Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Player Discovers Hidden Message, Sparks Rampant Speculation About the Return of a Famous Character

A Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League player has unearthed a hidden message that looks like a strong hunt at the return of a crucial character.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League spoilers follow.

In Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Harley Quinn kills a mind-controlled Batman in what has proven to be one of the most controversial story moments in Rocksteady’s looter shooter. This is the Batman from Rocksteady’s much-loved Arkhamverse, and so the cutscene sparked a vociferous debate about the character’s demise.

That, many players thought, was that. But could Batman return? A new video from Batman Arkham Videos suggests Batman is set for a return. As detailed in the video, Suicide Squad players can find 12 calendars throughout Metropolis, each highlighting a specific date. Importantly, the calendar for December features a bat symbol on the marked day, and is found in the location of a crucial Batman scene.

While this Easter egg appears to be the work of Batman supervillain Calendar Man, it is very much about Batman himself. As Batman Arkham Videos worked out, is that converting the dates into letters based on the day of the month, and sorting each letter in order by month, they spell out a hidden message: “He will return.”

As you’d expect, the discovery has caused the Suicide Squad community to excitedly predict how Batman might return. On the face of it, it seems unlikely (he was shot in the head after all). But there are all sorts of theories beyond the simple, ‘this is a comic book story so superheroes never die’ explanation. For example, some theorise the Justice League characters who are killed in the game are clones created by Brainiac, and the original characters are holed up somewhere for safekeeping. Another theory suggests multiverse shenanigans, which may or may not mean Batman from another universe turns up to save the day. Some even reckon the entire game takes place in an alternate universe separate from previous Arkham games.

There’s more: datamining has shown strong hints that Flash and Green Lantern are set to return in some form, so adding Batman to the list wouldn’t be a big reach. Officially, all we know is that Joker is set to arrive in Suicide Squad as a playable character. Other characters suspected to be on their way include Mrs Freeze (Nora Fries), Lawless, and Deathstroke.

But it’s the return of Batman that would be the highest-profile change, given how Suicide Squad’s story has gone down with some. Developer Rocksteady and publisher Warner Bros. have yet to comment.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].