Is the Justice League dead by the end of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League?

Unlike most other superhero games, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League puts players in the shoes of the bad guys and gives them the impossible mission of taking down DC's most popular and beloved saviors. So it doesn't come as a surprise that such a premise was met with a lot of skepticism when it was first revealed. Players argued that maybe Rocksteady would surprise everyone with a big plot twist near the end where it's revealed that Batman, Green Lantern, Flash, Superman, and Wonder Woman were all alive and well.

Now that the video game is finally out, we have a real answer for such a big question, but it may not be as forward as it initially appears. Needless to say, there will be major spoilers ahead for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. If you want to be surprised by everything the game has to offer, I would advise playing it for yourself and coming back later for a little speculation time.

Still here? Great. Then let's get right into it.

Does the Justice League die?

The short and forward answer is: yes. The Arkham-verse version of the Justice League is really dead by the time the credits roll and Braniac is taken down. There's no major plot twist near the end, nor time-traveling-shennanigans involved. There are alternate universes in the game's story, but they don't play any role whatsoever in the League's passing. This means that the heroes who met their end at the player's hands in the campaign are the real deal. The protagonist of the beloved Batman: Arkham Saga met his end once and for all. No fakeouts.

... Or at least that's what the game wants us to believe.

See, I don't want to get my hopes high and think DC's heroes could make a comeback. But if they do indeed survive the events of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, we would be able to look back at all the evidence given through the events of the game and think "Man, it was so obvious they weren't really dead". Yes, it's conspiracy time, everyone.

The Flash that dies is from another dimension

The first hero the Suicide Squad takes down in Rocksteady's latest projects is the Flash. His death takes place on camera, with players being able to see how he's shot down once and for all. However, there's one minor detail that could hint this specific version of the fastest man alive is from another world, and that is... he has all five fingers in both of his hands.

See, at the beginning of the game, Captain Boomerang cuts Barry Allen's left thumb off with a boomerang. As a result, the next time we see the corrupted superhero, he's using a prosthetics of sorts which can be better seen in the following video at the 2:29 mark:

Notice how he's using what appears to be a blue-metallic thumb on his left hand? It makes total sense considering he lost that very same finger earlier. However, when players finally take the Scarlett Speedster down, his real thumb is attached once again to his body, except no prosthetics are involved this time around. You can take a look at his magically cured hand at the 47-second mark in the following video:

It's pretty well known that The Flash has an insanely fast healing factor. However, he's not able to regrow lost limbs. That could mean that the Barry we all see die comes from another world where he never lost his left thumb in the first place. Besides, all throughout his boss fight we see how multiple copies of the Scarlet Speedster appear on the screen at the same time.

At first, I thought he just moved so fast we could see him at different places all at once. But maybe there are two versions of Barry involved in this boss fight; the real one from our world with the prosthetic finger (who would go on to survive), and an alternate version who eventually dies at the hands of the Suicide Squad.

I know it could seem far-fetched to draw such a bold conclusion based on a rather small detail. But this is Rocksteady we're talking about. The very same developers that hinted early on in Batman: Arkham City that the Joker was secretly Clayface. And it was all thanks to a seemingly unimportant detail as well; the Clown Prince of Crime lacked a skeleton when scanning him in Detective Mode:

Now that we know how The Flash could've survived the events of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, it's time to look at how Green Lantern could've done the same.

There was no blood when Green Lantern died

Amanda Waller orders the Suicide Squad to take down the Green Lantern so that the shield he created around Brainiac's ship would disappear. However, after Deadshot fires the bullet that seemingly puts an end to John Stewart's life... the shield is still up. Even Captain Boomerang notices this incongruency and asks Floyd if he missed the shot.

But there's also another interesting detail that hints the Green Lantern is still alive. If you look closely, you'll see there's no blood surrounding his head, even if he was shot right between the eyes. The only place where there's a splash of blood is below his hand, where King Shark cut his finger off. All of this can be seen in the 4:47 mark on the following video:

Maybe Deashot fired John Stewart with a blank bullet, explaining the lack of blood around his head whilst he does have an actual injury in his right hand. At first, I thought maybe Rocksteady didn't want to be too graphic with the hero's deaths, giving a solid explanation for this whole confusing moment. But when Batman's death finally takes place, we do see how the Dark Knight bleeds from his head after also being shot. Speaking of which...

Batman's death could be an hallucination

Out of every member of the Justice League, Batman had the most convincing death (aside from Wonder Woman, of course, who turned into dust a la Avengers Infinity War). There are no incongruencies before, during, or after his perish. Truth be told, everything seems to check out just fine. It wouldn't surprise us if he's the only hero who doesn't make a comeback, considering Kevin Conroy, the legendary voice behind the Cape Crusader, unfortunately, passed away.

However, it's worth noting that the only "convincing" death of the whole game took place after the Suicide Squad overdosed on Scarecrow's fear toxins, which are famous for creating all kinds of hallucinations. Take Batman: Arkham Knight, as an example. In that game, players saw Oracle die right in front of their eyes, only to be later revealed that it was all one big fakeout created by Scarecrow's fear toxin.

What could take this theory down is that Superman also saw Batman's corpse, even when the Man of Steel wasn't drugged. But maybe Harley Quinn did shoot the Cape Crusader, except his cowl (which should be able to stop bullets) saved him. The only hallucination could come in the form of the blood surrounding him, and what the Man of Steel saw was just a pretty beaten-down Bruce Wayne.

Superman could've also survived

Last, but not least, we need to talk about Superman's apparent death... or rather lack thereof. Yes, we do see him plummet down and lay on the floor with a lot of scars. But unlike Batman, who we saw was bleeding after being shot in the head, there's nothing that indicates Superman is gone for good. If the rest of the League does come back in post-launch seasons of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, the Man of Steel could easily return as well with Rocksteady claiming he never died in the first place, and instead, he was only heavily injured.

Speaking of which, we can see how every hero's corpse is transported back to Brainiac's ship after they meet their apparent demise. And wouldn't you know it, but that's the place where Superman goes to be stabilized after being stabbed with a giant piece of kryptonite by Wonder Woman at an earlier point in the game.

As far as we know, the Justice League is truly gone in the Arkham-verse. But since Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has a lot of post-launch, story-based additions planned, Rocksteady could still rectify things and bring DC's most iconic heroes back. After all, some pieces are already in place for that to happen.