Injustice 3 should occur — and with these 7 upgrades Avid gamers Area

NetherRealm Studios’ model is bloody combating video games, although in 2013, it toned down the violence a tad for Injustice: Gods Amongst Us. Primarily based on the title, it might not have been even completely clear to Mortal Kombat followers that it was a combating recreation starring DC Comics heroes and villains, like Batman, Marvel Girl, and the Joker. However Injustice was a success for the studio, and spawned a sequel in 2017 that expanded the bizarre and wild world whereas providing the identical knuckle-busting gameplay.

Sadly, exterior of a tie-in comedian and an animated movie adaptation, the sequence has been dormant ever since. Regardless of the sequence’ sturdy gross sales and excessive overview scores, NetherRealm hasn’t delivered a sequel, as an alternative specializing in its Mortal Kombat franchise. Whereas we will actually hope the studio’s subsequent recreation is Injustice 3, and there are murmurs that it may be, NetherRealm hasn’t given any indication as to what it’s growing subsequent.

If an Injustice 3 had been to be introduced, there are some key adjustments and additions, in my humble opinion, that NetherRealm may make to raise the franchise.​​​​​​​ To your (and NetherRealm’s) consideration:

Ensure that Injustice 3’s DLC characters aren’t one-offs

The primary two Injustice video games had expansive rosters, however there are loads extra heroes and villains from the DC universe NetherRealm may usher in for a possible threequel. First, nonetheless, a few of the DLC fighters should be introduced again — and be used for storytelling functions. Characters like Batgirl, Martian Manhunter, and Zatanna had been nice additions within the first recreation, however had been nowhere to be discovered within the second. Equally, Black Manta, Starfire, and Enchantress provided nice character selection within the second recreation, and we will solely hope they return if the sequence continues.

Injustice: Gods Amongst Us had two dozen characters for its base roster whereas Injustice 2 had 28, and the DLC additions pushed its roster to nearly 40. NetherRealm has demonstrated repeatedly it may well ship loads of distinctive heroes for every of its video games, so I’ve little question that if Injustice 3’s base roster had been to incorporate 30-plus heroes, they’d all really feel distinctive and justified. Personally, I’m hoping for extra Teen Titans.

“Add these characters to Injustice 3” lightning spherical

Return to comic-accurate fits

Injustice 2 swapped out alternate costumes for gear. As an alternative of adorning Batman in his Purple Son costume or Nightwing in his New 52 digs, you’d as an alternative equip varied items of substances to every character. You might additionally add totally different shaders, giving every character wildly totally different colour schemes than they had been historically identified for, like a purple Superman or gold Inexperienced Lantern. Every character in the end ended up with an analogous, armored-up aesthetic. Gone had been the distinctive, comic-accurate skins.

Personally, I wasn’t a fan of Injustice 2’s gear system. Even apart from the aesthetics, it launched a tedious item-management system to the sport, stuffed with stats, transmog choices, and, in fact, microtransactions. As an alternative, I’d want Injustice 3 to return to a give attention to alternate costumes impressed by comics, films, and all the things else. There have been loads of new costumes for every hero launched for the reason that video games dropped, which means the chances for alternate skins in a brand new recreation can be fairly substantial.

Add premium skins for extra character selection

Premium skins from each video games must return, and I’d love for much more to be included. Premium skins would change the looks and voice of a personality whereas retaining its transfer set. For instance, equipping the Reverse-Flash costume for Flash would flip the character into his archnemesis however play the identical because the hero you recognize and love. Characters just like the Flash and Inexperienced Lantern are ripe for premium skins so gamers may battle as Wally West or Simon Baz with out totally new characters needing to be made. And will you think about enjoying as 2022’s The Batman’s model of the character with voice work by Robert Pattinson or as David Corenswet’s Superman? Let’s converse it into existence.

Benefit from DC Comics’ multiversal characters and tales

The primary Injustice recreation was a lightweight multiverse story. It had heroes from solely two worlds interacting, however many of the plot involved heroes from the principle DC universe combating evil, alternate variations in a parallel universe the place Superman broke unhealthy. Injustice 2 caught to the parallel world and explored the way it developed within the years after the primary recreation, telling a narrative of how its heroes and villains needed to unite to cease Brainiac.

