Kill The Justice League’s Joker Traversal is Really Strange

April 16, 2024

Highlights

The Joker’s rocket umbrella in Suicide Squad is a headscratcher, as it’s traditionally Penguin’s signature weapon, leaving players puzzled.
The game’s alternate version of The Joker using a Penguin-like umbrella hints at a potential backstory twist that is yet to be fully explored.
However, with no meaningful story content for the character thus far, it’s unclear if fans will get answers as to why Joker is using a rocket umbrella.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has arguably made some questionable decisions with the various characters it has included from DC’s roster, and the newest addition of The Joker raises some serious questions. The Joker was the first big post-launch update after Suicide Squad‘s launch, but when it comes to the character’s mode of traversal across the game’s map, developer Rocksteady has made an interesting choice.

It’s not exactly been smooth sailing for Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad game since launch. The game failed to meet the sales expectations of Warner Bros. and even led PlayStation to offer refunds to some players who were unhappy with the game’s performance. After the success of Rocksteady’s Arkham series, Suicide Squad‘s focus on live service gameplay just didn’t land as well as the studio’s previous projects. While the launch of Season 1 of Suicide Squad was a chance to bounce back with the inclusion of The Joker, one major aspect of the character’s kit is a head scratcher: his rocket umbrella.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and Gotham Knights have fallen flat with players, which means Monolith’s Wonder Woman will have a lot to prove.

The Joker’s Umbrella Is a Staple Weapon For Another DC Villain

In order to get across Suicide Squad‘s map, The Joker uses a rocket-powered umbrella. The mode of transportation is indeed a fun way to get around Metropolis, but the rocket umbrella isn’t a Joker staple at all, as instead, fancy umbrellas are the signature weapon of the Penguin. While Penguin’s umbrellas usually offer built-in weapons like blades and guns, the site of another DC villain using an over-the-top umbrella is startling nonetheless. Certain character changes in Suicide Squad have been divisive for some players, and The Joker seemingly having Penguin’s umbrella, or one similar to it, doesn’t make much sense for the villain.

The Origins of The Joker’s Rocket Umbrella

The Joker’s use of this high-tech umbrella might make one wonder whether the item is actually Penguin’s or not. Although Penguin is in Suicide Squad, the game’s version of The Joker is an Elseworld variant, so perhaps he could have gotten the umbrella from another variant of Penguin. This could be an explanation that might make its way into Suicide Squad‘s story later on, but it’s interesting that it’s never addressed outright, since Penguin’s umbrella weapons are one of the most iconic parts of the character.

Elseworld stories are alternate reality narratives that don’t take place inside the established canon of DC Comics.

Suicide Squad’s Take On The Joker

This isn’t the only strange direction that Suicide Squad has taken with The Joker. From The Joker not interacting with other characters to the absence of any meaningful story around the iconic villain, the choice to give him Penguin’s well-established weapon of choice is another odd choice. For this to be such a well known character trait for Penguin, it will be interesting to see if Suicide Squad ever acknowledges this. Since this is obviously a younger version of The Joker, he could still be finding his way as a villain, leading him to potentially steal the idea from Penguin simply because he thought it was cool. However, without a substantial story revolving around the character, these questions remain unanswered.

Suicide Squad’s Future Content

Although the handling of The Joker in Suicide Squad is different from what was expected, there is still a chance that the game dives deeper into the character in the future. This is just an introduction, after all, so more backstory behind this version of The Joker would be great to see. Thanks to leaks, there is already news of Suicide Squad‘s future content, as the game is supposedly planning to introduce Deathstroke to the mix. With more villains on the way, deeper stories revolving around Task Force X will hopefully follow.

Since Suicide Squad is a live service title, regular updates will play a major role in the game’s longevity, and it would be a letdown if The Joker was purely added as a way to get players excited about Season 1’s gameplay with no plans to showcase more of the character’s story. DC games have experienced a rough patch, but hopefully The Joker and his random use of a rocket-powered umbrella will eventually be explained.