With a new trailer for Batman: Arkham Knight having been released earlier this week, showing us a taster of what we can expect from the conclusion to the Arkham series, I’ve been left wondering about where the finale could go in terms of its plot and gameplay. In Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, developers Rocksteady proved that they really knew what Batman fans wanted, with the games serving as wonderful fan-service whilst proving to be excellent additions to the Batman universe in their own right.
Also See: New Trailer for Batman: Arkham Knight Shows Sinister Plot, Darker Tone
Having been a Batman fan longer than I can remember, there are a number of things I’d personally like to see being introduced in Arkham Knight, which I believe could stand to make it the very best entry in the quadrilogy and a fitting ending to the series
Here are 8 things from the Batman comics, films and even animated series that I’d like to see make an appearance in Batman: Arkham Knight.
A Look Into Batman/Joker’s Past
An Arkham game that doesn’t feature the Joker in any capacity is unimaginable.
Batman: Arkham Origins did a lot of things wrong, but it certainly hit a few story beats perfectly. A prime example of this was its handling of the Joker and its delving into the history of the character, from his career as a struggling stand-up comedian to the birth of the Clown Prince of Crime due to a rather unfortunate incident involving a chemical vat and a certain Red Hood. Like many, I was shocked when Rocksteady killed Batman’s infamous enemy at the end of Arkham City, though I still don’t want to see them nullifying that game’s conclusion by finding a way to bring him back for Arkham Knight.
With that being said, there’s still a lot of Batman’s past that has yet to be explored in the Arkham series, and much of it also involved the Joker and his wicked ways. For instance, the Oracle a.k.a. Barbara Gordon’s paralysis at the hands of the Joker hasn’t been explored, despite the games taking place within the timeline of The Killing Joke. This is a huge event in the Batman series, and one of the villain’s most obscene crimes in any of the comics to date.
The Joker’s devastating attack on Barbara Gordon, which concludes with him showing photos of her implied sexual assault to her father, is one of the most harrowing crimes ever committed by the character.
In Arkham City and its subsequent DLC Harley Quinn’s Revenge, Batman is struggling to cope with the events that have taken place in the games, and the Joker had a great deal to do with why Bruce Wayne is seemingly becoming more mentally fragile. Re-telling the stories of how the two arch-nemeses became entwined in this psychologically damaging battle – from Barbara Gordon to Jason Todd (I’ll get to that later) – will surely help develop upon the story Rocksteady has been crafting within the confines of the Batman universe, whilst also ensuring that we at least see an appearance from everybody’s favorite psychotic clown.
A Teensy Bit of That Frank Miller Attitude
Though I absolutely don’t want to see the “GODDAMN BATMAN.”
I absolutely do not want to see Batman: Arkham Knight go All Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder, the comic series in which Frank Miller transforms Batman into a sympathetic, tormented vigilante into a bloodthirsty bro who actually calls Robin “retarded,” but if Rocksteady were to borrow some of Batman’s personality traits from Miller’s significantly better The Dark Knight Returns then I’d be more than happy.
The Batman we see in The Dark Knight Returns is physically weakened, mentally drained and seems to be on the verge of a complete breakdown at any given moment. It’s one of the most intriguing takes on the character I’ve seen across all mediums, providing another layer to Bruce Wayne whilst staying true to his origins. The Batman we see in Arkham Knight, who has arguably gone through the most amount of hurt and pain in such a short space of time than he has done in the majority of his appearances in both comic books and film (even in The Dark Knight Rises Bruce got to have a little break, sitting in his mansion and growing a beard after the Batman seemingly went on the run), shouldn’t be completely hunky dory at this point.
The Dark Knight Returns isn’t an official part of the DC Comics’ continuity, but it has inspired several changes to Batman’s personality over the years, adding another dimension to the character.
