Rocksteady’s Arkhamverse has always been endearing as a spin-off/successor to Bruce Timm and Paul Dini’sBatman: The Animated Series. Adopting many of its actors for their characters’ portrayals as well as the show’s excellent atmosphere,Batman: Arkham Asylumwas also written by Dini. Dini would be one of the writers onBatman: Arkham City, too, but even though he didn’t help writeBatman: Arkham Knightthere are plain inspirations left and right throughout the trilogy that pay homage to storylines from the Caped Crusader’s most iconic animated series.
Batman: Arkham Knight’s narrative is highly divisive—almost as much as its Batmobile—and rightfully so. No futureArkhamgame was presumably intended to follow it untilSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguelaunched nearly a decade later; Jason Todd being the Arkham Knight was easy to predict despite the character having never been referred to or seen in the franchise earlier; and Joker’s blood slowly turning infected individuals into the Clown Prince of Crime was a bold plotline. However, with the latter story beat now exhausted, it will be interesting to see what Rocksteady might achieve with a rumoredBatman Beyondadaptation.
Batman: Arkham Knight is a Mild Retelling of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
Bruce Wayne being infected by Joker’s blood inBatman: Arkham Knight—infected individuals slowly becoming Joker in general—is already a mild spin on Tim Drake unknowingly possessing Joker’s DNA inBatman Beyond: Return of the Joker, which gives Joker control of him. Having played that hand to a degree, a take onBatman Beyondin the Arkhamverse would now need to get creative if it’s going to feature the Jokerz gang and, of course, a Joker.
The Joker being dead and now locked away in a Titan locker in the deepest recesses of Bruce’s subconscious should undeniably ensure that there is no way he could come back. Regardless ofhow thrilling and mysteriousReturn of the Jokeris, it would be a gross retcon to somehow have him implanted into somebody or have his blood infecting someone else without Batman knowing it and needlessly double down on whatKnightaccomplished.
Attempting to exhume Joker will hopefully be avoided entirely due to the Arkhamverse’s overindulgence in the character, anyhow, and doing so should allow a possibleBatman Beyondstoryline to reinvent itself with as much originality as Rocksteady can muster.
The Arkhamverse is Ready for a New Batman in a New Era
Batman is such a ubiquitous and timeless character that it’s not surprising to see how successful and popular the Arkhamverse is. It would be outstanding if other DC characters were given a fraction of the attention Batman receives in video game adaptations, even if they too were a part of the Arkhamverse, but moreArkhamgames may be a silver lining no matter what. Playing as anyone besides Batman in the DC mythology now seems entirely unlikely given that Monolith’s Wonder Woman game is now canceled, but therumor of aBatman Beyondgame from Rocksteadywould effectively be the next best solution.
Bruce Wayne finally cherishes his companions wholeheartedly and healthily inSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, meaning that the idea of taking a new Batman under his wing probably won’t be far-fetched.
That said, the murder of Tim Drake would hopefully tarnish that brand-new side of Bruce and once again weigh on him in terms of recruiting yet another child into the Bat-family. A layup is lying in wait for Rocksteady if it takes theBatman Beyondstoryline and merely adapts it to its established Arkhamverse lore, but how aBeyondgame may tackle the same beats could be exciting with Joker no longer in the picture.
