The state of DC games hasn’t been steady for quite some time, but the news of the Wonder Woman game’s cancelation and Monolith’s shutdown is surely a tough pill to swallow. It’s clear that DC and Warner Bros. need a concrete plan now more than ever, and with Rocksteady apparently back to theBatmandrawing board it seems like falling backward onto Batman and theArkhamgames are their safety net. A new flatscreenArkhamgame withBatmanat the helm could admittedly be a great way to reel players back in, and the Meta Quest 3-exclusiveBatman: Arkham Shadowfrom Camouflaj is proof that theArkhamfranchise is nuanced and timeless.
However, while a new Batman-ledArkhamgame on traditional platforms may be DC’s easiest solution to a problem seemingly stemming from Warner Bros.’ lack of creative direction, there are many other avenues with which an Arkhamverse game can and should explore. Thankfully, if a futureArkhamgame featured Catwoman as its playable lead, for example, it wouldn’t need to reinvent the wheel for its story asCatwoman’sBatman: Arkham CityDLC—basically an integral part of the narrative from a unique perspective—lays the framework for how such a game could take shape.
Catwoman is More Than Worth Her Saucer of Milk in Batman’s Arkhamverse
Selina Kyle was an elusive and mysterious figure inBatman: Arkham Origins Blackgateand a damsel in distress inBatman: Arkham Knight. Beyond these appearances, though, her strongest outing was inBatman: Arkham City, where she endeavors to rob a heavily secured TYGER vault, leaves Arkham City with her riches (in a ‘bad’ ending followed by credits) or leaves her riches to rescue Batman (in a ‘good’ choice and the only one that progresses the game), and eventually enacts revenge on Two-Face. It’s a fairly sizable role despite how sparsely she is playable throughoutBatman: Arkham Asylum’s sequel, and she’d be more than deserving of Rocksteady replicating this DLC format for a feature-length game.
Batman and Catwoman’s interactions inBatman: Arkham Cityparallel those ofLeon Kennedy and Ada Wong inResident Evil 4, though Ada’s Separate Ways DLC isn’t interwoven into the base game.
Catwoman’s greatest asset is that she’s a wild card and, whether or not she’d actually help save the day or fall on Batman’s do-gooder side of the law when all is said and done, never lets morals get in the way of her actions on an ordinary basis. Selina’s material desires are what led her to work for Riddler and ultimately get unwittingly caught in hiselaborate Pinkney Orphanage death trap inBatman: Arkham Knight, for instance, and a game where she works for various super-criminals with her own ambitions in mind could be a terrific way to showcase miscellaneous Arkhamverse villains.
Of course, it’s only because of Catwoman’s playable chapters that Poison Ivy is inBatman: Arkham City, regardless of how fleeting Pamela Isley’s role actually is. This, as well as her optional interactions with an apprehended Calendar Man and Penguin andan optional boss fight against Two-Face in the Pinkney Institute museum, goes a long way in demonstrating that she’s just as familiar with Batman’s rogues gallery and shares a history with them all, too. Therefore, a Catwoman game could feasibly feature any number of Batman’s antagonists for her to tussle with.
The Arkhamverse Could Be One Big Ball of Yarn for Catwoman
Catwoman isn’t bound to any particular era of the Arkhamverse and her motivations being driven almost purely by greed would give a story revolving around her a long leash. BecauseCatwoman’s whereabouts and exploits are unknown followingBatman: Arkham Knightand even in the midst ofSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, a Catwoman game could explore that period freely.
Otherwise, no era of the Arkhamverse would be prohibited.Catwoman and Batman’s first encounter is depicted inBatman: Arkham Origins Blackgateand so if a game was to have Catwoman as its lead and portray interactions between her and Batman it would need to take place afterBlackgate, but a Catwoman game unbeholden to Batman could take place earlier and be anOriginsof sorts for her as a fledgling cat thief before she’s the confident and skilled antihero who goes toe-to-toe with the Dark Knight.
Catwoman has her own ‘Detective Mode’ viewed through an orange/pink goggle lens filter inBatman: Arkham Cityand a light arsenal of gadgets—a whip, caltrops, and bolas—so she certainly wouldn’t be ill-equipped.
One of the more surprising elements of Catwoman’s playable chapters is that she’s able to fully explore Arkham City with players even seeing where her apartment was before Old Gotham became a super-prison enclosure. As a result, Catwoman had a full-blown traversal mechanic where players needed to time their inputs with her acrobatically scaling buildings and surfaces only for Rocksteady to never put it to use again besidesCatwoman’s predator AR challenges inKnight, and a game of her own could finally be a great excuse to exhume it.
It’d be interesting to see how Catwoman’s kit might evolve in a game dedicated entirely or primarily to her character. A Catwoman game could even give her question-mark trophies to pursue as Riddler was already kind enough to provide Catwoman with her own pink ones to collect inCity. Either way, Selina Kyle is fertile soil for the Arkhamverse.
