NetherRealm should make Injustice 3 — and there are lots of ways to top the first 2

NetherRealm Studios’ model is bloody preventing video games, although in 2013, it toned down the violence a tad for Injustice: Gods Amongst Us. Based mostly on the title, it might not have been even completely clear to Mortal Kombat followers that it was a preventing recreation starring DC Comics heroes and villains, like Batman, Surprise Lady, and the Joker. However Injustice was successful 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 evaluate scores, NetherRealm hasn’t delivered a sequel, as an alternative specializing in its Mortal Kombat franchise. Whereas we are able to definitely hope the studio’s subsequent recreation is Injustice 3, and there are murmurs that it is perhaps, NetherRealm hasn’t given any indication as to what it’s growing subsequent.

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

Make sure 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 herald for a possible threequel. First, nonetheless, a number of the DLC fighters should be introduced again — and be used for storytelling functions. Characters like Batgirl, Martian Manhunter, and Zatanna have been nice additions within the first recreation, however have been nowhere to be discovered within the second. Equally, Black Manta, Starfire, and Enchantress supplied nice character selection within the second recreation, and we are able to 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 ship loads of distinctive heroes for every of its video games, so I’ve little doubt that if Injustice 3’s base roster have 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 Pink Son costume or Nightwing in his New 52 digs, you’d as an alternative equip numerous items of substances to every character. You may additionally add totally different shaders, giving every character wildly totally different shade schemes than they have been historically identified for, like a purple Superman or gold Inexperienced Lantern. Every character finally ended up with the same, armored-up aesthetic. Gone have been the distinctive, comic-accurate skins.

Personally, I wasn’t a fan of Injustice 2’s gear system. Even except for the aesthetics, it launched a tedious item-management system to the sport, filled with stats, transmog choices, and, in fact, microtransactions. As an alternative, I’d desire Injustice 3 to return to a deal with alternate costumes impressed by comics, motion pictures, and every little thing else. There have been loads of new costumes for every hero launched for the reason that video games dropped, that 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 understand and love. Characters just like the Flash and Inexperienced Lantern are ripe for premium skins so gamers may struggle as Wally West or Simon Baz with out fully 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.

Reap the benefits of DC Comics’ multiversal characters and tales

The primary Injustice recreation was a light-weight multiverse story. It had heroes from solely two worlds interacting, however a lot of the plot involved heroes from the principle DC universe preventing 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 reputation — and characters. I’m not asking NetherRealm to create a whole bunch of variations of its characters, however it might be enjoyable to see the studio create much more new takes on the present heroes.

The story may take inspiration from Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s Darkish Knights: Steel occasion, the place DC’s heroes cope with twisted variations of Batman. Or it may go together with a basic trope of villains assembly variants of one another; maybe Darkseid may workforce up along with his multiversal counterparts in an try to 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 lately, 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 explicit 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 concept 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 Surprise Lady 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 might be indifferent and used as an axehead, that 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 preventing 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 struggle Darkish Khan, a fusion of Shao Kahn and Darkseid, and save their universes. It was a enjoyable crossover that may affect storytelling in preventing video games, however sadly it was one among Halfway’s final titles. The studio finally shuttered and from it was born NetherRealm, which hit the bottom working with a Mortal Kombat reboot after which the primary Injustice recreation.

If an Injustice 3 isn’t going to occur, perhaps DC followers could possibly be appeased differently — a followup to Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. The title is sitting proper there: Mortal Kombat vs. Injustice. It may decide up threads from the ending of Injustice 2 and pit its evil Superman and Surprise Lady in opposition to Mortal Kombat stalwarts Liu Kang, Scorpion, and Raiden. A crossover may serve followers of each franchises whereas exploring the characters in new methods, each when it comes to 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 will probably be. It could possibly be a brand new Mortal Kombat, one thing new fully, 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 shocked 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 fashion at Warner Bros.,” Safran mentioned (by way of EuroGamer). “We sit with [the studio heads] and we speak about characters and tales that we’re desirous about and that they’re desirous about.”

Gunn detailed how the movie plan could affect the video games, saying, “We see designs for the initiatives of their very earliest levels. We speak about these, we speak about what the story is perhaps and we’ll say ‘Effectively, perhaps you need to go this fashion as a result of we’re planning on perhaps doing one thing with this character.’” Gunn and Safran assembly with NetherRealm Studios might 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 at the least offers Injustice followers hope {that a} third entry isn’t lifeless within the water.