Opening night of Gamescom 2022 came with all sorts of surprising announcements during the highly anticipated live stream, ranging from Sony bringing DuelSense Edge to the Playstation 5, the reveal of a sequel to Moving Out, and even a brand-new look at Hogwarts Legacy. Gotham Knights is one of the most anticipated games of Fall 2022 and was also among the category of games that debuted a fresh new trailer.
The August 23 Gotham Knights 'Official Villains' trailer gave fans a sneak peek at exactly who Batman's protégé will be up against, aside from the mysterious Court of Owls, which had already been confirmed from previous gameplay footage. This new trailer is over 2 minutes and 30 seconds and should keep fans excited about the October 21 release date.
Classic Batman Villains Step Into the Night
The new trailer from WB Games Montreal is fully stacked with fresh content for fans to analyze. Because these scenes are focused on the villains, the game fully immerses itself in the darkness that most people find intriguing about Batman games, especially popular past titles like Batman: Arkham Knight and Batman: Arkham Asylum. Every villain seen or mentioned in the Gotham Knights trailer will likely get a fair amount of screen time, along with their own motivations as to why they're so eager to make Gotham their own.
Harley Quinn
Harley Quinn, well known for being one of The Joker's girlfriends, was revealed to be one of the major villains in Gotham Knights during the new trailer debut at Gamescom. This contrasts with her more recent antihero-type personas in recent media, as seen in James Gunn's The Suicide Squad and the upcoming Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, where she is one of the playable characters.
Harley's scenes were rather short, but one moment saw her taking on Batgirl in front of a live audience while calling for backup. Harley is also observed potentially escaping her jail cell where she snarls "play nice" to someone off-screen while backing away from the camera. This shot is then followed by a prison riot that Nightwing appears to be trying to control in what is presumably the courtyard of Arkham Asylum.
Clayface
Clayface, the shape-shifting monster made of a malleable clay-like substance, was also confirmed to be one of the major antagonists of the game, which could bring a lot of potential seeing as he played an extremely vital part in previous Batman titles like Arkham City. The super villain had already been suspected to be appearing in Gotham Knights due to footage of Red Hood driving the Bat Cycle by a building called Daggett Enterprises, which in most comics is owned by Matt Hagen before he becomes Clayface.
Professor Pyg
This eerily dressed villain wears a pig face as a mask and is usually portrayed as a crooked surgeon in most comic book lore. Professor Pyg, or Lazlo Valentin, hasn't seen as much attention as villains like Harley Quinn, The Joker, or The Riddler in Batman games, but he did manage to earn himself a side quest in Arkham Knight which was called "The Perfect Crime." Professor Pyg has never been featured in a Batman film, but he was in Fox's now-canceled show Gotham. Now that Lazlo Valentin is making an entrance in the world of Gotham Knights, it'll be exciting to see how the villain's twisted motivations play out in this world.
The Penguin
The Penguin, also known as Oswald Cobblepot, was already confirmed for Gotham Knights before the game went gold through his own official reveal trailer that came out in October 2021. During the villain trailer, around a minute and 27 seconds in, Oswald's photograph is seen hanging from a bulletin board as Jason Todd drives a knife through the paper. Other than that, however, most of the footage was dedicated to newer faces.
Mr. Freeze
While Mr. Freeze already was confirmed by previous trailers, the ice villain's backstory is tragically sad. Typically, the former cryogenics scientist isn't trying to kill Batman or the other vigilantes, but rather is looking for a way to save his dying wife, Nora Fries. One gameplay trailer in Gotham Knights boasts an impressive boss fight for the supervillain, though some were worried that these storylines not tied to the Court of Owls would feel less important and would undermine the 'side' villains in the end.
Talon and The Court of Owls
Talon is a lethal assassin that most fans were already expecting to see, as he's almost always directly tied to the Court of Owl plot lines. Notably, one of his most prominent appearances in media occurs through the animated film Batman vs. Robin, which saw Damian Wayne taking on the mantle of Robin rather than Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Stephanie Brown, or Tim Drake. Talon seems a bit more unhinged than in the animated version, as seen by the birdlike screeches that he emits during combat.
While this is already an exciting surplus of Batman enemies for the four playable heroes to face off against, there are rumors that other villains will be joining the fray. Talia al Ghul, daughter of Ra's al Ghul and Damian Wayne's mother, is already on the list of characters that fans wanted in Gotham Knights. The character has been listed on IMDB as being voiced by Mylène Dinh-Robic, which all but confirms Talia will be seen, or heard, at some point in the game.
When Gotham Knights does release, perhaps the daughter of the Demon's Head will play a significant part in Red Hood's journey, as the League of Assassins may or may not have had something to do with Jason's resurrection and the Lazarus Pit. Until then, quite a bit is still up to speculation, but the latest trailer gives fans several threats to be excited about.
Gotham Knights will launch on October 21 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.