'Justice League vs. Suicide Squad' Is an Epic Team-Up, Not a War

The two most elite factions of the DC Universe will go head-to-head this November in Justice League vs. Suicide Squad, but the fight won’t be long. At New York Comic Con, series writer Joshua Williamson told Inverse that a third threat will eventually force the two teams to begrudgingly work together.

Have no fear, though. If you want a brawl, they’re still going to go at it. “They fight a lot and it’s brutal for both teams,” says Williamson, careful not to reveal too much. “I think people will be surprised by the things that happen. And there is another team.”

Aiming to write a story about “redemption and corruption,” Williamson said the inclusion of Killer Frost expanded the title beyond a fight book. “That is where a lot of ideas of redemption and corruption came through,” he said of Killer Frost. “For me there are times where I think the Suicide Squad is almost a “second chance” for some characters, but it’s really not. There are moments in [the book] where they are finding redemption and the Justice League accepting some of that.”

“These characters change and go through this experience that is unexpected and is necessary and showing, ‘Is there redemption for some of these characters? What got them there?’” added Williamson. “The other [theme of the book] is corruption, the corruption of a character and how it’s easy to go after someone and kill them. To corrupt them is something much more powerful.”

As for what pits the League against the Squad, it’s all on Batman finally deciding to act. “Task Force X is not new to him,” says Williamson. “What happens in the Batman book I Am Suicide, he goes on a mission with them and witnesses what they are. He’s been building a file, but the problem is that going up against Waller is very challenging. Something happens in Suicide Squad that sets things off and starts sending him on this path of, ‘We need to stop this.’”

Williamson also said that he had been working on the crossover series for DC before the mid-credits scene of David Ayer’s Suicide Squad. “As I was working on this story, I saw Suicide Squad. There’s a teaser at the end with Batman. I was already working on Justice League vs. Suicide Squad, so when that happened in the movie, I was like, ‘This is going to be really cool.’ It just makes me more excited. I’m having a lot of fun working on it.”

Justice League vs. Suicide Squad #1 goes on sale December 21.