A Rant About Flash and Captain Boomerang in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
This post will contain spoilers for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League under the cut.
So, I watched a video of the cutscenes of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and....well...let's just say that it frustrated me enough that I rage-quit watching part of the way through. (Usually, I don't rage-quit stories, because usually I don't hear about the stuff that would make me rage quit until after the story has been out for awhile, and so I don't get caught off-guard by it. This is one of the few times where a story managed to catch me off guard with a plot point I hated enough to make me quit.)
But I'll cover the non-spoilery Flash-related stuff (which did not make me rage quit) first:
-For the most part, the game pretty much nailed Captain Boomerang. He was an utter scumbag, but he was also really funny and more competent than you'd expect---so pretty much exactly what Digger is supposed to be.
-That being said, I think the game might have gone a little TOO far in making him a scumbag? Like, I know that's a part of his character, but after a certain point, he becomes a bit too unlikeable to be a main protagonist. It definitely doesn't help that positioning the Squad against the Justice League means that there isn't the mitigating factor of him fighting people who are even worse than he is.
Basically, if Digger has to fight---and win against--- the Justice League for plot reasons, maybe don't make him as awful as the nastiest versions of his comic book self? It makes him winning fights against heroes, mind-controlled or otherwise, VERY unpalatable.
-Also, he should have used boomerangs more and guns less. I know this is partially for gameplay purposes, but he's Captain Boomerang, not Captain Shotgun. He can use boomerangs to do anything---so why not lean into that?
-Between the super speed gauntlet and the fact that he has to win fights against the Justice League, I almost feel like Owen should have been this game's Captain Boomerang. Owen fighting the mind-controlled Justice League would be a lot more pleasant than maximum-jerkwad Digger fighting them---since, y'know, Owen is actually nice most of the time. He'd be a lot easier to root for.
-In spite of the fact that the game seemed to have a fairly good grasp on Digger, I can't say the same for its grasp on the Flash. I don't know why DC has been having so much trouble with adapting the Flash as of late, but it's getting very frustrating.
-More specifically, the game features the not-so-triumphant return of what I call Warry (the hybridized Flash that mixes elements of Barry and Wally together). He has Barry's name (and eye color), but he's hot-headed, brash, and impulsive, and the rest of the Justice League treats him like a rookie. In other words, his personality and relationship with the League are very reminiscent of Wally. This is a very, very, very longstanding issue of Flash adaptations, but I'm not thrilled to see it happen again.
-Although that's not really the worst part. The worst part is that this version of the Flash is just....really annoying. Like, more annoying than Wally at his worst. He honestly feels like Axel Walker cosplaying as the Flash. (Granted, part of that might be because he spends over half the game being all evil due to Brainiac's mind control, but even before that he seemed very, very young and somewhat obnoxious.)
-It also didn't help that I found the sound of his voice to be annoying. The performance itself was good, there was just something about the voice itself that rubbed me the wrong way. Digger had an abrasive voice, too, but he's supposed to be annoying and abrasive, so having an annoying voice made sense for him. Not so much for the Flash.
And then there was the thing that made me rage-quit the game (SPOILERS AHEAD):
And then the Suicide Squad killed the Flash. Like, for-real killed him. (I mean, I know that the game is called "Kill the Justice League"....but I didn't expect them to ACTUALLY kill the Justice League. I was assuming that it was hyperbole for the sake of a cool game title, especially since having the Justice League get killed would be really depressing. I am not happy to be proven wrong.)
And yes, I know that within the context of the game, killing the Flash is the only way to stop him, but it still feels like a total cop-out given how many superhero stories involve mind-control, and how many of those stories prove that there are a hundred other ways for characters to snap someone out of mind control.
And if for some reason the character HAD to die, it feels really mean-spirited to let maximum dirtbag Captain Boomerang be the one to do it. I love Captain Boomerang, but I have never wanted to see him kill the Flash. Because I like the Flash, and I like it when the good guys, y'know, win.
And that is why I rage quit watching Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League.
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Back in Gotham
I'm back ~~ and boy did I forget how gloomy this place is
There are a few things in Gotham that I would happily admit as something I would miss:
Gotham University for one. The Psych Department really is just the best, especially with the amount of research and materials we have access to. Not to mention, first-hand accounts!
Watching out the window at night. We don't really tend to see the Flashes when they do their crime-fighting, just the end part (or when they're running an eat-all-you-can place to the ground)
Uhh.. I can't think of another thing I'd miss. I mean. I'd say seeing the Waynes, but the only one I ever see is that caffeine addict
.... I forgot why I made this list in the first place.
Oh well
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