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139-548: Batman: Arkham is a superhero action-adventure video game series based on the DC Comics character Batman , developed by Rocksteady Studios , WB Games Montréal and Camouflaj , and published originally by Eidos Interactive and currently by Warner Bros. Games . The franchise consists of four main installments and a spin-off , along with four smaller titles for mobile devices, two virtual reality games, tie-in comic books, and an animated film . The continuity established by

278-466: A Disney internship, the duo sold its first project to Disney: a re-envisioned live-action The Wind in the Willows . Many writers and directors including Guillermo del Toro have been attached. Off the success of the first project, the duo signed with a film agency. The agency received many requests for writing on video games. Having loved the medium since childhood, May decided they should at least take

417-475: A Superman -themed game, which they later debunked. The game's official artwork was revealed by Rocksteady on August 7, 2020. The first trailer for the game premiered at DC FanDome, which revealed its title of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leage along with its premise. On March 23, 2022, Rocksteady announced that the game had been delayed from its intended 2022 launch window to Spring 2023. On April 13, 2023,

556-520: A space opera story where the team goes to another planet to oppose the imperial forces of Blackfire and then return to Earth only to get involved in a relatively realistic urban crime story about runaways . The mythologies of many ancient civilizations feature pantheons of gods and goddesses with superhuman powers, as well as heroes such as Hanuman , Gilgamesh , Perseus , Odysseus and David and demigods like Heracles . Real life inspirations behind costumed superheroes can be traced back to

695-494: A " rogues gallery " of such enemies. One of these supervillains might be the superhero's archenemy. Superheroes will sometimes combat other threats such as aliens, magical/fantasy entities, natural disasters, political ideologies such as Nazism or communism (and their proponents), and godlike or demonic creatures. Some superhero fiction portrays discrimination against superheroes, such as by the way of "Registration Acts" that mandate registration of superpowered individuals with

834-472: A "Superhero Registration Act" is passed, that requires superpowered individuals to not only register with the government, but to make themselves available to be drafted to respond to emergencies. The backlash against superheroes and metahumans in JLA: The Nail series has been compared to the real-life moral campaign against comic book superheroes in the mid-1950s. In an essay Ethan Faust argued that

973-627: A citywide evacuation in Gotham and unites several of Batman's greatest villains in an attempt to destroy the Dark Knight once and for all. Scarecrow is aided by the mysterious Arkham Knight , who has a personal vendetta against Batman and seems to know all of his secrets. Although aided by several allies, Batman's quest to stop the villains is hindered by the Joker, who, despite his death in Arkham City , lives on as

1112-541: A classified file stolen by the Riddler. Although he is the title character, Batman is reduced to a supporting role, as he attempts to stop the Joker from destroying Gotham with a hidden bomb and briefly crosses paths with the Squad. A 320-page novel, Batman: Arkham Knight – The Riddler's Gambit , by Alex Irvine serves as a prequel to Batman: Arkham Knight . Marv Wolfman authored a novelization of Batman: Arkham Knight , which

1251-531: A five-issue miniseries titled Batman: Arkham City . The miniseries was meant to bridge the gap between the story of Arkham Asylum and Arkham City the game. The series is written by Paul Dini, who wrote both Arkham Asylum and Arkham City , and is drawn by Arkham Asylum and Arkham City concept artist Carlos D'anda. The miniseries picks up one year after Arkham Asylum , where former Arkham Warden Quincy Sharp , now Mayor of Gotham City, has decided to close down Arkham Asylum. He decides to create "Arkham City" as

1390-555: A global audience. The first original major shared superhero universe to develop on the Internet was Superguy , which first appeared on a UMNEWS mailing list in 1989. In 1992, a cascade on the USENET newsgroup rec.arts.comics would give birth to the Legion of Net. Heroes shared universe. In 1994, LNH writers contributed to the creation of the newsgroup rec.arts.comics.creative , which spawned

1529-583: A hallucination in Batman's mind and is slowly taking over his body. Arkham Knight is set in Uptown Gotham, which is located west of City and Origins ' Old and New Gotham, and comprises three main islands: Bleake Island, Miagani Island, and Founders' Island. Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprise their roles as Batman and the Joker, respectively. DLC released for the game includes four side missions centered around

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1668-529: A large quantity of Titan, an experimental chemical based on Venom, the drug used by Bane to enhance his powers, and must destroy it before the Joker can use it for his nefarious schemes. Kevin Conroy , Mark Hamill , and Arleen Sorkin respectively voice Batman, Joker, and Harley Quinn in the game, reprising their roles from the DC Animated Universe . After its initial release, Arkham Asylum received downloadable content (DLC) that added new maps to

1807-522: A larger, greater detailed and intricate map. Hamill's return as a sick and dying Joker was very well taken by fans and critics alike, as well as the addition of other villains and heroes such as Robin, Catwoman, Hugo Strange, Calendar Man, and The Penguin. Arkham City currently holds the Guinness World Record for "Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever" with the average GameRankings score of 95.94%. Metacritic and The Hollywood Reporter put

1946-460: A letter column of the pulp magazine Thrilling Wonder Stories , the word superhero was used to define the title character of the comic strip Zarnak by Max Plaisted. Historians point to the first appearance of Superman , created by Jerome "Jerry" Siegel and designed by Joseph "Joe" Shuster , in Action Comics #1 (June 1938) as the debut of the comic-book archetype of the superhero. Outside

2085-616: A moral crusade in which comics were blamed for juvenile delinquency and the United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency began. The movement was spearheaded by psychiatrist Fredric Wertham , who argued in Seduction of the Innocent , that "deviant" sexual undertones ran rampant in superhero comics . In 2012, his methodology was reviewed and his results were found to be misleading if not falsified. In response,

2224-529: A more somber tone. Superboy ran from 1988 to 1992 in syndication. In the 1990s, the Power Rangers , adapted from the Japanese Super Sentai , became popular. Other shows targeting teenage and young adult audiences that decade included Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman . In 2001, Smallville retooled Superman 's origin as a teen drama. The 2006 NBC series Heroes tells

2363-401: A new super-prison based in the decaying urban slums of Gotham City, established by former Arkham Asylum warden and current Gotham mayor Quincy Sharp. While contending with various inmates taking advantage of Arkham City's lawlessness, Batman must uncover the secret behind a sinister scheme, code-named "Protocol 10", orchestrated by the facility's warden, Hugo Strange . At the same time, the Joker

2502-409: A nostalgic treatment in the 2004 Disney / Pixar release The Incredibles , which utilized computer animation . Original superheroes with basis in older trends have also been made for television, such as Disney's Gargoyles by Greg Weisman and Cartoon Network 's Ben 10 franchise and Nickelodeon 's Danny Phantom . Beginning 1940s, the radio serial Superman starred Bud Collyer as

