It's been almost five years since the release of Rocksteady's Batman: Arkham Knight, the final chapter in the critically acclaimed Batman Arkham trilogy that proved to audiences there can be more to licensed properties than rushed cash grab movie tie ins. As Rocksteady continues to remain silent about what the team has been working on the past four years, Batman: Arkham Origins developer WB Montreal has been drip-feeding the industry and fan base with a series of cryptic images and the tagline, 'Cape sur la nuit / Capture the Knight,' seemingly hinting at another entry in the Batman: Arkham series.
After four years of radio silence, WB Montreal's return to social media was treated as somewhat of an event and sent the industry into rabid speculation about what any of these symbols could mean. Was it the Court of Owls? The League of Assassins? Maybe a "new" enemy faction entirely? The latest Batman: Arkham rumors point toward the next entry being called Arkham Legacy, an adaptation of the Court of Owls storyline that's said to feature the entire Bat-family as playable characters in an expanded, open-world Gotham City. With that in mind, there's more to the Batman: Arkham Legacy symbols that just the Court of Owls.
The Court of Owls
The Court of Owls underground society has been rumored as the primary antagonists in Batman: Arkham Legacy for a few years now following a series of leaks about the game to mysterious #BewareTheCourtOfOwls Tweets from writer Scott Snyder that have since been deleted, and even a WB Montreal Producer posting an image of a shirt bearing an Owl symbol on the back. Not to mention that the teased images (shown below) share a number of similarities to the shape of the masks worn by Talons.
DC first introduced The Court of Owls during the New 52 era as a secret society that rules the city of Gotham from the shadows and has done so for centuries. The underground society consists of members from Gotham's wealthiest families and is known to kidnap children and train them as assassins called Talons, which can be used to enforce their agenda and influence change in the city. Arkham Legacy has been heavily rumored to feature the entire Bat-Family, something that perfectly lines up with 'The Night of Owls’ storyline where Bruce Wayne is forced to call upon reinforcement from the “Bat-Family” after being marked as a target.
The League of Assassins
While the first three Batman Arkham Legacy images are fairly similar in nature with no distinguishing features, the fourth image has strikingly defined features that resemble both a dragon and a demon. Many believe this to be a callback to the Demons Head a.k.a. Ra's al Ghul, the leader of the League of Assassins and one of the most well-known and influential villains in DC Comics and Batman history.
The fourth image is very similar in nature to graffiti that can be found in various alleyways throughout Gotham City in Batman: Arkham Knight. The Demons Head is slimmer and taller and covered with the phrase, "The Demon's Head will return." Ra's al Ghul and the League of Assassins play a larger role in the Shadow War side-mission when Ra's body is slowly decaying from overuse of the Lazarus Pit and Nyssa Raatko forms her own rebel faction called the League of Shadows in an attempt to usurp him.
The Suicide Squad
Another popular theory is that Amanda Waller and the Suicide Squad will play some sort of role in the upcoming game. WB Games was working on a game in that vein at some point after Arkham Origins, and while Suicide Squad was ultimately axed, it doesn't mean that elements of it haven't made their way into Arkham Legacy. Whether it's the Court of Owls, the League of Assassins, or the GCPD, there is a trend in WB Montreal's teases that point towards factions or societies that could potentially be at war.
Seeing the Suicide Squad play a larger role would also be fun and unique for both story and gameplay. The endings of both Arkham Origins and Arkham Origins: Blackgate on PS Vita included scenes where Amanda Waller was approaching various villains known to be affiliated with the Suicide Squad and seemingly recruiting them for something bigger. It would be a shame for that to be left open-ended without any form of resolution, even if Arkham Legacy was a complete reboot.
The Order of St. Dumas
With the trend of factions and societies, there's also minor speculation that WB Montreal could be teasing the Order of St. Dumas, a religious group in Gotham City linked to the Dumas Family. The Dumas Family arrived in Gotham not long after a gang war between Falcone and Maroni and attempted to sacrifice Bruce Wayne in a blood ritual to cleanse Gotham. The Order of St. Dumas have ties to notable Batman villains like Azrael and Hugo Strange, and could easily fit in as a separate faction by placing the Dumas Family into power through the Court of Owls.
One thing that is immediately clear from the original series of images is that it appears to be a single evolving symbol rather than four separate symbols for different groups or villains. With each new image, the basic structure remains intact and WB Montreal has built new layers over the top that culminate in the Demon's Head. The latest tease came in the form of three separate puzzle-pieces that made up a single image when put together - a crest that shares a number of similarities to the logo used by the Gotham City Police Department, another strong hint that WB Montreal is working on something related to Batman and DC Comics.
Considering how long it's been since the release of Arkham Knight and the release of the PS5 and Xbox Series X coming at the end of the year, Warner Bros. Games is in a great position to set up the future of its DC Comics video game slate. While the Arkham name does have significant power behind it, a next-generation Batman game is going to sell no matter what, giving WB Montreal plenty of room for a clean slate where it can define the next generation of games and the future of the series.
Batman: Arkham Legacy is rumored to be in development at WB Montreal.