Headscratchers / Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

The Batman Experience

• Why is an interactive museum about Batman in Metropolis? Shouldn't it be in Gotham?
  • There could be multiple museums across the country. Unless it's explicitly said it's the only one of its kind.

Deadshot's Race Lift

• If this takes place in the same universe as the "Arkham Games", why Deadshot has completely different appearance than the previous one?
  • There are such things as legacy characters. Batman has had nearly a dozen Robins. There have been multiple Clayfaces. It isn't that hard to imagine there are multiple Deadshots.
  • This Deadshot is confirmed to be Floyd Lawton, so a soft reboot may be in play here.
    • Likewise as both King Shark and Boomerang bite it in Arkham tie-in materials. Considering both are alive, this game can be seen as a soft reboot to the franchise and explaining their survival as being Only Mostly Dead and Death Is Cheap.
  • Between the release of Arkham Knight and this game, Suicide Squad (2016) came out where Deadshot was played by the black Will Smith. It would seem that Audience-Coloring Adaptation is in effect, as most audiences would be most familiar with the films version as opposed to either Comic or Arkham version of the character.
  • Superboy-Prime punched time.
  • Deadshot has re-vitiligo, the opposite of what Michael Jackson had.
• Some have theorized that the Flash changed the past to prevent Bruce Wayne's retirement/suicide at the end of Arkham Knight or other events in the timeline and created a new present where Brainiac invades Metropolis and a different Floyd Lawson becomes Deadshot.
• A promotional image on Twitter implies that the Deadshot from Arkham City and Arkham Origins is an imposter.
  • Was that Deadshot also the one from Batman: Assault on Arkham?
    • Yes. However, Rocksteady doesn't hold the movie as canon, since that Deadshot was about to snipe Waller at the end of the film.
    • The ARGUS tapes reveal the earlier Deadshot was from another universe and this one is the one native to the Arkham one.

Capt Boomerang

• An Australian accent and Super-Speed? Which Captain Boomerang is this supposed to be, father or son?
  • It's the Composite Character trope at work: this Capt Boomerang is a combination of both father (George Harkness, the original Captain) and son (Owen Mercer, who can use super-speed).
• Better question: how is he doing it? Did he somehow get superpowers or is there some kind of teleportation tech in his boomerang?
• The second trailer seems to show that it's part of the equipment they find in the Hall of Justice.
  • It's Speed Force through a gauntlet developed by Dr. Sivana.
• Similar to King Shark, how is Captain Boomerang still around? Didn't Deadshot kill him in a tie-in comic?
  • It seems like the movie and comic are pretty much non-canon, considering King Shark should also be dead.

King Shark is still alive?

• As happy as I am that this takes place in the Arkhamverse, that just leaves a gaping Plot Hole that is impossible to miss: King Shark's presence. How is he here? Last we saw him in Batman: Assault on Arkham, he had his head explode. How could he have possibly recovered from that?
  • Either that movie is now non-canon or he has a REALLY good Healing Factor.
  • Probably either that or another super-strong shark mutant. The Assault on Arkham King Shark is a gray dude with a mechanical jaw and a prominent mohawk. This one is a bluish literal shark-man with no neck and four fingers.
  • Maybe it's his son, Kid Shark, who took up his mantle/title upon his death, whether or not underwater monarchies work that way provided they're both royalty.
  • Rocksteady it seems doesn't hold tie-in material as canon. For instance, Batman: Arkham Knight establishes that Jason hunted Joker intending to kill him only to fall into a trap, but a comic says that Joker kidnapped Jason when he was unconscious following an explosion. Best to consider the movie non-canon at this point.

Why doesn't Brainiac utilize what the League knows/has access to?

• Brainiac has done the impossible and enthralled Superman, Green Lantern, Batman, and The Flash. They are entirely and completely bound to his will and will do whatever Brainiac wants without question, who utilize all of their knowledge, skill, and abilities to achieve those goals. Assuming this Brainiac has the same compulsion as other Brainiacs to integrate and consume all knowledge, he now has access to not only a fully intact Power Ring, but also Barry Allen, a scientist who figured out how to harness the Speed Force. Why would Brainiac not work to integrate these incredible and obviously useful properties into his ongoing invasion. Not only that but a substantial part of the plot is uncovering Batman's contingency plans as part of his Babel Protocol which would be used to take down the Justice League in the event any of them went rogue. Being aware of his wouldn't Enthralled Batman make Brainiac aware of these contingencies who could then use their functionally inexhaustible resources and knowledge base to counteract these contingencies before they can be implemented?
  • This version of Brainiac seems to be more focused on recreating his home world and as such is as much a egotistical dolt as a lot of other villains. He probably figured that if conquered the JLA, than whatever they know is of no use to him.

