As development continues on the mysterious upcoming Batman video game, recent leaks all but confirm that the title will be a soft reboot of the successful Arkham series. Although no information can be found through Rocksteady, the studio responsible for every Arkham title excluding Arkham Origins, WB Games Montreal, piqued the interest of Batman fans last September (on Batman Day) by tweeting a short video featuring hidden images reminiscent of the League of Assassins. Intrigue was further increased when Scott Snyder, who authored the Court of Owls storyline in DC’s New 52, responded to the tweet with, “Wait for it…#BewareTheCourtOfOwls.”
The Arkham series is known for taking several members of the Caped Crusader’s rogues gallery and weaving original stories that pit them against him in new and deadly ways. These stories range from re-imaginings of classic plot-lines to entirely new ones, resulting in experiences that felt like extensions of a comic or Batman: The Animated Series. This is further augmented by veteran voice actors reprising their roles from Batman: TAS and the inclusion of writers who have been writing Batman stories for decades. This winning formula led to the Arkham series being widely regarded as the definitive Batman gaming experiences.
This new information regarding the game comes from a now-deleted tweet from the now-deleted account of Twitter user @New_WabiSabi and is relayed via Game Rant. Sabi tweeted yesterday that multiple sources have stated the upcoming new Batman video game will no longer be called Arkham Legacy, as they tweeted in October, but that the Court of Owls, which is essentially Gotham City’s version of the Illuminati, is “still a big focus.” Sabi also responded to another user, stating that they were told that the game is a reboot and that “the stuff going around in articles lately is correct.” This seems to support another of Sabi’s tweets from October, which stated the entire Bat Family, including Batman, Robin, Batgirl, and others, would be playable.
Although these are still only leaks, one piece of confirm-able information is that Kevin Conroy, who has voiced Batman in a majority of related media, stated in an October interview that he would not be reprising the role for this game and does not know why. However, even this should be taken with a grain of salt, as Mark Hamill, longtime voice of the Joker, said that he would be retiring from the role after Arkham City only to return once more in Arkham Knight. It should also be noted that Arkham Origins, the only entry in the series developed by WB Games Montreal, also did not feature Conroy.
From a logical perspective, these leaks make sense. Given the ending of Arkham Knight, which won’t be spoiled here , any continuation of the series would almost need to be a reboot. It would also make sense to reuse elements and mechanics found in the Arkham series, such as the combat, music, and flight controls, because they were so well-received. Furthermore, the Court of Owls saga is among the most popular of the more recent Batman comic stories and was loosely adapted into the 2015 animated movie Batman vs. Robin. Finally, a playable Bat Family would translate well into video game form, as the Court of Owls series was the first Batman story in the New 52 which crossed over into all of their individual comics, including Red Hood and the Outlaws, Catwoman, and Nightwing.
Source: Game Rant