Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League ending explained: Did Arkham Batman really die?

The final update for Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League has confirmed a major twist: Batman never actually died. This was revealed through a short animated cutscene at the conclusion of the game’s final battle against Brainiac. In this ending, which many believe is a last-minute retcon, Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League confirmed the whole league is alive except Wonder Woman.

Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League was doomed from the start. Other than serving a clunky action game that unnecessarily had live service, the narrative team decided it would be a great choice to kill off one of the most beloved depictions of Batman in the history of gaming in the most brutal and disrespectful way possible.

However, with the new ending, they flipped the script and said it was all for nothing.

Note: Aspects of this article are subjective and reflect the writer's opinions.

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How Batman and the Justice League survived in Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League

Yeah, Batman is still Alive (Image via Warner Bros. Games)

In the game, Harley Quinn, who debuted as the sidekick of Batman’s nemesis Joker, kills Batman by beating him with the help of her team of villains and then shoots him in the face.

While killing off an iconic character in such a way is controversial enough, the developers at Rocksteady made things worse by confirming this Batman is in fact the protagonist of the highly successful and praised Arkham series.

However, the final update overturned this moment by revealing that the Batman who was killed was nothing more than a Brainiac-created clone. This twist applied not only to Batman but to the entire Justice League.

However, Wonder Woman is the only member of the League who actually died in the game, which is somewhat ironic because there have been multiple criticisms about how that game is biased towards her.

The Justice League is also still alive (Image via Warner Bros. Games)

There has been speculation about whether Rocksteady intended for this twist from the beginning or if it was a last-minute decision to salvage fan goodwill. According to reports and data-mining efforts from the game’s launch, there were signs pointing to the clone twist all along, particularly in some of the story beats involving Green Lantern and The Flash.

Despite the revelation of Batman being alive, his role in the finale is minimal. He appears only briefly in the animated cutscene, where he punches Brainiac and confirms his survival.

Notably, Kevin Conroy, the iconic voice of Batman passed away before the game’s release and did not have any newly recorded lines in this update. If anything for Batman’s return was recorded, it was not used in the final cut.

The twist that Batman and the Justice League are alive has significant implications for the Arkhamverse, but not necessarily positive ones. While this means that the timeline technically remains intact with a live Batman, the handling of the story and the revelation itself is rather subpar. Some believe that the events of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League should be dismissed as an “Elseworlds” story.