A whirlwind of speculation combusts into hellfire as DC Entertainment Co-Publisher Jim Lee and NetherRealm Studios Creative Director Ed Boon combine to present the latest downloadable addition to Injustice: Gods Among Us! Mortal Kombat's Scorpion has made the leap and is kicking butt in a new feature trailer!

Update (June 4): Scorpion is now available to DLC Season Pass holders. Everyone else can purchase starting June 11. [via @noobde]

Injustice: Gods Among Us is the DC Comics fighting game from the makers of Mortal Kombat! The game officially hits PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 & Nintendo Wii U two Tuesdays from now: April 16th!

If you've been avoiding story details, then make sure you stop reading and click through to the forums right now!

The following video clip is reportedly the set-up to the Injustice story mode. If you're familiar with the first six chapters of the Injustice comic book -- you've got nothing to worry about.

While the basic premise of Injustice: Gods Among Us has been abundantly clear for quite some time -- the end result of a world where heroes turn tyrant has remained a mystery.

Edit Apr. 2: Well, did we sneak this one past you? Probably not! While our MKvsDC2 Announcement screamed tom foolery, we thought a second article might keep you guessing. The following article is, of course, a complete fabrication: part of our annual April Fools tradition. You can berate us on the forums, or come down from the high with a look back at some of Mortal Kombat's best hoax, fake & forgotten characters! See you next year!

As leaders of opposing factions: Superman and Batman have been frontrunners to assume the dual role of playable fighter and story-driven final boss. Sources attending the recent WonderCon comic book convention (March 29-31), however, have revealed the Regime v Resistance plot masks a far more complex storyline within the April 16 release!

Writer Jimmy Palmiotti was reportedly overheard to be discussing the plot of the game, which he oversaw in conjunction with NetherRealm Studios in-house staff. The most shocking revelation from the booth leak -- Snapper Carr will serve as the ultimate villain in the final chapters of an epic story mode!

Carr first appeared in Brave and the Bold #28 (1960), where he assumed the role of mascot to the assembled Justice League of America. He provided the team with their secret headquarters and offered a human perspective on the increasingly fantastic adventures of DC Comics' greatest collective.

Riffing on his comic book adventures, Carr's influence will be felt throughout the entire plot of Gods Among Us as players uncover revelations about the true nature of the backstory!

Injustice: Gods Among Us #1 details the result of The Joker's plot to attack Superman at his heart -- a scheme that sees the hero accidentally murder the love of his life and their unborn child. The same event triggers the destruction of Metropolis, but the origins of this plot remain completely unaddressed in the series that purports to tell the backstory of the game. This is no doubt a deliberate device, hiding the fact it was Snapper Carr who was tricked by Joker -- under the influence of fear toxin -- into revealing Lois Lane's connection to Superman and the disparate locations of the various members of the League.

With Scarecrow dead at the hands of The Clown Prince of Crime, and The Joker himself murdered by Superman [in issue #2], Snapper's involvement remains secret to the heroes, who quickly become occupied by a violent coup against the governments of the world. When The Regime is established, a guilt-ridden Carr sells his soul to Neron, who grants him the ability to access alternate universes to assemble an army against The Regime.

Additional downloadable content has been on the table since Injustice: Gods Among Us was first announced, way back in mid-2012. With the official endorsement of a Season Pass, DLC gets a little more tangible as we race toward an April release!

If you've been wondering how The Joker bounces back from that encounter with Superman -- the punchline lies ahead in a new Harley Quinn trailer from Xbox!

As the April release date draws ever nearer, the playable cast of Injustice: Gods Among Us fighters continues to grow. So too does the gallery of official character render images, thanks to the due diligence of the official game website!

Through rumor and speculation, he's already been a constant presence looming over Injustice: Gods Among Us. He was one of Mortal Kombat Online's top wishlist characters in 2012, and appeared in frequent story mode sightings published by magazines [full story]. After a long wait, Black Adam has now officially joined the playable roster!

With no Injustice Battle Arena this week, we've got new screenshots of two of the heavyhitting heroes' alternate skins [via Facebook]. Aquaman & Batman lead the charge, wearing duds inspired by two of DC Comics' biggest events!