2641-428: A number of original superhero shared universes. Magazine-style websites that publish superhero fiction include Metahuman Press , active since 2005, and Freedom Fiction Journal . Superhuman fiction has also appeared in general science fiction / speculative fiction web publications, such as the weekly Strange Horizons , a publication that pays its contributors. Two examples there are Paul Melko's "Doctor Mighty and

2780-487: A playable character, along with her own campaign that runs parallel with the main story. In addition to Batman and Catwoman, the game's challenge mode also features Nightwing and Robin as playable characters. Another DLC, titled Harley Quinn's Revenge , adds a second campaign, set after the main story, in which Robin must rescue Batman after he is captured by a vengeful Harley Quinn in Arkham City. Batman: Arkham Origins

2919-553: A relatively minor Marvel Comics character that premiered at over $ 100 million in February, a time of year generally considered poor for movie audience interest . It was an observation further confirmed in 2018 when Black Panther was an even grander success with a $ 235 million debut in the same time of year, and later became the first superhero film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture . Avengers: Endgame became

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3058-598: A secret identity; such characters as the Green Hornet and the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh , would follow. Likewise, the science-fiction heroes John Carter of Mars , Buck Rogers , and Flash Gordon , with their futuristic weapons and gadgets; Tarzan , with his high degree of athleticism and strength, and his ability to communicate with animals; Robert E. Howard 's Conan the Barbarian and the biologically modified Hugo Danner of

3197-583: A separate download. An additional alternate Batsuit inspired by Robert Pattinson 's portrayal of the character in The Batman (2022) was added first to the Nintendo Switch version of Arkham Knight as part of the Trilogy before arriving on other platforms later. The collection was dedicated to Kevin Conroy, who voiced Batman in these games. The first two games were composed by Nick Arundel and Ron Fish. Origins

3336-406: A supernatural weapon, Penny dreadfuls , shilling shockers , dime novels , radio programs , and other popular fiction of the late 19th and early 20th centuries featured mysterious, swashbuckling heroes with distinct costumes, unusual abilities and altruistic missions. The 1903 play The Scarlet Pimpernel and its spinoffs further popularized the idea of a masked avenger and the superhero trope of

3475-584: A supervillain to advance the plot. Comic book writer Gail Simone has coined the term " Women in Refrigerators " (named after an incident in Green Lantern #54 where Kyle Rayner 's girlfriend Alex DeWitt is murdered by the supervillain Major Force and stuffed into Rayner's refrigerator ) to refer to this practice. Many works of superhero fiction occur in a shared fictional universe , sometimes (as in

3614-629: A trader. In the summers, May took jobs at a variety of banks in New York City, but was rejected several times due to his appearance. However, he did receive a job to copy edit reports and journal articles. After college in early 2000s, May decided to apply to the Peter Stark Producing program at USC . At USC, May met his business partner, Dooma Wendschuh, and after graduation they made their production company official. They printed business cards and letterhead. Thanks to some contacts made during

3753-561: A variety of artists. The interludes focus on Batman's enemies as they vie for power within Arkham City . The interludes were later included in print in the Batman: Arkham City collected edition. Batman: Arkham Unhinged is an original digital comic series that released in October 2011 alongside Arkham City the game. Derek Fridolfs is the main series writer and is drawn by many different artists. The stories spin directly out of events in

3892-514: A wide variety of story genres such as Fantasy , Science fiction , Mystery , Horror , Crime fiction etc. that put superhero characters in a vast variety and combinations of story settings and fiction tropes with their presence the major common element. As such, it has become an expected element to superhero fiction for the heroic characters to be placed in nearly any story situation, including relatively down-to-Earth drama with their personal lives out of costume. For instance, The New Teen Titans

4031-464: A young age. However, his family wanted him to initially attend Harvard University to become a doctor. May failed in Chem 5 and realized that medicine wasn't his future. May then decided to take BA and several English courses, including literature courses and creative writing courses. He took a class on Eastern European science fiction and read many books, but still intended to be an investment banker or

4170-502: Is Sarutobi Sasuke , a superhero ninja from children's novels in the 1910s. By 1914, his abilities included superhuman strength, chanting incantations, appearing and disappearing, jumping to the top of the highest trees, riding on clouds, conjuring the elements (water, fire and wind), and transforming into other people or animals. In 1938, writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster , who had previously worked in pulp science fiction magazines, introduced Superman . (Siegel, as

4309-454: Is a prequel to the series, taking place eight years before the events of Arkham Asylum . It was developed by WB Games Montréal and written by Assassin's Creed and Prince of Persia writers Corey May and Dooma Wendschuh . The game is the first in the series to feature multiplayer gameplay, developed by Splash Damage . The story follows a younger and less refined Batman, who has a bounty placed on his head by Black Mask , drawing eight of

Batman: Arkham - Misplaced Pages Continue

4448-405: Is a type of stock character possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers" and dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes—ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas—have dominated American comic books and crossed over into other media. The word itself dates to at least 1917. A female superhero

4587-686: Is also the co-founder and President of Sekretagent Productions , a production company based in Los Angeles, California working in the film, video game, and internet industries. May is the main writer of the Assassin's Creed series . May worked as the lead writer on Assassin's Creed , Assassin's Creed II , and Assassin's Creed III . Corey May also helped Jeffrey Yohalem as a writer on Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood , and Darby McDevitt on Assassin's Creed: Revelations . May helped Jeffrey Yohalem once again on Assassin's Creed Syndicate , making it

4726-456: Is an iOS and Android fighting game developed by NetherRealm Studios , the creators of Mortal Kombat 9 , which serves as a spin-off and prequel to the events of Batman: Arkham City . The game features voice acting, with most of the actors their roles from Arkham Asylum and Arkham City . Batman: Arkham Origins is an iOS and Android fighting game developed by NetherRealm Studios. It plays similarly to Arkham City Lockdown , and follows

4865-569: Is an iOS and Android game developed by Turbine, Inc. and released on iOS on July 14, 2016. Set a few years before the events of Arkham Asylum , the game gives players control over a team of villains—including infamous Batman enemies such as the Riddler , Harley Quinn, Mr. Freeze, Killer Croc, Scarecrow, and Bane—and has them build hideouts and recruit henchmen, with the goal of becoming Gotham City's "next criminal kingpin". Arkham Underworld features voice acting, with many actors reprising their roles from

