As the legacy of the Injustice IP persists years after its most recent game release, its association with one of the most prominent superhero trends of the last decade has become a defining trait. By introducing an alternate vision of an evil Superman who sought world domination, Injustice started a narrative that would continue to see popularity across mediums for years to come. One of the key aspects of its perseverance lies in the series of comic book tie-ins that accompanied both games, and a fresh approach to these could help justify their presence in the next game's continuity.
Serving as fully canon parts of the franchise lore, the Injustice comic book series has focused on depicting the periods prior to the stories of the games as prequels. This has become a reliable formula for success that carried these print narratives for some time after the initial release hype around the games faded and, moving forward, the Injustice comics have the opportunity to lean into this scenario by veering away from the previous pattern and being sequels instead.
The Injustice Comics Series Made the Most of Its Source Material
Prequel Runs Have Neatly Wrapped Up the Entire Timeline
By filling in the gaps of entire years leading up to the present of the Regime timeline seen in Injustice: Gods Among Us, the comics left little room for ambiguity in the canon by their initial conclusion. The tie-ins associated with Injustice 2 followed suit by being set between the two titles' events, working with enough source material to run for several years.
The timeline made for the fighting games series with its most recent entry in 2017 has taken on a life of its own, made clear by the fact that the last collected edition of comics came out in 2021. The success of the Injustice comics justified the existence of even more than just the intended prequels, as they also ended up having a He-Man collaboration and a full spin-off focused on the same events as before, but from the perspective of Harley Quinn. Continuing this trend by further moving away from prequels could be the key to keeping the IP's momentum.
Shifting Toward a Sequel Direction Could Cement the Impact of Injustice 3's Comic Tie-In
Another Time Skip After Injustice 2's Cliffhanger Evil Ending for Superman Would Be a Wasted Opportunity
It's been largely assumed that the good ending of Injustice 2—siding with Batman against Superman—will be followed up on in the next game, as it leaves the setting relatively consistent with maintaining a similar roster and plot structure and provides the perfect foundation for another time skip for comics to focus on. The value of instead focusing on the consequences of the Superman-based ending, however, could make changing the format of the comics worthwhile.
If it features the Brainiac-empowered, "Collector of Worlds" Superman from the evil ending, the plot of Injustice 3 might be better served by picking up directly where its predecessor leaves off. In this case, keeping the plot going with a comic set after the events of the third title makes the most sense.
The Potential to Complement a Subversion of NetherRealm's Apparent Formula
Depending on the direction taken by a possible Injustice 3, there is a risk of burning out the concept of evil Superman, which was far more novel in 2011. Another prequel comic set while he is trapped in the Phantom Zone might not have the same issue, but a sequel story could still work if the next game's narrative ends up leaning more heavily into the foreshadowed evil Batman in the darker end route of Injustice 2.
Injustice 2
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 87 /100 Critics Rec: 97%
- Released
- May 11, 2017
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Alcohol Reference, Blood, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
- NetherRealm Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Warner Bros. Games
- Engine
- unreal engine 3, unreal engine 4
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Franchise
- Injustice
