‘Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’ confirms the forgotten ‘Arkham’ game is still canon

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is finally out and, mercifully, it’s not the disaster everyone had feared. It’s not what fans wanted from a sequel to Arkham Knight and is far from a perfect game, but there is some enjoyment to be had battling through Metropolis in the wake of Brainiac’s invasion.

One of the best moments comes early on when you’re taken through “The Batman Experience”. In the Arkham-verse Batman’s secret identity was revealed at the end of Arkham Knight, which eventually led to him joining the Justice League and becoming a more visible and public hero.

The experience is effectively an in-game museum, explaining the plots of Arkham Asylum, Arkham City and Arkham Knight and outlining their key characters. But there’s one notable exception from the exhibit: 2013’s Arkham Origins.

The ignored ‘Arkham’ game

Developed by WB Montreal rather than Rocksteady, this prequel to Arkham Asylum is set early in Batman’s career when he’s an urban legend feared and hated by the GCPD. The game shows Batman’s first encounter with the Joker and the beginning of his friendship with Commissioner Gordon, as well as rounding out his motivations and character.

But, sadly, Origins has been almost entirely ignored in recent years. It’s failed to appear on the HD re-releases and, at first glance, Suicide Squad also seems to pretend it didn’t happen. But there’s a very obscure Easter Egg that indicates Origins is definitely still canon.

The ‘Night of the Assassins’

Arkham Origins story is driven by Black Mask putting a hit out on Batman and inviting eight of the world’s top assassins to compete against one another for the prize. They are: Deathstroke, Bane, Copperhead, Firefly, Electrocutioner, Killer Croc, Shiva, and Deadshot. The bounty is only available for one night, Christmas Eve.

This is directly referenced in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. In the opening cutscene, we see into Deadshot’s cell in Arkham where, just to his left there’s an issue of the Gotham City Herald newspaper with the headline “Night of the Assassins”. So, while the game isn’t dwelling on Origins‘ story, it’s clear that as far as Rocksteady is concerned, the game is still canon.

The only thorny question remaining is that the Suicide Squad Deadshot doesn’t seem to be the same as the Arkham Origins Deadshot (without getting into why this is explained in the game), but we guess this version is merely keeping track of the other assassin who cares his codename.

Now, where’s the HD re-release of Origins?