5004-430: Is rarely permanent, as characters who die are often brought back to life through supernatural means or via retcons (retroactive changes to the continuity), the alteration of previously established facts in the continuity of a fictional work. Fans have termed the practice of bringing back dead characters " comic book death ". Another common trait of superhero fiction is the killing off of a superhero's significant other by

5143-406: Is set after the events of Arkham City and before its downloadable content, "Harley Quinn's Revenge". The story is written by Derek Fridolfs with art by Jason Shawn Alexander. Batman: Arkham Origins is a digital-first comic, based on the game of the same name. Batman: Arkham Origins is the first title to feature the new DC Multiverse technology, that features dynamic artwork, action sounds and

5282-455: Is slowly dying due to the unstable properties of the Titan formula in his blood, and infects Batman with the same disease to force him to find a cure. Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprise their respective roles as Batman and the Joker. Arkham City introduces side missions to the series, each focusing on different villains whose schemes Batman must thwart. It also features DLC that adds Catwoman as

5421-630: Is sometimes called a superheroine (also rendered super-heroine or super heroine). In the United States, the term "SUPER HEROES" is a registered trademark co-owned by DC Comics and Marvel Comics . By most definitions, characters do not strictly require actual superhuman powers to be deemed superheroes, although terms such as costumed crime fighters or masked vigilantes are sometimes used to refer to those such as Batman and Green Arrow without such powers who share other common superhero traits. Such characters were generally referred to as "mystery men" in

5560-452: Is the sequel to Arkham City , the only one to receive an 'M' rating, and the biggest installment in the series. Intended to be the final Batman: Arkham game, it was developed once again by Rocksteady, and released for the PlayStation 4 , Xbox One , and Windows on June 23, 2015. Set nine months after the events of Arkham City , the game sees the return of the villain Scarecrow , who forces

5699-679: The Batman: Arkham series are continued in the game, including the Joker's death in Batman: Arkham City and the public revelation of Batman's identity as Bruce Wayne in Arkham Knight . Unlike previous installments, the game is set in Metropolis rather than Gotham, which has come under attack by Brainiac and his army. After most of the Justice League , including Batman, is enslaved by Brainiac's mind-controlling technology, Amanda Waller assembles

Batman: Arkham - Misplaced Pages Continue

5838-834: The Batman: Arkham Bundle was released in North America for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, as a Greatest Hits and Platinum Hits collection, respectively. It features the Game of the Year edition of Arkham Asylum , which includes the "Totally Insane", "Nocturnal Hunter", "Crime Alley", and "Scarecrow Nightmare" challenge maps, and the Game of the Year edition of Arkham City , which includes all additional content , including multiple skin DLC packs, as well as

5977-554: The Batman: Arkham Collection was released in Europe for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It contains the remastered versions of Arkham Asylum and Arkham City from Return to Arkham and the premium edition of Arkham Knight . The physical edition of the collection includes discs for the first two games and a digital download code for the third game. Although initially leaked via French retailer WTT in 2022, Batman: Arkham Trilogy

6116-470: The Silver Age of comic books . The Flash , Green Lantern , Hawkman and several others were recreated with new origin stories. While past superheroes resembled mythological heroes in their origins and abilities, these heroes were inspired by contemporary science fiction . In 1960, DC banded its most popular heroes together in the Justice League of America , which became a sales phenomenon. Empowered by

6255-631: The X-Men , and the Justice League , have been published, often marketed in association with TV series , as have Big Little Books starring the Fantastic Four and others. In the 1990s and 2000s, Marvel and DC released novels adapting such story arcs as " The Death of Superman ", " Planet Hulk ", " Wonder Woman: Earth One ", " Spider-Man: Birth of Venom " and Batman 's " No Man's Land ". Original superhero or superhuman fiction has appeared in both novel and short story print forms unrelated to adaptations from

6394-511: The comic-strip hero The Phantom , starting with 1943's Son of the Phantom . The character likewise returned in 1970s books, with a 15-installment series from Avon Books beginning in 1972, written by Phantom creator Lee Falk , Ron Goulart , and others. Also during the 1970s, Pocket Books published 11 novels based on Marvel Comics characters. Juvenile novels featuring Marvel Comics and DC Comics characters including Batman , Spider-Man ,

6533-518: The government , or laws that regulate extra-legal vigilante activity. For example, in the alternate universe of the Watchmen , first published in 1986, a backlash against superheroes leads to the passage of the "Keene Act", a federal law that prohibits "costumed adventuring" except by superheroes working for the government. A similar device was used in the Marvel Comics universe in the mid-2000s, where

6672-419: The highest-grossing film of all time . In 2017, the film Sign Gene featured about deaf superheroes who use sign language . Several live-action superhero programs aired from the early 1950s until the late 1970s. These included Adventures of Superman starring George Reeves , the action-comedy Batman series of the 1960s (often interpreted as being campy ) starring Adam West and Burt Ward . In

6811-588: The " masked vigilantes " of the American Old West such as the San Diego Vigilantes and the Bald Knobbers who fought and killed outlaws while wearing masks. The character of Spring Heeled Jack , who first emerged as an urban legend of the early 19th century, was re-conceived as a masked and costumed adventurer during the 1890s. The hero's journey is a well-known archetypal story type in which

6950-581: The 1940s with the first film adaptation of a comic book superhero being The Adventures of Captain Marvel in 1941. The decline of these serials meant the death of superhero films until the release of 1978's Superman , a critical and commercial success. Several sequels followed in the 1980s. 1989's Batman was also highly successful and followed by several sequels in the 1990s. Yet while both franchises were initially successful, later sequels in both series fared poorly both artistically and financially, stunting

7089-424: The 1940s. When Fawcett Comics went out of business as such, DC Comics, which had been embroiled in a bitter copyright dispute with Fawcett Comics over Captain Marvel, bought out the copyright to not only the character but also his ancillary "Marvel Family" of heroes and villains. During World War II , superheroes grew in popularity, surviving paper rationing and the loss of many writers and illustrators to service in

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7228-433: The 1960s, superhero cartoons have been a staple of children's television, particularly in the U.S.. However, by the early 1970s, US broadcasting restrictions on violence in children's entertainment led to series that were extremely tame, a trend exemplified by the series Super Friends . Meanwhile, Japan's anime industry successfully contributed its own style of superhero series, such as Science Ninja Team Gatchaman . In

7367-420: The 1970s however, the genre would find a newfound credibility in the medium with the original series, The Six Million Dollar Man and its spinoff, The Bionic Woman , being sustained successes. This led to direct adaptations of comic-book superheroes such as ABC / CBS drama series Wonder Woman of the 1970s starring Lynda Carter . The Incredible Hulk of the late 1970s and early 1980s, however, had

