Batman is ‘really dead’ in Gotham Knights, and the Joker will be a no show

In case any doubts still remain, it looks like Batman really is dead in Gotham Knights. This was reiterated at San Diego Comic-Con earlier today by Creative Director Patrick Redding. The fate of Batman has been in contention ever since the game was announced back in August 2020, and the likelihood is that people still won’t believe he’s dead until the game comes out. But for now, it looks like Batman really won’t come in and save the day.

Batman isn’t the only one dodging the spotlight in Gotham Knights. It looks like the Joker won’t be featured in the game either. This was confirmed via IGN, which shared Redding’s response during a fan Q&A. The creative director gave a simple no to whether Joker would appear, but his sidekick seems to be more likely, with Redding stating “I will not confirm or deny whether Harley is.”

Is Batman really dead?

The answer from Redding seems to be pretty final regarding Batman. But this is a game based on comic books, it’s hard to take that at face value. Characters constantly come back to life in these stories, so Batman’s demise isn’t necessarily out of left field. Even if Batman isn’t dead in Gotham Knights, though, his role would still be very minimal. Gotham Knights is all about the other members of the Bat Family, and it would be unfair to take the spotlight away from them.

Joker’s admission is one that’s even harder to believe, especially when the Arkham series tried this bait and switch more than a few times. It would be nice to have a Batman game that uses the rest of the rogue’s gallery for once, though. Hopefully, Joker gets to have a break this time around. But again, that’s not something I necessarily believe just yet.

Gotham Knights is shaping up to be an interesting game in the Dark Knight realm. With Batman dead in Gotham Knights, we may finally get a new and interesting take on the world of Gotham. It’ll also be cool to see Robin deal with threats without his partner. There’ll still be plenty of speculation until release, but all will be revealed on October 25.