Gotham Knights is the upcoming game from WB Games Montreal where players can take up the capes of Batman’s four successors. Although the studio worked on Arkham Origins, the game will take place in a distinct timeline from the Arkham games in a new timeline where Bruce Wayne has died, leaving Batgirl, Robin, Red Hood, and Nightwing to defend Gotham from the mysterious Court of Owls.
While the Joker died at the end of Arkham City in Rocksteady’s universe, Gotham Knights is left with a Joker problem. Despite being Batman’s nemesis, two of the player characters’ origins were more defined by the Joker than Bruce’s. Not only that, but the unexplained absence of the Clown Prince of Crime could strike many fans – as well as characters – as a strange omission in Gotham Knights. Here are the main reasons Gotham Knights will need to deal with the Joker, and the reasons why that could be one of the game’s biggest challenges.
While Gotham Knights is not a part of the Arkham series, its relationship to the Arkham-verse is impossible to ignore. The Arkham games developed the style of superhero combat and the open-world cityscapes that Gotham Knights will feature heavily. Rocksteady also helped distinguish the visual and writing style of both studio’s Batman games as more akin to Batman: The Animated Series than more recent movie or comic portrayals.
In this sense, many fans will not expect to see the Joker going into the new game. Mark Hamill’s Joker died in the dramatic ending to Arkham City, and the role was so iconic that even Troy Baker’s portrayal of the Joker in the prequel, Origins, was praised specifically for its resemblance to Hamill’s. However, the more it becomes apparent in the game that the timelines are distinct through choices made about everything from the plot to character designs, the more the Joker’s absence will likely become noticeable.
The Joker is directly responsible for some of the most major events in the lives of the available player characters in Gotham Knights. Batgirl Barbara Gordon was paralyzed for a time after being shot by the Joker, becoming Oracle before getting life-changing surgery and returning to the streets of Gotham.
Red Hood is the alias of Jason Todd, who was Robin until his brutal murder by the Joker and his revival in the League of Shadows’ Lazarus Pit. Todd turned out to be the Arkham Knight in Rocksteady’s universe, and his presence in this one may remind players of the universe distinction, raising the question of the Joker’s whereabouts. Nightwing and the current Robin, Tim Drake, have fewer personal connections, though Drake was turned into the Joker’s successor in Batman Beyond.
The main question for WB Games Montreal will be how the game addresses the Joker at all, despite a personal appearance by the Ace of Knaves remaining unlikely if the game wants to step of out of the Arkham-verse’s shadow. The Joker will already be well-known by the time of the game as Bruce Wayne is already dead, Red Hood is already revived, and Batgirl is recovered from paralysis and back fighting crime head-on.
However, to hand-wave the Joker’s death would also make the game seem like it was leaning on the player’s assumed engagement with the Arkham games and the Joker’s death in that canon, which could prevent the new game from developing a unique identity. It is possible the game’s new canon will simply establish a different version of the Joker’s death, though with Bruce Wayne’s death already established, perhaps the Joker’s disappearance will also be referenced in universe. A long-running theme throughout Batman media is the mutual dependence of Batman and the Joker on one another, and without Bruce, the Joker may have simply retired.
One problem the game may face is that even if WB Games Studios finds a way to deftly avoid addressing the Joker head-on, the game will then be the first Batman game to contain neither Batman nor the Joker. There is a risk tha,t by the time of the game’s narrative, the main conflict in Gotham will already feel long-resolved, even if crime and supervillainy remains rampant with less iconic characters. It is possible that fans will feel like the player characters cannot live up to Batman while the villains cannot live up the Joker.
Though Arkham Knight took place after the Joker’s death, it still had Bruce Wayne to ground it as well as hallucinatory appearances by the deceased villain. Gotham Knights takes a big risk with neither character appearing, especially with Arkham-style games no longer a novelty. Rocksteady is also releasing a DC game with four player characters set in the Arkham universe, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Without Batman or the Joker, Gotham Knights risks appearing to play second fiddle to Rocksteady, especially with direct comparisons to Suicide Squad being easily invited on the gameplay front.
With the Court of Owls formed from some of Batman’s greatest adversaries, it’s possible the Joker could make a smaller appearance in Gotham Knights. With the player protagonists already forming an ensemble, Gotham Knights could spread out it’s villainy among a larger portion of Batman’s rogues’ gallery. The question that arises then is how WB Games Montreal will make the story feel character-driven. With Gotham Knights able to be played through entirely as one character, it risks lacking a strong central protagonist, and the game likely cannot afford to make the main threat feel spread thin or impersonal.
For now, however, the full plot of Gotham Knights has yet to be revealed. Even the premise, Bruce Wayne’s death in an explosion, seems to set the Caped Crusader up for an easy return after what would be an otherwise unceremonious exit. Perhaps the Joker is simply in Arkham Asylum, a plot device often-used by Batman writers to keep the character on-hold without killing him off to allow them to explore other villains. Until the game releases, however, fans will only be able to speculate, and with so many different stories told with these characters across different realities and comic runs, little will be a safe bet until Gotham Knights launches.
Gotham Knights will be available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X in 2021.
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