7506-575: The 1980s, the Saturday morning cartoon Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends brought together Spider-Man , Iceman , and Firestar . The following decade, Batman: The Animated Series , which was aimed at somewhat older audiences, found critical success in mainstream publications. This series led to the successful DC Animated Universe franchise and other adaptations such as Teen Titans , which Marvel emulated with X-Men and Spider-Man: The Animated Series . Comics' superhero mythos itself received

7645-610: The American comics industry, superpowered, costumed superheroes, such as Ōgon Bat (1931) and the Prince of Gamma ( ガンマ王子 ) (early 1930s), were visualized in painted panels used by kamishibai oral storytellers in Japan. They both anticipated elements of Superman and Batman. Prince of Gamma, for example, had an extraterrestrial origin story and a secret identity (his alter ego was a street urchin ), much like Superman. An earlier example from Japan

7784-585: The Arkham Asylum arena features appearances by Hugo Strange, Scarecrow, Killer Croc, Two-Face, Riddler, and Penguin, all of whom appear as they did in the previous Arkham games. The iOS version of the game features the Arkham Origins skins for Batman, Deathstroke, Deadshot, Joker, and Bane, as well the Arkham Knight skins for Batman, Catwoman, Batgirl, Harley Quinn, and the exclusive character Arkham Knight. The Arkham Knight costume for Batman also appears in

7923-556: The Arkham inmates were also his victims. The series has received widespread critical acclaim and commercial success, achieving lifetime international sales of 30+ million copies worldwide and high scores from critics and gamers. Arkham Asylum held the Guinness World Record for "Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever" based on an average Metacritic score of 91.67, but was replaced by its sequel Arkham City in 2011. The game

8062-753: The Case of Ennui" and Saladin Ahmed's "Doctor Diablo Goes Through the Motions". The web serial Worm began publication in 2011 and completed in 2013 while its sequel, Ward , began in November 2017 and completed in May 2020. Corey May Corey May is an American video game writer . He is currently the Narrative Director for Austin video game developer Certain Affinity . May

8201-804: The Coast Discoveries imprint, 2008); Austin Grossman's Soon I Will Be Invincible ( Pantheon Books , 2007); Lavie Tidhar 's The Violent Century (Hodder & Stoughton, 2013), David J. Schwartz's Superpowers: A Novel ( Three Rivers Press , 2008); Matthew Cody's Powerless ( Knopf , 2009); Van Allen Plexico 's Sentinels series of superhero novels (Swarm/Permuted Press, beginning in 2008); and Marissa Meyer 's Renegades trilogy. Collections of superhuman short stories include Who Can Save Us Now?: Brand-New Superheroes and Their Amazing (Short) Stories , edited by Owen King and John McNally (Free Press, 2008), and Masked , edited by Lou Anders (Gallery, 2010). With

8340-582: The Damian game had been cancelled and turned into a different Batman title, which was revealed to be Gotham Knights at the 2020 DC FanDome and is also unrelated to the Arkham series. As a result, Rocksteady Studios took over the Suicide Squad IP and started the development of a different game based on the faction and set after the events of Batman: Arkham Knight . Rocksteady was initially rumored to be working on

8479-442: The Game of the Year editions on Windows. Batman: Return to Arkham , developed by Virtuos , features remastered versions of Arkham Asylum and Arkham City using Unreal Engine 4 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Additionally, both games include all previously released downloadable content, and feature improved graphics, upgraded models and environments, as well as improvements in the lighting, effects and shaders. The collection

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8618-590: The Golden Age and the Sub-Mariner , from Marvel Comics (then called Timely Comics and later re-branded Atlas Comics ), and Plastic Man and Phantom Lady from Quality Comics were also hits. Will Eisner 's The Spirit , featured in a comic strip , would become a considerable artistic inspiration to later comic book creators. The era's most popular superhero, however, was Fawcett Comics 's Captain Marvel , whose exploits regularly outsold those of Superman during

8757-494: The Joker and Mr. Freeze, as well as Deadshot's daughter Zoe Lawton / Lawless . On May 1, 2024, Batman: Arkham Shadow , the next installment in the series, was announced, to be released exclusively on the Meta Quest 3 in late 2024. Developed by Camouflaj and published by Oculus Studios , it is a direct sequel to Batman: Arkham Origins , with Roger Craig Smith returning to reprise his role as Batman. Taking place six months after

8896-547: The Suicide Squad—Harley Quinn, Deadshot , Captain Boomerang , and King Shark —and sends them to Metropolis to stop Brainiac's invasion, pitting them against the brainwashed superheroes. The game supports up to four player co-op gameplay, allowing players to pick between any of the Squad members. After the initial launch, the roster of playable characters was expanded with the addition of alternate reality versions of

9035-514: The Vampire Slayer , Angel , The Phantom Captain Nice , Mr. Terrific , The Green Hornet , Electra Woman and Dyna Girl , The Greatest American Hero , Dark Angel , No Ordinary Family and Alias . In the 1940s, Fleischer / Famous Studios produced a number of groundbreaking Superman cartoons, which became the first examples of superheroes in animation . Since

9174-503: The ability to integrate a soundtrack, and allowing the reader to determine the fate of each storyline and character, with multiple options and end results available in each comic chapter. The comic, set across eight chapters, is a prequel to the game's story, and was created by digital studio, Madefire. Batman: Arkham Knight is a digital-first prequel comic to the game of the same name. Written by Peter J. Tomasi , with art by Viktor Bogdanovic and Art Thibert , and covers by Dan Panosian ,

9313-549: The armed forces. The need for simple tales of good triumphing over evil may explain the wartime popularity of superheroes. Publishers responded with stories in which superheroes battled the Axis Powers and the patriotically themed superheroes, most notably Marvel's Captain America as well as DC's Wonder Woman . Like other pop-culture figures of the time, Superheroes were used to promote domestic propaganda during wartime, ranging from

9452-691: The bulk of their properties to the copyright owner's, Disney , to its own streaming service, Disney+ . DC series include Shazam! , The Secrets of Isis , The Flash (1990 TV series) , Birds of Prey and Gotham . Arrowverse series include The Flash (2014 TV series) , Supergirl , Legends of Tomorrow and Constantine . Marvel series include The Amazing Spider-Man , Spidey Super Stories and Mutant X . Netflix series include Daredevil , Jessica Jones , Luke Cage , Iron Fist and The Defenders . Japanese tokusatsu series include Ultraman , Spectreman and Kamen Rider . Other series include- Buffy

