Batman: Arkham Knight Sequel Revealed In Concept Art With Batman Beyond
Take a look at the concept art for Batman: Arkham Knight's sequel.
This article is more than 2 years old
The 2015 release, Batman: Arkham Knight, was the concluding entry in the Batman: Arkham series. It is often regarded as one of the best Batman video games on the market. After the game’s purposefully ambiguous ending, in which we see two criminals facing a Batman-like shadowy figure fueled by Scarecrow’s toxin, suggesting that Batman didn’t really die, the rumors surrounding Arkham Knight‘s sequel started springing up like mushrooms after a rainfall. Now, that sequel has some substantial first looks with concept art revealed from Batman Beyond.
Rocksteady, the developer of the Arkham series, is currently developing the upcoming Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, a loose sequel for Batman: Arkham Knight. Now, Gamefragger.com reports leaked concept art from Project Sabbath – a now-canceled follow-up to Arkham Knight. According to The Arkham Channel Twitter account, the images produced by artist Goran Bukvic reveal a much older Batman wearing his suit, suggesting that he didn’t die at the end of Arkham Knight while also depicting the Caped Crusader as he’s shown in the Batman Beyond series. You can see the tweets below:
Unfortunately, none of the images for Batman: Arkham Knight confirm any connection to the previously mentioned Damian Wayne game, but some details of the project loosely match previous rumors and suggestions. However, it’s doubtful that Warner Bros Games Montreal pulled the plug on two hypothetical Batman games at once, so the concept art has nothing else to tie to but the canceled Batman: Arkham Knight sequel. It would appear that WB Games Montreal entertained and even developed this idea before shelving or canning it in favor of the Gotham Knights video game. Sadly, this game is only set in the Arkham universe but isn’t a direct continuation of its narrative. Even the game’s synopsis states that Batman is dead and that the fate of Gotham now rests upon Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood, and Robin’s shoulders, allowing players to evolve into the new Dark Knight.
While Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and Gotham Knights take the franchise into a new direction, and expand the Warner Bros. gaming universe, the fate of Batman as a character of the Arkham series remains under a big question mark. Sure, the character died due to Knightfall protocol, but we’ve seen him using Scarecrow’s toxin on criminals to make them hallucinate the monster. In the end, ne’er do wells aren’t afraid of billionaire playboys who run around masked as humanoid bats. Of course, Batman is human, and just like any human, he can be killed. But nightmarish bat-like creatures whose appearance probes and shatters the criminal mind are an entirely different category.
Perhaps WB Games Montreal decided to give Bruce Wayne’s Batman some time out by faking his death. The upcoming onset of gaming titles might, at least for some time, entertain the ideas of other Bat-men while Arkham Knight’s hero takes a break. It’s entirely possible that he isn’t dead, but on some remote tropical island, waiting for the release of another Superman game, to once again don the mask of the Caped Crusader.
