Kevin Conroy's Controversial Final Batman Role Clarified In Suicide Squad Game Leak
You have to expect that there will be some caveats and asterisks when you see a title for a game like "Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League." After all, while comic book events and alternate universes are constantly teasing the deaths of Earth's protectors in one way or another, to kill off the whole team would be an incredibly audacious move.
Still, that's exactly what is being proposed as the premise for "Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League," and now a leak is suggesting that Batman (Kevin Conroy) goes out in an especially brutal fashion. Based on information obtained through an alpha test that was supposed to be confidential, new details have begun to trickle out, including a description of a scene depicting Harley Quinn (Tara Strong) shooting the Dark Knight in the head and using his corpse to make a Bat-signal.
Because this is famed Batman actor Kevin Conroy's final performance as the character following his death in late 2022, some fans are taking particular issue with this. There's controversy, even though the actor signed on to play the part willingly, as he previously voiced the Caped Crusader in all three mainline entries of developer Rocksteady's previous Batman: Arkham games.
As is often the case, it's likely that the heroes will be back
Of course, as many pointed out, Rocksteady couldn't have known Kevin Conroy would pass away when he did and that this would be his final performance as Batman. Still, those whipped into a frenzy by the "Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League" details may want to keep their outrage in check. Subsequent leaks have suggested that though Superman, the Flash (Scott Porter), Green Lantern, and Batman are supposed to be killed off throughout "Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League," the deaths are fake-outs, and the heroes will return in a series of forthcoming DLC.
If this is true, the Justice League members may even be playable when the DLC begins to trickle out. Other playable characters outside of Captain Boomerang (Daniel Lapayne), Harley Quinn, King Shark (Joe Seanoa), and Deadshot (Bumper Robinson) have also been supposedly leaked. This news comes from Miller Ross on X (formerly Twitter), who claims to have uncovered evidence that Killer Croc and Katana are playable in other pieces of DLC.
How could the heroes return from the dead in the DLC?
This information naturally begs the question of how the supposedly dead Justice League characters could return after the Suicide Squad kills them. However, as we mentioned, killing off iconic heroes has been a part of the comic book industry for decades, and the heroes almost always return eventually.
According to eXputer, the deaths of the Flash and Green Lantern contain hints that the murders are fake-outs. However, fans waiting to get the big picture need to be patient until the game releases on February 2 to get concrete answers on these and other mysteries from "Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League."
Meanwhile, a character like Batman has been known to fake his death on multiple occasions, including in the film "The Dark Knight Rises" and Frank Miller's seminal "The Dark Knight Returns." Ditto for Superman, who was famously brought back from the dead after the shocking 1990s comic book event, "The Death of Superman."
With these factors in mind, even the most ardent fans of Kevin Conroy's decades-long run as Batman needn't grab for their pitchforks quite yet. However, depending on how much dialogue has been recorded for the DLC, Rocksteady could face an even more insurmountable task: finding someone who can replace Conroy and voice Bruce Wayne.