It is hard to imagine Gotham City without Batman in it. But, this is exactly what the team working onGotham Knightshas done, creating a version of the famed fictional city without its Caped Crusader.Gotham Knightswill instead focus on Nightwing, Batgirl, Red Hood, and Robin, as they fight to protect Gotham from a virus spreading throughout the city.Gotham Knights’decision to kill off Batmanis certainly a bold one, and the team at WB Games Montreal has recently explained why they rid Gotham of its protector.
Speaking in an interview with GamesRadar, Executive Producer forGotham KnightsFleur Marty stated that “[Batman] just takes up all of the space, he takes all of the air out of the room,” implying that with Batman in the game, a lot of players would have found it to be about him, rather than his successors taking over his role. Ceri Young built on this point by saying thatBatman’s absence fromGotham Knights"really drives" the playable characters. “There are various points where each finds themselves asking: ‘If Batman were here, I think this is how he’d handle it’,” Young began. “But they don’t have him, and so they have to figure out how to do it their own way and that’s where a lot of their interest and drive lies.”
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It seems then, that WB Games Montreal believes killing off Batman is the best decision forGotham Knights. It will give the other characters some time to shine, and an event to bind them as a group, but the story ofGotham Knightswill focus on more than just the state of the characters following Batman’s death. As stated, there is a plot revolving around Gotham under threat from a virus, and it seems that the villains behind this virus will be the Court of Owls.
There are of course some fans that still believeBatman will appear inGotham Knights, and that he will secretly be alive throughout the game’s events only to be saved for a reveal at the end. However, WB Games Montreal has been adamant that the focus is moving away from Batman and that he is dead. Even with these constant reminders Batman is gone, it seems fans will only accept that fact when the game is revealed.
There certainly is plenty of evidence pointing to the fact that Batman is likely dead and gone inGotham Knights. Perhaps some proof of this can be found in the upcoming prequel comic, which will give fans an insight intoBatman’s final case before the events ofGotham Knights.
Gotham Knightsis scheduled to release on October 25 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
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