The Green Lantern Corps and how rings apparently work in this reality...

• Though I highly doubt I need to, I'll provide a primer of a few facets of the Green Lantern Corps, then move onto the issues.
  • The Guardians of Oa maintain, and run the Corps. They create new rings, send them out to find worthy bearers, and in general keep a tight chain of command. Different depictions have been kinder/harsher, but they do generally care about their Lanterns, and seek to maintain order and peace throughout the universe. They also are very strict and adverse to a Lantern going rogue, or misusing the emerald light of Willpower.
  • Lantern Rings are incredibly difficult to remove, no matter the color and possess a degree of sentience. When a bearer dies, or can no longer feel the wavelength of the emotional spectrum specific to that group, the ring flies off either back to base, or to find another suitable replacement in that sector. They also can speak to their wielder, report back status to home, and are generally tools to be used, and not a corruptive force...barring a few specific examples like Red or Orange.

• With that out of the way, we have a few issues. A) How did the Guardians, upon John Stewart becoming a thrall of Brainiac not immediately detect it and revoke his access to the Emerald light? He's now a puppet, and has one of the strongest weapons in any DC reality that is only limited by the imagination and will of it's user. That seems like an instant "Nope, recall that Ring now." B) Why did King Shark suddenly get the ability to use it, and also NOT have to say the Oath until he had already begun making a construct? While people have manged to use a ring they've taken before, not without difficulty and not without playing by the rules. And Shark doesn't seem to boast THAT much willpower to be frank. C) The rings aren't magic and while incredible feats have been achieved with them you can't go from not being able to do something to suddenly doing it. How was he able to destroy the shield with it when nothing was working earlier? Finally D) Why did the ring apparently go haywire requiring the Squad to pull it off him? And once they did, why did it just fall into the ocean? Shouldn't it have flown home since it's original bearer is now dead?
  • Brainiac's invasion spans 13 universes. It's possible Oa fell in one of those universes, giving Brainiac access to the tech. Also, not every version of the Lantern Rings are the same. Normally, the rings have a 24 charge and ultimately draw power from the Central Battery on Oa, by way of portable batteries used by the Lanterns themselves. In Static Shock Static is able to recharge John Stewart's ring, while in Green Lantern: First Flight the rings draw power from the Central Battery directly, and shut down if the connection is lost. Maybe Arkham-Verse rings aren't as sophisticated as other versions.
  • My guess is that Braniac subverted the ring just as much as it's bearer, getting through the Guardian's ability to recall it and restrict it's use (which would also explain why it just falls into the water when the Squad got it off Shark) , it may have also been part of what was controlling John, which meant that it was starting to put Shark under Braniac's influence, alternatively part of why the rings need someone of strong will is to prevent the energy of the rings overwhelming them, which Shark didn't have.
    • There's a certain amount of hazy precedent for AU stories where if something terrible happens to a GL, their ring doesn't immediately abandon ship. In D Ceased, Hal can still use his ring after he's infected; in DC vs. Vampires, Hal is turned before the story even starts, but his ring stays with him and even protects him from sunlight. You could definitely handwave this as Brainiac's process being as effective on the ring as John.
  • The Green Lantern Rings can be hacked or reverse engineered, and Brainiac is certainly smart enough to be able to figure out how.

Why doesn't Brainiac take the Suicide Squad and/or Amanda Waller under control?

• Is it ever explained what's stopping him from enslaving them like he did with GL and the remaining humanity?

Why does Brainwashed Batman leave all his anti-metahuman tech untouched for enemies to exploit?

• This applies to practically the whole game, but it's especially egregious when it comes to Wonder Woman infusing his stored piece of Kryptonite into her shield. By this point in time, it's been nearly three weeks since Brainiac has mind-controlled him, and it's not like he's a mindless zombie. All the brainwashed Justice League members still have their original personalities and intelligence. They're just loyal to Brainiac. Shouldn't the World's Greatest Detective have spent some time securing all his tech at least until Wonder Woman was also brainwashed/killed?

John Stewart being able to use the Green Lantern Ring post-brainwashing

• The Green Lantern Ring draws upon the wearer's willpower. How much willpower can a brainwashed wearer even have? Shouldn't he have transferred allegiance to the Yellow Corp or barring that, assuming he doesn't have much fear to draw from, the Red Corp since John clearly has plenty of hate in him?