The following contains story spoilers for Rocksteady Studios’Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
Summary
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s narrative sees the squad recruiting multiple allies, many of which are famous DC villains — like Poison Ivy and Penguin.Among those allies formed is Lex Luthor, though a different version of himself than the one the squad encounters in the game’s first act. In a surprising twist around halfway throughKill the Justice League’s story, Flash kills Luthor and the squad finds themselves in a parallel universe where they encounter Lex-2, a version of Luthor he had been working with to take down Brainiac before his untimely death.
After Lex-2 and the squad become acquainted with one another, he helps them get back to their world and eventually allies with them in their endeavors to take down the Justice League. Throughout the remainder ofSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s story, Lex-2 regularly proves to be a trustworthy and formidable ally, as his genius ideas for how to subdue the Justice League continually fulfill his promises of their effectiveness. However, despite all that Lex-2 has done for the Suicide Squad and their hard-boiled boss, Amanda Waller, the game may be quietly teasing his betrayal through a brief bit of endgame dialogue.
While exploring Metropolis duringKill the Justice League’s endgame, players can hear Brainiac frequently chime in to speak to each member of the squad in an attempt to intimidate them or run them off. Most of the archvillain’s comments center around each of the squad member’s fears or self-image, but he will occasionally make moves to plant seeds of doubt in their minds about those they are associated with. In one particular line of dialogue, Brainiac mentions Lex-2 and seems to tease his coming betrayal of the team.
“Has Luthor told you that your arrangement is mutually beneficial? Hm? I’ve seen his work before — betrayal is his modus operandi,“Brainiacsays. This is probably one of his most random bits of dialogue, as it has nothing to do with the Suicide Squad themselves. As such, it’s more than worth considering, especially if Brainiac truly does know something about Lex-2 that the squad is unaware of. Brainiac could very well be lying about Lex-2, but his experiences with other Lex Luthors may be enough to validate the truth of this comment, making it a valuable means for dividing the rest of the team against him.
“Has Luthor told you that your arrangement is mutually beneficial? Hm? I’ve seen his work before — betrayal is his modus operandi,” Brainiac says.
Though the rather revealing dialogue that seems to tease Lex-2’s eventual betrayal randomly occurs in its endgame,other lines of dialogue inSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguereveal moreabout Lex-2’s personality and potentially his intentions as well. For instance, during Chapter 4, when the squad finds out that Amanda Waller has been aware of their attempts to work with Lex-2 under her nose, she says of Lex-2, “This Luthor’s even slimier than the last one.” While it could be argued that every member of the team is “slimy” to some extent due to their criminal pasts, this comment about Lex-2’s dishonest nature stands out.
It’s currently unclear whether Lex-2 will eventually betray the group, but the chance shouldn’t be ruled out, especially in light of the villain’s canonical history and the comments made about him duringSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s storyand endgame. He does comment at one point that he simply “wants [his] city back,” but that could simply mean that he wants control of it handed over to him. After all, his Metropolis has been lost to Brainiac, along with everyone else in the world, so his only option then is to vie for control of the Metropolis he now calls his home.