When it comes to the Injusice: Gods Among Us tie-in series from DC Comics, there are a few inescapable truths.

For one; this is a tie-in product for a video game, which invariably means there's some consideration given to the new audience it will hopefully attract. By extension, it's impossible to ignore the word-of-mouth success the series has already claimed in just a few short months. Gamers are flocking to digital chapters to learn more about the playable characters; while comics readers are intrigued by a corporate comic dwelling on the fall of its greatest hero.

Injustice: God Among Us #2 [released February 27] is written by Tom Taylor, with shared art chores by Mike S. Miller & Bruno Redondo. Mortal Kombat Online is reviewing the digital version of this issue, which encompasses weekly Chapters 4 through 6 [read more]. Much moreso than #1, this is an episodic collection, each chapter much more readily isolated as a stand-alone read.

The issue picks up immediately where the last issue ended -- following the fall-out of a bombshell twist that saw Superman - acting under the influence of Scarecrow's fear toxin - inadvertently kill Lois Lane and trigger a nuclear bomb in Metropolis. Anyone who has been following promotion for the game knows that this is the pivotal moment that sets up the Gods Among Us beat 'em up universe.

The murder plot is the work of The Joker: not traditionally a Superman opponent, but certainly no more partial to The Man of Steel than he is The Dark Knight Detective.

You get a sense that there is - or should be - more to this story than we know. Joker's reasons for being in Metropolis -- a trip that includes the casual, quickly forgotten murder of Superman's pal, Jimmy Olsen [see; Issue #1] -- aren't explained. To think a comic focused on backstory would gloss over this catalytic detail seems like a discredit to the creators involved. Joker may have a reputation for being a wildcard, but his actions are rarely so incongruous or shallow, particularly in a story that derives from them. There are enough masterminds in play to suspect manipulations by someone more motivated, like Lex Luthor, but doubt lingers. Depth, detail, and causality certainly weren't strengths of the first issue.

Even with the benefit of a grander conspiracy, there are those inescapable truths about the series. It's difficult to ignore the sense of reverse-engineering that is the plot of a tie-in. The high concept of the lead product is a world where Superman has turned tyrant, leading to superhero civil war. Without the fundamental alterations of a story like Red Son, it takes the death of Lois Lane (and Metropolis) to turn Superman heel and no more than that. It's the ends that are most important here, not the means. It feels that way throughout.

If obligations to a conclusion have robbed the story of any of its own complexity, then it becomes troublesome that there is an obvious eye for a new reader, as well.

Rather than sell the virtues of enduring characters and their developed history, the popular wisdom of the day is to pitch lobbed soft balls. Deft writers can weave layers that satisfy new and old readers with the right sense of familiarity beneath a scene, but that isn't the case in Injustice #1 or #2.

At times, the script rings untrue, offering shadow versions of scenes you'll recognize from other stories, without any real sense of referencial wisdom. They depict characters as slightly unfamiliar with each other, presumably to the expectation of an unfamiliar reader. This is evident in a bizarrely restrained interrogation scene between Batman and arch-nemesis Joker. Set immediately after the total annihilation of one of DCU America's biggest and brightest cities - Metropolis - it's all a bit shallow.

Joker, like the first issue, meanders through frustratingly uncomplicated observations of what is about to occur. Batman is surly, but accomodating and ineffective. They'd be cartoon versions of themselves, if the cartoons hadn't already set that bar higher.

The counter-culture appeal of both characters makes them easy targets for a gaming audience, but these heavyhitters usually demand more on their home turf. With a structure built around bombastic reveals, it all becomes killing time, rather than Killing Joke. It must be said that this is undeniably valid and successful for attracting unfamiliar eyes, but even they will notice everything feels a little inconsequential as things develop and the game arrives.

Battle Arena match-ups concluded this week, introducing Sinestro & Hawkgirl as the final two reveals from the sixteen character tournament. As they make the leap from rumor to confirmed playable character, the Injustice Facebook takes the opportunity to offer a closer look at both.