9591-473: The cases of the DC and Marvel Universes ) establishing a fictional continuity of thousands of works spread over many decades. Changes to continuity are also common, ranging from small changes to established continuity, commonly called retcons , to full reboots , erasing all previous continuity. It is also common for works of superhero fiction to contain established characters and setting while occurring outside of

9730-501: The comic book industry adopted the stringent Comics Code . By the mid-1950s, only Superman , Batman and Wonder Woman retained a sliver of their prior popularity, although effort towards complete inoffensiveness led to stories that many consider silly, especially by modern standards. This ended what historians have called the Golden Age of comic books . In the 1950s, DC Comics , under the editorship of Julius Schwartz , recreated many popular 1940s heroes, launching an era later deemed

9869-403: The comic picks up after the events of Arkham City . It was released digitally in February 2015, with the first print release featuring a collection of the digital issues in March 2015. Batman: Arkham Knight – Batgirl Begins is a promotional one-shot comic that was distributed for free at San Diego Comic-Con . Written by Tim Seeley and illustrated by Matthew Clark and Wade Von Grawbadger ,

10008-549: The comic tells the story of Barbara Gordon 's first adventure as Batgirl . Batman: Arkham Knight – Genesis , is a six-issue series written by Peter Tomasi and illustrated by Alisson Borges, that explores the origin of the Arkham Knight. A forthcoming five-issue series entitled Suicide Squad: Kill Arkham Asylum will serve as a prequel to the game. An animated film set in the Arkhamverse, titled Batman: Assault on Arkham ,

10147-505: The criticism was directed towards the game's overreliance on the Batmobile. The Windows version of the game was received with ambivalent responses, being criticized for numerous technical issues at the time of its launch, resulting in Warner Bros. removing the game from sale on Steam , and physical copies being removed from shelves, promising to work on performance issues. After its re-release,

10286-444: The day-to-day writing and get a broader view of narrative inside the studio and work ideally to address and provide a support system for concerns and issues I'd experienced while in production. So it's just taking the stuff I learned and experienced and trying to find a place I can share some of those lessons with the other writers at the studio. And perhaps most importantly function as an advocate for them. Because I oftentimes felt there

10425-410: The depiction of superheroes in the 2004 film The Incredibles is used to examine societal attitudes towards those with disabilities, first by showing them through the prism of ableism in providing unwanted help to people they view as unable to help themselves and later as those forced to hide their differences that are now an object of discrimination. A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of

10564-528: The eponymous Arkham Asylum , home of some of Batman's most notorious foes. In the main storyline, Batman must once again stop his archenemy, the Joker , who has instigated an elaborate plot to seize control of Arkham and trap Batman on the island, while threatening Gotham City with hidden bombs. While fighting through the Asylum's inmates and attempting to restore order, Batman learns that the Joker has gained possession of

10703-527: The events of Arkham Origins , the game follows Batman as he attempts to stop a mysterious villain called the Rat King from destroying Gotham on the Fourth of July , and depicts his transition from a violent and vengeful vigilante to a symbol of hope. Arkham Shadow was released on October 21, 2024, and was included for free with new Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest 3S purchases until April 30, 2025. On September 23, 2013,

10842-500: The extended story Harley Quinn's Revenge . On November 22, 2013, the Batman: Arkham Collection was released in Europe for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows. The collection features downloadable versions of Arkham Asylum and Arkham City , and a physical copy of Arkham Origins . In addition, the PlayStation 3 version features the Knightfall DLC pack for Arkham Origins , while Arkham Asylum and Arkham City are

10981-467: The few to also publish superhero poetry, ceasing to do so as of 2011. Superhero poems there included Philip L. Tite's "Brittle Lives", Mark Floyd's "Nemeses", and Jay Macleod's "All Our Children". Novels with original superhuman stories include Robert Mayer's Superfolks ( St. Martin's Griffin , March 9, 2005); James Maxey's Nobody Gets the Girl ( Phobos Books , 2003); Rob Rogers's Devil's Cape ( Wizards of

11120-439: The game among the best videogames of the decade 2010–2019. Arkham Origins , while considered the weakest installment of the series, was still generally well received. The major consensus among critics was the game lacked innovation and series advancement, many of them citing the similar gameplay and atmosphere of the game before, but that it still had an interesting and engaging story. The visuals were also slightly downgraded from

11259-591: The game continued to receive criticism for lingering technical issues. The console versions were released with little to no technical problems. Mashable and BuzzFeed put the game among the best videogames of the decade 2010–2019. Edge and USA Today put the game on their lists of the best games of all time. Superhero fiction A superhero is most often the protagonist of superhero fiction. However, some titles, such as Marvels by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross , use superheroes as secondary characters . A superhero (sometimes rendered super-hero or super hero)

11398-534: The game features DLC that adds new challenge maps and costumes for Batman, as well as Bruce Wayne and Deathstroke as playable characters in the challenge mode. The Cold, Cold Heart DLC adds a new story-driven campaign, set a week after the events of the main story, on New Year's Eve ; it depicts Batman's first encounter with Mr. Freeze , borrowing heavy inspiration from the Batman: The Animated Series episode " Heart of Ice ". Batman: Arkham Knight

11537-447: The game itself, or are flashbacks to events prior to either game, allowing expansion on the background of the characters as they may have existed pre- Arkham City . The stories focus on Batman prominently, but some highlight the villains and the supporting characters as well. The stories were later released in print form. Additionally, Batman: Arkham City – End Game was released in May 2012 as digital-first comics, and later in print, and

11676-465: The game was again delayed to February 2, 2024, when it would eventually release for Windows, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S . Due to Kevin Conroy's passing in November 2022, the game marks one of his final performances as Batman, as well as his last time voicing the character in the Arkham series. As Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is set in the Arkhamverse, plot threads established in

11815-418: The game's challenge mode, as well as the Joker as a playable character (albeit only on the PlayStation 3 and Return to Arkham versions). Batman: Arkham City is the sequel to Arkham Asylum and features a bigger cast of characters and a story again written by Paul Dini, along with Paul Crocker and Sefton Hill . Set 18 months after Arkham Asylum , the game sees Bruce Wayne incarcerated within Arkham City,

11954-518: The game. This has changed due to popular franchises: The Silver Age -inspired Freedom Force (2002), City of Heroes (2004), Infamous series and Champions Online (2009), a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (or MMORPG), all of which allow players to create their own superheroes and/or villains. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Internet allowed a worldwide community of fans and amateur writers to bring their own superhero creations to

12093-572: The games is often referred to as the Arkhamverse . The main games in the Batman: Arkham series have been met with success and critical acclaim, with praise for their narratives, voice acting, characters, world design, graphics, and gameplay. The games have collectively sold more than 32 million copies worldwide. Batman: Arkham Asylum , the first game in the series, was written by veteran Batman writer Paul Dini and developed by Rocksteady. The game takes place entirely on Arkham Island, which houses