Batman has certainly been through the ringer, and in the Arkham City DLC Harley Quinn’s Revenge he’s seen questioning his actions following the events of the main game, in which he witnessed the death of Talia al Ghul and was partially responsible for the Joker’s death. I’d like to see more of this Batman.
A Gotham Infected with Fear Gas
The Scarecrow levels of Arkham Asylum were the highlights of the game, and I expect Rocksteady to turn it up a notch in Arkham Knight.
In Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins, Scarecrow uses his Fear Gas to intoxicate Gotham City. Considering Scarecrow is the main antagonist of Arkham Knight, and that the Fear Gas segments of Arkham Asylum were arguably the highlight of the entire game, I’d love to see this plot device utilized in the upcoming game.
Whereas the Fear Gas segments in Arkham Asylum took place along a linear path, introducing it into Arkham Knight‘s open world and having Batman fight whilst walking along the blurred line of reality and the imaginings of his own tortured psyche would surely make for some intriguing and, given the nature of the Fear Gas, terrifying moments.
Hopefully Scarecrow will face a more respectable demise than he does in Batman Begins, where his reign of terror is ended with a taser.
From a gameplay standpoint, Scarecrow is certainly the most interesting villain in the Rogues Gallery for Batman to go toe-to-toe against, and this was wholly evident in the short segments in which he appeared in Asylum. After being absent from the following two entries in the series, I’m excited for him to receive a much bigger role this time around, and there would be no greater way for him to make an impact than to launch the entirety of Gotham into a state of Fear Gas-induced panic.
More Bane!
Will Bane break the bat in Arkham Knight?
Bane is one of the most interesting Batman villains, but thus far in the Arkham series his role has been reduced to an underwhelming boss fight and a couple of side-missions in Arkham City. Now that the character has been brought further into the public eye thanks to Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, I believe it’s time that Bane had his moment to shine in the spotlight.
In the Batman comics’ Knightfall story arc, Bane breaks Batman’s back and leaves him paralyzed, with Azrael (real name Jean-Paul Valley), a member of the evil “The Sacred Order of Saint Dumas,” then being left to carry on the Caped Crusader’s legacy while Bruce Wayne recovers. Azrael is featured in Arkham City, though he is the second Azrael to be introduced in the comics, otherwise known as the “Third Ghost of Batman” Michael Lane. In Arkham City, Batman appears to have never encountered any of the Azraels before, which suggests that the Knightfall story arc hasn’t taken place in the Arkham series’ world.
The Knightfall story arc has been referenced in previous Arkham games, but never explored.
However, there are references to Knightfall in Arkham Asylum. During the boss fight with Bane, for instance, Bane threatens to break Batman, to which Batman responds: “No, Bane, this time I break you!” This certainly seems to suggest that Bane has already “broken the bat” prior to the events of Arkham Asylum, though Rocksteady appears to have deviated from Knightfall’s plot by seemingly not having Azrael take over from Batman’s vigilante duties.
So where does this leave Bane? He was the very first Batman villain to put the Dark Knight on the sidelines for an extended period of time, and if we are to delve into Batman’s past relationship with the Joker, then I’d strongly suggest his dealings with Bane should also be addressed. While the Joker tortured Batman mentally, Bane destroyed him physically, and if this is to truly be Rocksteady’s swansong of their time with the character, then Bane’s impact upon Batman and, by extension, Bruce Wayne’s life should absolutely be addressed.
In an ideal world, I’d like to see Rocksteady ignore Bane’s reference of Knightfall and for the developer to explore their own alternate version of the events of the comic. Bane paralyses Batman at a time when Arkham Asylum’s inmates have broken out into Gotham, and the city is in ruins. This appears to be the same scenario in which Batman finds himself in Arkham Knight, and its story seems to have heavy leanings towards Knighfall in general. Hopefully this is the game in which Bane isn’t portrayed as little more than a muscle-bound mercenary, but rather the intelligent strategist that he is depicted as being in the comics and The Dark Knight Rises.
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