Within the years since, multiverse tales, particularly with superheroes, have exploded in recognition — and characters. I’m not asking NetherRealm to create tons of of variations of its characters, however it could be enjoyable to see the studio create much more new takes on the prevailing heroes.

The story may take inspiration from Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s Darkish Knights: Metallic occasion, the place DC’s heroes cope with twisted variations of Batman. Or it may go together with a traditional trope of villains assembly variants of one another; maybe Darkseid may group up along with his multiversal counterparts in an try and rule the multiverse.

I do know this one’s a longshot, however perhaps there’s crossover potential with bringing Watchmen characters into the multiverse shenanigans. DC has been open to doing new issues with the characters in recent times, like within the Doomsday Clock miniseries and HBO present. I’d like to see how NetherRealm interprets Rorschach, Ozymandias, and Physician Manhattan, each from a gameplay and a storytelling perspective.

DC’s latest comedian initiative would work properly in a recreation, too

One specific universe that Injustice 3 may draw inspiration from is DC’s Absolute comics line. One of many core tenants of the Absolute Universe is stripping DC’s heroes of key traits whereas holding the core thought of who they’re intact. For instance, Absolute Superman grew up on Krypton and arrived on Earth as an grownup, eradicating his Kansas household ties. Absolute Marvel Girl was raised in Hell, giving her a brand new outlook on the world — and new powers.

Absolute Batman is probably probably the most altered of DC’s heroes. Gone is the wealthy playboy and in comes a bulked-up engineer. Batman’s look is dramatically totally different; he’s taller and his muscled body rivals that of Bane’s. The Bat image on his chest may be indifferent and used as an axehead, which means an Absolute model would play extraordinarily in a different way in Injustice 3 than the Batman we’re used to.

Or perhaps simply Mortal Kombat vs. Injustice?

Again in 2008, Halfway Video games launched an bold crossover combating recreation, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. It discovered the heroes and enemies of each franchises at odds with each other earlier than coming collectively to battle Darkish Khan, a fusion of Shao Kahn and Darkseid, and save their universes. It was a enjoyable crossover that might affect storytelling in combating video games, however sadly it was one in all Halfway’s final titles. The studio ultimately shuttered and from it was born NetherRealm, which hit the bottom operating with a Mortal Kombat reboot after which the primary Injustice recreation.

If an Injustice 3 isn’t going to occur, perhaps DC followers might be appeased differently — a followup to Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. The title is sitting proper there: Mortal Kombat vs. Injustice. It may choose up threads from the ending of Injustice 2 and pit its evil Superman and Marvel Girl towards Mortal Kombat stalwarts Liu Kang, Scorpion, and Raiden. A crossover may serve followers of each franchises whereas exploring the characters in new methods, each by way of story and gameplay.

Is there hope for an Injustice 3 launch?

Between 2011 and 2019, NetherRealm launched a recreation each two years, alternating between Mortal Kombat video games and the Injustice sequence. Since then it’s solely launched Mortal Kombat 1 in 2023 and hasn’t but divulged what its subsequent recreation might be. It might be a brand new Mortal Kombat, one thing new totally, or, ideally for DC followers, a 3rd Injustice recreation. Injustice director Ed Boon gave followers some hope in 2024, telling The Direct, “[W]e love the Injustice video games. , I might be stunned if we by no means did one once more.”

James Gunn and Peter Safran grew to become the architects of their DC Universe in 2022, seeking to usher in new movies and construct a cohesive storytelling universe throughout movies, TV sequence, and video games. Earlier in 2025, they met with the heads of NetherRealm and Rocksteady, the makers of the Batman: Arkham video games. “It’s actually the primary time it’s ever been this manner at Warner Bros.,” Safran mentioned (through EuroGamer). “We sit with [the studio heads] and we discuss characters and tales that we’re occupied with and that they’re occupied with.”

Gunn detailed how the movie plan might affect the video games, saying, “We see designs for the tasks of their very earliest levels. We discuss these, we discuss what the story may be and we’ll say ‘Nicely, perhaps you need to go this manner as a result of we’re planning on perhaps doing one thing with this character.’” Gunn and Safran assembly with NetherRealm Studios may be checked out positively. To imagine it means NetherRealm has one thing DC cooking can be an excessive amount of of a stretch, nevertheless it a minimum of offers Injustice followers hope {that a} third entry isn’t lifeless within the water.