12232-480: The growth of superhero films for a time. Hit films such as 1998's Blade , 2000's X-Men and Unbreakable , and 2002's Spider-Man have led to sequel installments as well as encouraging the development of numerous superhero film franchises in the 21st century, both successful (such as 2005's Batman Begins , a reboot of the Batman film series ) and unsuccessful (such as 2004's Catwoman ). With that resurgence,

12371-545: The highest critical acclaim of the series, and won multiple awards, including Best Action-Adventure Game at the Golden Joystick Awards and Adventure Game of the Year at the D.I.C.E. Awards . The game was included in many lists of the best games of 2011 and is also considered as the greatest comic book video game of all time. It was heralded as taking the already innovative and intricate gameplay of its predecessor and largely expanding on it, as well as opening gameplay to

12510-430: The iOS version of Injustice 2 . The character Arkham Knight eventually made his debut in the mainstream DC Universe . However, this incarnation is not Jason Todd, but rather Astrid Arkham, the daughter of Arkham Asylum director Jeremiah Arkham and Ingrid Karlsson. During her birth, a riot broke out during a prison transfer at the asylum. Despite the chaos, several villains assisted in delivering her safely, but one of

12649-732: The last game he worked on before departing from Ubisoft . May also helps in the production of most other entries into the Assassin's Creed franchise to make sure everything flows together into one coherent narrative. May graduated from Harvard University in 1999 and founded Sekretagent with Dooma Wendschuh upon their graduation from the University of Southern California 's Peter Stark Producing Program in 2001. Along with Dooma Wendschuh, May has co-written for video games such as Prince of Persia: Warrior Within , Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones , Army of Two and Terminator Salvation . He also

12788-687: The main canon for those characters. Crossovers often occur between characters of different works of superhero fiction. In comic books, highly publicized "events" are published featuring crossovers between many characters. In previous eras, especially in the Bronze Age of Comic Books , Marvel and DC had dedicated series in which their marquee characters such as Spider-Man and Superman would meet various characters in single stories such as Marvel Team-Up and DC Comics Presents . However, that publishing fashion has fallen away in favor of occasional limited series and guest appearances in regular series when

12927-475: The main installments in the series. The game was shut down in 2017. In June 2016 at E3 2016 , it was announced that Rocksteady was developing a Batman: Arkham game for the PlayStation VR , which released in October 2016. The game is set a few weeks prior to the events of Arkham Knight , and has players "utilize [Batman's] legendary gadgets to unravel a plot that threatens the lives of his closest allies." It

13066-400: The major comic-book companies. It has also appeared in poetry. Print magazines devoted to such stories include A Thousand Faces: A Quarterly Journal of Superhuman Fiction , published since 2007 in print and electronic form, and online only as of 2011 and This Mutant Life: Superhero Fiction , a bimonthly print publication from Australia , published since 2010. The latter magazine was one of

13205-501: The meetings, where he first met Ubisoft. May and Wendschuh pitched Ubisoft an animated television show based on Rayman . Despite rejecting the pitch, the executives did like May, and invited him to visit Montreal . After the critical success of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Beyond Good & Evil , the publisher wanted May to help with the next Prince of Persia game, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. May then started working on Assassin's Creed for four years. "It

13344-503: The names National and All-American at the time, received an overwhelming response to Superman and, in the years that followed, introduced Batman , Wonder Woman , The Green Lantern , The Flash , The Hawkman , Aquaman , and The Green Arrow . The first team of superheroes was DC's Justice Society of America , featuring most of the aforementioned characters. Although DC dominated the superhero market at this time, companies large and small created hundreds of superheroes. The Human Torch of

13483-449: The new "home" for all of Gotham City's thugs, gangsters and insane criminal masterminds, set in the heart of Gotham City. Inmates are under the watchful eye of Dr. Hugo Strange , and can roam free and do whatever they want as long as they do not try to escape. In addition, 8-page digital-first interludes were released to expand on the story included in the miniseries, and were written once again by Dini as well as Derek Fridolfs and drawn by

13622-416: The novel Gladiator , were heroes with unusual abilities who fought sometimes larger-than-life foes. The word " superhero " itself dates to at least 1917. The most direct antecedents are pulp magazine crime fighters such as the masked and caped Zorro (introduced by Johnston M. McCulley in 1919 with The Curse of Capistrano ) with his trademark "Z", the technologically advanced "Black Sapper" (1929),

13761-413: The only difference between the two is that the hero uses his extraordinary powers to help others, while the villain uses his powers for selfish, destructive or ruthless purposes. Both superheroes and supervillains often use alter egos while in action. While sometimes the character's real name is publicly known, alter egos are most often used to hide the character's secret identity from their enemies and

13900-620: The preternaturally mesmeric The Shadow (1930), the "peak human" Doc Savage (1933), and The Spider (1933), and comic strip characters such as Hugo Hercules (1902), Popeye (1929), the Phantom (1936) and Olga Mesmer (1937). The first masked crime-fighter created for comic books was writer-artist George Brenner 's non-superpowered detective the Clock , who debuted in Centaur Publications ' Funny Pages #6 (Nov. 1936). In August 1937, in

14039-854: The previous entry. This was largely attributed to the change in developers from Rocksteady to Warner Bros. Montréal. Arkham Origins was also criticized for its many bugs and glitches, especially on PC, as well as its odd and confined multiplayer. However, praise was directed at the voice cast and narrative, the game's depiction of the Joker as well as Batman's relationships with his adversaries. Most notably, critics agreed that Arkham Origins ' boss battles were an improvement over its predecessors; they offered dynamic, multiphase conflicts with their own stories. While not considering all equally fun or impressive, reviewers said that their variety and unpredictability provided much excitement. The console versions of Arkham Knight received critical acclaim but slightly less than Arkham City and Arkham Asylum . However, it

14178-549: The price of keeping such a secret. In addition, this narrative trope can allow fantasy characters to be in occasional realistic stories without the fantasy element of the sub-genre appearing. With supervillains, by contrast, the duality of their identities is kept a secret and closely guarded to conceal their crimes from the general public, so that they may inflict greater harm on the general public, and to enable them to act freely, and hence illegally, without risk of arrest by law-enforcement authorities. Death in superhero fiction

