Even though it is set in a distinct universe from Rocksteady’s Arkham series, Gotham Knights picks up on a note remarkably similar to the secret ending of Batman: Arkham Knight. Police Commissioner James Gordon is recently deceased, an explosion has revealed the batcave, and Batman’s allies receive an automated “if you are watching this, I am dead,” message. But unlike the Arkham-verse, where players take on the role of Batman, Gotham Knights focuses on four of the caped crusaders’ most capable allies.
The Bat Family has a broad range of beloved characters but few are as well known as Nightwing, Batgirl, Robin, and the loose cannon, Red Hood who have all gone on to have their own, independent comic series and solo adventures. Some have adopted new identities, faked their death, or held the same title at different points in their career, as is the way with super-heroic storytelling. While it is difficult to extract character-defining moments and iconic panels in isolation from their source material, there are numerous influential runs in the annals of DC superhero lore that should shape WB Games Montreal’s approach to Gotham Knights’ stories.
Those unfamiliar with the extended batman mythos may want to delve into a brief introduction to Gotham Knights quartet of heroes. There are a lot of Robins ahead and things could get confusing.
Best known for serving as Bruce’s first partner, Dick Grayson, the original Robin, has an enormous legacy of solo-stories for WB Games Montreal to pull inspiration from. Dick’s optimism and humor helped Bruce keep his demons in check, and his exploits literally wrote the book on what a sidekick should be in superhero comics.
While a handful of characters have worn Batman’s cowl over the years, Dick held the mantle longer than most, second only to Bruce himself. And Dick has become a storied hero in his own right with Nightwing appearing in Arkham City and Arkham Knight, and protecting Gotham’s sister-city, Bludhaven, from crime in addition to assisting Batman when necessary.
Even though he is best known for being a sidekick, one of Dick Grayson’s greatest talents is, ironically, his ability to lead, inspire, and bring out the best in people, as evidenced by his leadership of the Teen Titans. Even though no single character should be the “star” of Gotham Knights, Dick is the obvious choice for team leader. The challenge in showcasing those talents, though, is that Dick is a character who is often defined by his relationship to Batman or ensembles.
One relatively modern comic book story that should be fully explored in Gotham Knights relates to Dicks’ relationship to the Court of Owl’s nefarious Talon henchmen. In Scott Snyder’s and Greg Capullo’s original Court of Owls storyline, the first Talon, William Cobb, is revealed to be Dick Grayson’s great-grandfather. It will be interesting to see how WB Games Montreal makes use of this connection, and dismissing it entirely would be a missed opportunity.
Barbara Gordon has led a rough life, even as comic book characters go. Even though she has years of adventures under her belt as Batgirl, she is still most famous for being paralyzed at the hands of the Joker in Alan Moore’s infamous classic, The Killing Joke, and later emerging as Oracle—a wheelchair-bound information broker and data analyst for the superhero world. When DC comics changed its continuity with the New 52, Barbara recovered from her paralysis after three years and resumed the role of Batgirl. In Gotham Knights, she is not only dealing with the loss of Bruce, but her father, Jim Gordon, as well, meaning she will likely have a greater personal stake in the game’s plot than her allies.
While Gotham Knights is unlikely to engage with the narrative of Barbara’s recovery too deeply, there is a rich narrative to be mined from that vein—even without revisiting the Joker. Hopefully, Gotham Knights will at least allow her to exhibit the computational and information-gathering skills she acquired as Oracle, as well as her regained vigilante athleticism. In comics, much has been made of Barbara’s on-again-off-again relationship with Dick, and featuring flirtatious banter between the two seems like an obvious choice. But on the whole, the game would be better served by focusing on the individual heroics of the characters rather than their romantic chemistry.
Fortunately, there are a host of compelling solo-stories starring Barbara Gordon as Batgirl. Her costume in Gotham Knights draws heavily from her Rebirth-era redesign, featured in Cameron Stewart, Brenden Fletcher, and Babs Tarr’s The Batgirl of Burnside arc, which is hopefully a storytelling influence as well.
Tim Drake is often overlooked in favor of other members of the Bat Family, and while it would be all too easy for Robin to be overshadowed again, Gotham Knights seems to be doing right by the character so far. Out of all of Bruce’s proteges, Tim is the most intellectual, and the only person other than Bruce to be addressed as “Detective” by major bad guy Ra’s Al Ghul. He actually deduced Batman and Robin’s secret identities without the aid of a supercomputer or suspect database. Tim is also the most tech-savvy Robin, whose skills in hacking and programming exceed even Batman himself.
In James Tynion’s Rebirth run on Detective Comics, Tim is actually responsible for developing the technology that runs the Belfry—the Bat Family’s base of operations which Bruce references in the Gotham Knights trailer. Detailing Tim’s role in developing the base would be a neat touch, but he deserves more than acting as the team’s gadget-man.
In terms of iconic moments, when the world was convinced that Bruce Wayne had died for good following the events of Final Crisis, Tim Drake kept the faith and ultimately played a pivotal role in uncovering the truth behind Batman’s fate. If Batman is not actually dead in Gotham Knights—and given the general reliability of comic book mortality, those seem like strong odds—Tim should be the one to discover and rescue his mentor. As the Lego Batman games demonstrated, Robin deserves time to shine.
For a long time, Jason Todd was the black sheep of the Bat Family—and in many respects, he still is. While serving as the second Robin, Jason was brutally murdered by the Joker, and when he returned to life, his outlook on crimefighting was considerably more extreme than Batman’s. Supplementing his martial arts training with knives and firearms, Jason has very few compunctions about dispatching bad guys with lethal force.
Following his brief stint as Robin, most of Jason’s career has planted him firmly in antihero territory, with an ethos and arsenal comparable to Marvel’s Punisher. And many of his early moments as the Red Hood—like the time he tried to force Batman to kill the Joker—would put him at odds with his other teammates and are unlikely to feature, yet there is an interesting opportunity to be had there. Having his allies call him out on prior bad behavior could make for interesting banter, and serve as a good vehicle for character development.
Gotham Knights is currently in development for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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