Batman has left a huge mark on the gaming industry, with the Arkham series essentially reviving the hero genre. It’s indirectly responsible for titles like Spider-Man, Marvel’s Avengers, and far more, thanks to its popularity. Directly, the Batman Arkham series is responsible for two upcoming games: Gotham Knights and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
Interestingly enough, it shares a canon timeline with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League—where Batman is believed to be dead. He’s dead in Gotham Knights as well—although some fans doubt this because he is Batman after all—and yet WB Games Montreal is insistent he is. In fact, creative director Patrick Redding spoke at a San Diego Comic-Con, discussing Batman’s fate as well as Joker's.
During SDCC (as reported by IGN), Redding reiterates that Batman is “really dead” in Gotham Knights. The Dark Knight apparently dies within the first ten minutes of the game, setting up the plot for players to take over as one of Gotham Knights' characters (Batgirl, Robin, Nightwing, Red Hood), and will remain dead at the end of the game. One fan asked if Joker was in Gotham Knights, with Redding confirming he was not.
On the one hand, it makes sense to not feature Joker if Batman is really dead, but on the other hand, it would have been nice to see the game flesh out Joker’s relationship with Batgirl and Red Hood. For fans of the clown, however, Redding would continue on to say that he would “not confirm or deny whether Harley is.”
Of course, volunteering this information would suggest that Harley appears in Gotham Knights in some capacity. This makes her one of the most recurring characters across WB’s DC video games. She not only appears in the Batman: Arkham series, but she’s playable in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and is seemingly in Gotham Knights too. It specifically remains to be seen how big of a role she plays, but whether it's minor or major, perhaps it’ll explain why Joker isn’t there.
It should be said that Gotham Knights has been focusing on its heroes as of late, but many fans may want more information on its villains. There are known to be five major enemy factions in the game, and fans have seen Penguin, Mr. Freeze, the primary antagonist The Court of Owls and their talons, but that’s about it. There’s certainly plenty of time to show off whom the heroes will face before the game launches in October though.
Gotham Knights is scheduled to release on October 25 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: IGN