As both DC and Marvel get their respective shared cinematic universes up and running, to one degree of success or another, the attempt is now being made to refashion their comic book universe counterparts to reflect their big-screen brethren as closely as possible. If millions of people are flocking into movie theaters to spend time with these characters, why not try to lure them into (struggling) comic book shops, as well?
For DC’s part, that effort has fully manifested itself this year as DC Rebirth, a company-wide relaunch that has, not surprisingly, found a lot of emphasis put on both Suicide Squad, the latest film installment, and Justice League, next year’s big event. Indeed, DC has already announced a major title for release at the end of this year: Justice League vs. Suicide Squad – and it looks like a spoiler just got (inadvertently?) provided for the six-issue miniseries.
As part of the New York Comic-Con this past weekend (hat tip CBR), DC Comics offered readers the first glimpse at Justice League vs. Suicide Squad #1’s cover, and engaged in the mega-brawl with all the other familiar superhero (and villain) faces is none other than Captain Boomerang himself (played by Jai Courtney in the movie adaptation). What makes this so noteworthy is the little fact that, just last month, Digger Harkness was killed off in Suicide Squad #2 (by a returning General Zod, no less), getting vaporized and leaving behind only a pair of smoking boots, with his feet still inside them.
While this story is noteworthy for its extremely shortened death-to-resurrection time (seriously, three months has to be some kind of record, even for comic books), it should be of particular interest to movie fans, given the aforementioned efforts to collapse the comic and filmic versions of the DC Universe. After all, this new version of the Suicide Squad looks suspiciously similar to one that audiences saw in theaters just two months ago, featuring the likes of Deadshot (Will Smith), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Katana (Karen Fukuhara), and Enchantress (Cara Delevingne) (and, of course, Boomerang himself). And having Zod be the one who does the honors of shuffling the good Captain off of this mortal coil is certainly no accident, either; the former Kryptonian general featured heavily in both Man of Steel and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, for all those playing along at home.
In return, the big-screen DC Extended Universe has borrowed heavily from the print source material, utilizing elements from such titles as Superman: Birthright, The Death of Superman, and The Dark Knight Returns (you can read all about Frank Miller’s heavily influential take on Batman in our complete guide). As such, having Captain Boomerang bite the bullet (or, in this case, Kryptonian heat vision) in an upcoming Suicide Squad film isn’t out of the question. However, a giant showdown between Bruce Wayne’s (Ben Affleck) Justice League and Amanda Waller’s (Viola Davis) Task Force X is probably something that will be happening in the comic books only, until further notice.
What is the story behind the Justice League vs. Suicide Squad limited series, anyway? Bruce Wayne decides that it’s time to end Waller’s supervillain black-ops initiative for good (the Dark Knight has had a long and dubious relationship with the team for many years now), which leads to their two respective teams duking it out on the battlefield. In typical form, however – most recently in Batman V Superman – a greater threat eventually looms which causes the two rival factions to bury the superpowered hatchet and work together to save all of humanity.
Justice League vs. Suicide Squad #1 goes on sale on December 21, 2016.
Source: CBR