14317-492: The prison. With the help of Catwoman, whom he encounters for the first time, Batman attempts to bring all three crime bosses to justice, in the process uncovering a dark secret about his newfound ally. A deluxe edition of the game, featuring new maps, enemy encounters, difficulty levels, batsuits and enhanced visuals, was released on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 , Wii U , and Microsoft Windows in April 2014. Batman: Arkham Underworld

14456-399: The prisoners killed Ingrid with one of Batman's batarangs. Astrid grew up interacting with many of Arkham Asylum's patients and sympathized with their fear of Batman. After she found footage of her mother's death, she assumed Batman murdered her and trained herself for years to take away Batman's control over Gotham. She crafted the Arkham Knight identity to take vengeance on him, believing that

14595-489: The protagonist undertakes a quest to achieve both material advantage and psychological and ethical maturity, and is generally considered to function as a metaphor and guide for children transitioning to adulthood or from egoism to altruism as the core concept of the self . Antecedents of the superhero archetype include such folkloric heroes as Robin Hood , who adventured in distinctive clothing, and King Arthur , who possessed

14734-426: The public. With superheroes, the duality of their identities is kept a secret and closely guarded to protect those close to them from being harmed and to prevent them from being called upon constantly, even for problems not serious enough to require their attention. This can be a source of drama with the superhero being forced to devise means of getting out of sight to change without revealing their identity, or bearing

14873-413: The purchasing of war bonds . Following superheroes's popularity during this time, those characters' appeal began to dwindle in the post-war era. Comic-book publishers, casting about for new subjects and genres, found success in, particularly, crime fiction , the most prominent comic of which was Lev Gleason Publications 's Crime Does Not Pay , and horror . The lurid nature of these genres sparked

15012-476: The return of the superhero at DC, Marvel Comics editor/writer Stan Lee and the artists/co-writers Jack Kirby , Steve Ditko and Bill Everett launched a new line of superhero comic books, beginning with the Fantastic Four in 1961 and continuing with the Incredible Hulk , Spider-Man , Iron Man , Thor , the X-Men , and Daredevil . These comics continued DC's use of science fiction concepts ( radiation

15151-400: The rise of e-book readers like Kindle and Nook, a host of superhero stories have been self-published, including R. R. Haywood's Extracted (2017), R. T. Leone's Invinciman (2017), and Mike Vago's Selfdestructible (2018). While many popular superheroes have been featured in licensed video games, up until recently there have been few that have revolved around heroes created specifically for

15290-487: The same setting as Arkham City —Old Gotham—but with several changes to reflect the different time period, as the area has yet to be transformed into Arkham City. The setting also incorporates a new area of the city, called New Gotham, located in the south, and the Batcave . Roger Craig Smith and Troy Baker voice Batman and the Joker, respectively, replacing Conroy and Hamill from the previous two games. Like its predecessors,

15429-503: The same storyline as the console and PC versions of the game. Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate is a side-scrolling game developed for the PlayStation Vita and Nintendo 3DS by Armature Studio . Set three months after the events of Arkham Origins , the story sees Batman investigating a mysterious explosion at Blackgate Prison that set the inmates free and allowed notorious crime bosses Joker, Black Mask, and Penguin to take over

15568-483: The short-lived action comedy, Misfits of Science . In the 2010s, Warner Brothers created a successful adaptation of the Green Arrow , Arrow , that began the successful Arrowverse television franchise. Marvel meanwhile had a successful television spin-off of their Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. , while creating a number of series on the streaming service Netflix , before moving

15707-403: The so-called Golden Age of Comic Books to distinguish them from characters with super-powers. Normally, superheroes use their powers to counter day-to-day crime while also combating threats against humanity by their criminal counterparts, supervillains. Long-running superheroes such as DC's Batman , Superman and Wonder Woman and Marvel's Spider-Man , Captain America and Iron Man have

15846-410: The story of several ordinary people who each suddenly find themselves with a superpower. The British series Misfits incorporates super-human abilities to undesirables in society. In this case, young offenders put on community service all have super powers and each use them to battle villains of sorts. In the 1980s, an unsuccessful attempt was made to realize this last concept in the United States with

15985-418: The subgenre has become a major element of mainstream film production with outstanding successes like 2008's The Dark Knight , 2012's The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises , 2013's Iron Man 3 , and 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron attracting major revenue and critical plaudits. This trend was reinforced in 2016 with the outstanding success of the critically lauded Deadpool , a film adaptation of

16124-458: The superhero archetype. Superheroes occasionally have been adapted into prose fiction , starting with Random House 's 1942 novel The Adventures of Superman by George Lowther . In the 1970s, Elliot S! Maggin wrote the Superman novels, Last Son of Krypton (1978) and Miracle Monday , coinciding with but not adapting the movie Superman . Other early adaptations include novels starring

16263-495: The supervillain often possesses a genius intellect that allows him to draft complex schemes or create fantastic devices. Another common trait is possession of considerable resources to help further his aims. Many supervillains share some typical characteristics of real-world dictators, mobsters, and terrorists and often have aspirations of world domination or universal leadership. Superheroes and supervillains often mirror each other in their powers, abilities, or origins. In some cases,

16402-527: The titular hero. Fellow DC Comics stars Batman and Robin made occasional guest appearances. Other superhero radio programs starred characters including the costumed but not superpowered Blue Beetle , and the non-costumed, superpowered Popeye . Also appearing on radio were such characters as the Green Hornet , the Green Lama , Doc Savage , and the Lone Ranger , a Western hero who relied on many conventions of

16541-418: The villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies, and science fiction in various media. They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other heroes. Whereas superheroes often wield fantastic powers, the supervillain possesses commensurate powers and abilities so that he can present a daunting challenge to the hero. Even without actual physical, mystical, superhuman or superalien powers,

16680-497: The villains Killer Croc , Ra's al Ghul , Mr. Freeze, and Mad Hatter ; short story-driven missions set both before and after the main story, focusing on characters other than Batman, such as Batgirl , Red Hood , Harley Quinn, Nightwing, Robin, and Catwoman; additional challenge maps; and skins for both the playable characters and the Batmobile (which makes its debut in the series as a driveable vehicle). Batman: Arkham City Lockdown

16819-463: The world's deadliest assassins to Gotham City on Christmas Eve . While attempting to bring Black Mask to justice, Batman must also contend with the police, who want to apprehend him for his vigilantism, and other villains taking advantage of the chaos in Gotham. The plot features key moments in Batman's career, such as his first encounter with the Joker, and the beginning of his partnership and friendship with Jim Gordon . Arkham Origins features roughly

16958-544: The writer, actually created the central and supporting characters; Shuster, as the artist, designed these characters, and gave Superman the first version of his now-iconic uniform.) The character possessed many of the traits that have come to define the superhero: a secret identity , superhuman powers and a colorful costume including a symbol and cape. His name is also the source of the term "superhero", although early comic book heroes were sometimes also called mystery men or masked heroes . DC Comics , which published under

