its cosmetic potential concerning which costumes and skins Task Force X may receive inSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
Task Force X are gifted back their traditional gear while on assignment, with what looks like the addition of some enhanced technology fromSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s Gizmo. But Rocksteady is already known for the cosmetic skins players could adorn to Batman throughout its previous Arkhamverse run, and it would be unsurprising to see the squad have their own related cosmetic skins in the future. Whether it decides to pick from one source or another, there are a few different outlets through whichSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguecan take inspiration for cosmetics.
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BecauseSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguebelongs to the Arkhamverse continuity, it has the exciting opportunity to adapt costumes and cosmetics for its characters across the entire canon. This includesBatman: Arkham Asylum,Batman: Arkham City,Batman: Arkham Origins, andBatman: Arkham Knight, as well as theBatman: Assault on Arkhamanimated movie. Harley would seemingly have the most cosmetic inspiration out of Task Force X when it comes to the Arkhamverse, simply because of all the appearances she has made as a prominent character in the canon.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leagueis technically a sequel for Harleynow that she is once again a playable character, and it would be nonsensical for the game to have cosmetics and not feature the costumes she was once featured in to establish that continuation. Meanwhile, Deadshot has looks fromBatman: Arkham City,Batman: Arkham Origins, andBatman: Assault on Arkhamthat the game could adapt.
Floyd Lawton’s ethnicity has always been rather ambivalent throughout source material, with different interpretations depicting him as Caucasian, Latino, or African-American. This is not an issue from continuity to continuity, but Rocksteady has interestingly chosen torace-swap Deadshot mid-continuity forSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. This has led to fans wondering if he is the same Floyd or another character entirely, but it makes little difference when it comes to potential cosmetics he may receive inSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
King Shark was only featured inBatman: Assault on Arkham, but the animated film’s more humanoid and horrific redesign for the character is outstanding nonetheless. Boomerang’s cosmetics will be limited in this regard for the same reason, but Rocksteady has the opportunity here to introduce original costumes and skins for them that allude to their history in the franchise.
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Rocksteady has demonstrated that it will not shy away from live-action inspirations for costume skins in its superhero games. Indeed,Batman: Arkham Knightincluded Adam West’s 60sBatman, Christian Bale’sThe Dark Knight, and Ben Affleck’sBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justiceas cosmetics.
Each member ofSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s Task Force Xhas fortunately been featured in live-action, but not altogether in the same movie or continuity. For example, David Ayer’sSuicide Squadfeatured Harley, Deadshot, and Boomerang, but not King Shark, while James Gunn’sThe Suicide Squadonly featured Harley and King Shark as prominent characters.
It seems appropriate thatSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguewould also feature Harley, then, as she appears to be a common through line for the team throughout source material and other iterations. Still, each character has at least one live-action movie skin that they could potentially receive as a result.
Other animated movies and series’ that are not part of the Arkhamverse canon may also be considered, such asBatman: The Animated Serieswhere Harley’s character debuted, or Boomerang fromJustice League UnlimitedorYoung Justice. These looks are fairly popular among fans of the extended universes, as those are the franchises fans may have grown up on and became knowledgeable about the characters through. As such, it would only make sense for Rocksteady to take them into consideration when it decides which skins it wishes to offer players.
Again, even in comic books and graphic novels, Harley likely has one of the widest costume catalogs to draw from. Deadshot, Boomerang, and King Shark are arguably more absent in comics that do not also feature Harley. Potential costumes will include her harlequin spandex and makeup, or perhaps her more modern garb. Deadshot has a lot of colorful costumes in the comics that Rocksteady could consider, as well as for Boomerang. However,King Shark’s alternate comic aestheticsmay be a bit more difficult to translate.
King Shark has distinctly resembled a hammerhead shark, and in another series wore a black unitard outfit. That said, some of his more unique looks from comics and movies would require Rocksteady to not only change what he wears, but also what his character model looks like.
There is still potential for this to be the case, but it may be unlikely due to how many changes would need to be made for each individual cosmetic skin, particularly due to how drastically his shape and size varies between iterations. The comic book iterations of many of these characters may have die-hard purists, and thus they should at least be considered as potential skins even if they are arguably more outdated or corny than other selections.
Outside the Arkhamverse, live-action movies, animated series’ or movies, and other source material, Rocksteady may still find inspiration elsewhere. For now, the default skinsarefantastic representations of each character inSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leagueand may be the skins that players choose to wear anyhow.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguereleases in early 2023 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
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