Why Did Gotham Knights Kill Batman?

Gotham Knight's creative director spilled the beans on why they decided to kill off one of the most enduring characters in superhero history

[Double_O_Revan]

Because otherwise everyone would fight to be Batman. You can't make a 4 player game where everyone wants to be the same character.

[gamer7804]

good point, also batman (dc/marvel) characters never really die, they just create alternate story lines which clearly this is one of those.

[Tear111]

Batman die
But not Bruce 😁

[ABizzel1]

Also because it "happens" in the coming the game is loosely based on.

[CorndogBurglar]

One of my biggest complaints about the last two Arkham Games is that you couldn't play as Robin or Nightwing in the story. I've always felt they needed an Arkham game where you could play as other members of the Bat Family.

Robin hasn't been a joke of a character since the late 80's. At least not to people thag pay attention to comics. Nightwing has always been awesome.

I would happily play as either of them even if Batman were playable.

[Garodor]

So you then rather put 4 heros in the game who fewer people are interested in playing instead of ... for example ... use the Justice League ? I guess if Batman, Superman, Flash and Green Lantern are playable there wouldn't be so much focus on Batman (but you could still play him).
Also look at Suizide Squad ... the "hero" everyone will pick is Harley... so what's the difference ther ?

[john of the dead]

He died in the Arkham verse

[CorndogBurglar]

But this isn't the Arkhamverse.

[Unknown_Gamer5794]

Well, technically he "died" in the Arkham verse, but yes, that seems to be what's happening here too. The problem is...the game's not even set in the Arkham verse! The pretense of acknowledging that plot point is kind of pointless, especially given how many other things are different thanks to the get out of jail free card that is the other universe setting. You'd think that get out of jail free card would be used to just hit the reset button and start over with an entirely new continuity, but whatever.

[isarai]

Because that's how the last game ended?🤷‍♂️

[CorndogBurglar]

This isn't in the Arkham universe. There is no last game.

[isarai]

I mean they say that, but 1) Arkham is literally in the title and 2) the trailer says bluntly this a direct continuation of Arkahm Kinght's ending. Yeah sure call it annon-canon spinoff, but it's still built on the ending of the last batman game, Arkham universe or not.

[Sgt_Slaughter]

@isarai

Are you paying attention?

This is NOT in the Arkham Universe (if you read the article you would have seen that), the Suicide Squad game is the one in the AU, and Arkham isn't even in the title so I have no idea what you're going on about. It's just called GOTHAM KNIGHTS, nothing more nothing less.

WB Games Montreal tells ComicBook.com that, "Gotham Knights is an original story set in DC's Batman Universe and not connected to the Arkham series."

Source: https://comicbook.com/gamin...

[CorndogBurglar]

1. Its called Gotham Knights. Arkham isn't "literally" in the title anywhere.

2. The trailer does not say its a direct continuation of Arkham Knight. Mostly because Batman didn't die in Arkham Knight. Also, Batgirl is crippled at the end of Arkham Knight.

Look, I know its dumb. It LOOKS like the Arkham Universe. It PLAYS like the Arkham Universe. But it isn't. The real ending of Arkham Knight shows Batman didn't die. And even though it looked like he did, just because this game mentions the mansion being blown up doesn't mean anything. The devs said its not in the Arkham Universe, and there are enough inconsistencies that prove that. This is a case of the devs tricking people into thinking its a sequel.

[Tacoboto]

^ It's been said that this is not in the Arkhamverse.

And yet Suicide Squad is 🤷🏼‍♂️

[dumahim]

I haven't read in to anything yet, but the trailer sure seemed to me it was going off of the end of the previous game.

[CobraKai]

At first, I thought that too, but Batgirl walking (unless she goes through her surgeries) and Robin looking way younger (unless it’s Damian Wayne), made it seem inconsistent.

[rdgneoz3]

@Cobra In the trailer, they have the wheelchair next to where she is standing, so it could be through surgery or such.

[Sgt_Slaughter]

"WB Games Montreal tells ComicBook.com that, "Gotham Knights is an original story set in DC's Batman Universe and not connected to the Arkham series."

[SamPao]

Well same developers so they know best how to handle that

[TheKingKratos]

And Batman didn't die

[Deathdeliverer]

You’d have to be crazy to think Batman is dead in this game. The classic “last recording” is how the Gotham knight went out? No body, no case. He is being held captive somewhere and will probably help with the last boss. This is definitely a game you will want to buy and grind out day one before it gets spoiled. I’m not interested so far though. I need to see more and I hope they have a good meaningful beta test. Online will make or break this one.

[CobraKai]

My new theory, it’s a bat-test for Batman’s contingency plan. At the end, they all take off their VR headsets and are really in the Batcave the whole time while Batman monitored their training.

[Deathdeliverer]

I would be so pissed if that was it. In today’s world of bad story telling that fits right in IF Red Hood wasn’t there. He wouldn’t get caught dead with them.

[husomc]

So that we can pay money to bring him back

[thornh]

So they would sell less games? Who knows. I think the game should have been called "Gotham Sidekicks: The Batmanless Game No One Wanted". Oh well, maybe it will be good. I wasn't overly impressed with Justice League either.

PS - Yes, I doubt Batman is really dead. I think most of us were expecting to be playing (the majority of the game) as Batman again.

[TheOtherMoon]

I am weary, only because Batman is not in the game. Having a full co-op story to play in a third-person game is going to be an awesome experience. Having this and Avengers would be a nice tandem.

[TheEnigma313]

Batman isn't dead, but after 4 games they want to try something fresh.

[Kaedro]

Because MONEY.

[chicken_in_the_corn]

What I want to know is why isn't this part of the Arkham series?

[Sgt_Slaughter]

Guess creatively they couldn't do all of what they wanted while still keeping it connected

[get_real]

for the sake of diversity, simple.

[Knightofelemia]

It could be Batman is dead in one universe maybe this game takes place in another universe that's generally how comic books work.

[Unknown_Gamer5794]

Because the devs decided to make a game that kind of acts as a sequel while being set in a different universe (which you'd think would remove the need for a game to acknowledge any kind of Arkham continuity, especially given that it ignores entire swaths of the rest of it, but whatever I guess). I get the sense the dev team had a long debate over what kind of game they should make before deciding to end the discussion by just trying to do all of it (while likely failing to implement any of it well).

My concerns don't just extend to the plot either. I'm sure the game will play like an amalgamation of ideas too.

[CoNn3rB]

One thing I'm a little lost on is this a sequel to Arkham Knight? Or is it it's own thing?

[Livecustoms]

Batman never actually dies (Bruce Wayne technically), in both the Arkham verse and Dark Knight trilogy Bruce always fakes his death and essentially retires the batman. Would be pretty weird for Batman to actually be dead lmao