When it comes to the video game sector, there's no doubt that DC has been performing exceedingly well. The Arkham Batman titles stand as (arguably) the best superhero games of all time, and the trend looks set to continue with the Injustice series. Injustice: Gods Among Us was a huge surprise for gamers in 2013. Developed by NetherRealm Studios (who were behind the two most recent Mortal Kombat titles), the game was a massive hit, allowing players to engage in one-on-one slugfests with their favourite DC supeheroes. Yesterday, the studio released a teaser trailer announcing the long-awaited sequel, Injustice 2. DC creative officer Geoff Johns and NetherRealm Creative Director Ed Boon sat down with Rolling Stone to talk about the game and the wider DC universe.
One element of the trailer that confused some fans was the constant array of armour that formed over the heroes during battle. According to Boon, every character in Injustice 2 will have "a vast, vast array of what we're calling gear". This "gear" will be costume pieces and equipment that are used to upgrade your abilities during the game. The superhero you start controlling at the beginning of the game won't have the same skills as the one you end with. Players will determine whether they want more speed, more health, more strength, and the like. "There are thousands and thousands of pieces for, let's say, the Flash," he says. "You are in the constant process of making your version of the Flash." Rolling Stone also states that the game's story will continue from the previous installment, which featured the heroes of the DC universe fighting against a dictator Superman and his regime from an alternate universe.
According to Johns (who wrote DC: Rebirth and is currently in charge of the creative direction for the cinematic DC properties), games such as Injustice as great for enriching the DC experience with fans. "When I was a kid, my dream would have been for them to do a DC fighting game," he said. "To me, it's a giant creative cycle. You have comics that influence the games, and then Arkham influences the look of a show like Gotham. It just goes round and round and round." Of course, fans noted some obvious influence from the series in Batman V Superman, which had a sequence depictiong a dystopian future not so different from the one seen in Injustice. Could this mean a similar story is on the way for the films? Johns remained coy on whether the game stories could influence the DCEU. "Some of it's true, and some of it might be coincidence," Johns says. "But yeah, absolutely [it could]."