17097-410: The writers felt the character's presence was justified. Intercompany crossovers , between characters of different continuity, are also common. Over the history of the comic book genre, writers for major characters' series were required to produce material to strict regular publishing schedules that often ran for years. As such to fulfill this strenuous creative requirement, superhero stories have used

17236-601: Was a common source of superpowers) but placed greater emphasis on personal conflict and character development. This led to many superheroes that differed from predecessors with more dramatic potential. For example, the Fantastic Four were a superhero family of sorts, who squabbled and even held some unresolved acrimony towards one another, and Spider-Man was a teenager who struggled to earn money and maintain his social life in addition to his costumed exploits. Superhero films began as Saturday movie serials aimed at children during

17375-419: Was a mainstream superhero series which had characters that were a mix of fantasy ( Raven , Wonder Girl ), science fiction ( Cyborg , Starfire , Changeling , Kid Flash ) and crime fiction ( Robin ). Furthermore, their series had such a variety of stories, such as in a year-long period of 1982-3 where in rapid succession, the team would face Brother Blood , a costumed supervillain cult leader, then promptly have

17514-516: Was an executive producer on the 2006 horror film The Plague , was a producer on the 2002 film Yo, Tyrone . He and Wendschuh wrote the Batman video game developed by WB Games Montréal , Batman: Arkham Origins , a prequel to Rocksteady Studios Batman video games: Batman: Arkham Asylum , Batman: Arkham City and Batman: Arkham Knight . Corey May was raised near Hollywood . May's interest in films , comics , games and anime came from

17653-426: Was composed by Christopher Drake , with Arkham Knight being composed by Arundel and David Buckley . Several soundtrack albums have been released. A 16-page, single-issue comic, Batman: Arkham Asylum – The Road to Arkham , was included in limited editions of Batman: Arkham Asylum . Written by Alan Burnett and illustrated by Carlos D'Anda, it is a prequel to the game. Starting in May 2011, DC Comics released

17792-533: Was included in many lists of the best games of 2009 and won several accolades, including Best Game at the BAFTA Video Games Awards and Game of the Year at the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers . The Guardian included the game on its list of the 50 best videogames of the 21st century. Digital Trends put the game on its list of the best games of all time. Arkham City has received

17931-489: Was made available by Cryptozoic entertainment in May 2013. The game Injustice: Gods Among Us featured the Arkham City Skin Pack , containing downloadable costumes for Batman, Catwoman, and the Joker, based on their appearances in Arkham City . An Arkham City skin is also available for Harley Quinn; however, unlike the other Arkham City skins, it must be unlocked through the iOS mobile app version. In addition,

18070-482: Was made from the development team or publisher. In December 2016, Jason Schreier from Kotaku revealed that the title had been cancelled, and WB Games Montreal shifted their focus to a new Batman game starring Damian Wayne as the new Dark Knight, but as confirmed in January 2024 by voice actor Josh Keaton who worked on the game, the title would not have been set in the Arkhamverse. In April 2017, Schreier reported that

18209-402: Was nowhere for me to turn during production, that there was no place I could go for help or guidance or if I wanted someone to take a look at my stuff or if I wanted feedback or advice. And so it's in some ways me trying to fill a need for something I wished I'd had. —Corey May Alice was originally formed in 2011 by Yves Jacquier, Ubisoft's director of production services. Alice's main goal

18348-479: Was officially announced via Nintendo Direct on June 21, 2023. It contains Batman: Arkham Asylum , Arkham City , and Arkham Knight in one package with all of their respective DLC bundled in, and was released exclusively for the Nintendo Switch on December 1, 2023. It was developed by Turn Me Up. The physical edition only included Arkham Asylum on the cartridge, while Arkham City and Arkham Knight required

18487-461: Was praised as reaching to a darker side of Batman not seen in video games before. It was also acclaimed for its polished combat and stealth gameplay, as well as selection of gadgets at Batman's disposal and the extensive comic book lore and easter eggs planted all over the map of Arkham Asylum. Arkham Asylum also received positive feedback for its choice in voice actors, such as Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy as The Joker and Batman, respectively. The game

18626-557: Was released for the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive on April 25, 2017. A Suicide Squad game was first considered a possibility following the end of Batman: Arkham Origins , which featured a post-credits scene in which Deathstroke is asked by Amanda Waller to join the Suicide Squad. In the years after Batman: Arkham Knight released, there were rumors suggesting the studio was working on a Suicide Squad game, but no official announcement

18765-823: Was released in July 2015. Starting in January 2011, DC Direct released two series of statues based on characters in Arkham Asylum . As well, DC Direct, and later DC Collectibles, released four series of statues based on characters in Arkham City , starting in December 2011. On June 5, 2012, TriForce announced that they had acquired the license to create replicas of various weapons, gadgets and iconic objects from Arkham Asylum and Arkham City . DC Collectibles announced statues for release in October 2013 for Arkham Origins , as well as Mattel announcing statues of their own, releasing in late 2013. A board game, titled Batman: Arkham City Escape ,

18904-704: Was released on August 12, 2014. Many actors involved with the games reprised their roles, including Kevin Conroy as Batman, Troy Baker as the Joker, Martin Jarvis as Alfred, and Nolan North as the Penguin. The film takes place about two years before the events of Batman: Arkham Asylum , and focuses on the Suicide Squad—Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, Killer Frost , the Black Spider , and King Shark—who are sent by Amanda Waller to infiltrate Arkham Asylum and recover

19043-401: Was released on October 18, 2016, to mixed to positive reviews. Reviewers noted improvements to the textures and shading, but had split opinions on the visual design and lighting effects. The collection was also criticized for issues with its frame rate , having been capped at 30 frames per second, with Arkham City running uncapped at up to 60 frames per second at launch. On September 6, 2019,

19182-466: Was still better received than its predecessor ( Arkham Origins ) and became the fastest-selling game in the franchise. The game was included in many lists of the best games of 2015 and won several accolades, including Best British Game at the BAFTA Video Games Awards and Best Game at the Empire Awards . Praise was aimed at the narrative, score, writing, visuals, world designs, and gameplay, while most of

19321-410: Was this big crazy weird super ambitious monstrosity. How are we going to go from what's in the creative director 's head to what's on a disc? [...] As time went on I was more and more involved with the franchise, charting some of the aspects of its future. Not just writing on the games but overseeing the narrative elements of the brand as a whole," said May. [Alice] was an opportunity to step away from

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