Warning: This article contains spoilers for Batman: Arkham Knight. If you haven’t played the game or completed roughly 80% of the main campaign, hit the back button.
I’ll give you a little history about me. I’ve been reading comic books since 1988. Batman: The Motion Picture changed my life and turned me into a DC fanboy, a rarity from what I’ve been told, so I began reading comic books about six months after Batman: A Death in Family storyline was released. I managed to get a trade paperback of the story since I was so obsessed with Batman (I still am).
I remember reading that story and thinking, “Wow, even Batman can fail.” I didn’t know at that point that DC Comics allowed the fans to vote to kill Jason Todd – they chose to kill him. At the age of ten, I was a huge fan of Robin, just due to the fact that I could be Robin. Silly, I know, but I was still ten. Of course, this story led to the creation of Tim Drake, who went on to become my favorite Robin, but I digress. I’m no slouch with comic book knowledge, to say the least. I’m not a ninety day wonder, nor a bandwagon reader, and I want everyone to know what a guy who had read comics for almost thirty years thinks of Rocksteady’s big reveal.
I’ve been a huge fan of the Arkham series – heck, I even enjoyed my time with Arkham Origins, which everyone seems to give a hard time. I haven’t picked these games up in a very long time and I never really remember there being a single clue that Jason Todd even existed in the universe that Rocksteady created. I remember Dick and Barbara being in the game, but not once was Jason ever mentioned.
I know that Rocksteady didn’t write the first two Arkham games, Paul Dini did, and sadly he didn’t know what they were going to do with the conclusion to the trilogy. Had they brainstormed and plotted out the trilogy, Jason Todd’s reveal would have been much more gut-wrenching to the uninitiated. The fact that I knew the story – that he was resurrected by Talia and eventually became the Red Hood – made the reveal less impactful to me. It was more of a chore to see who it was before it was spoiled for me. Had they planned ahead, they could have hinted at Jason in previous games, perhaps a little side mission in Arkham City that alluded to Batman looking for Jason.
While Rocksteady did hint during Arkham Knight that Jason had been missing and was presumed dead, it didn’t hold the emotional impact it could have had it been drawn out over a couple games. To my recollection, Jason was never mentioned in Asylum or City, so the impact of that reveal was kind of, “oh cool, where’d he come from?” Where other less seasoned comic book people would most likely be, “Oh cool, who the hell is that?” Rocksteady did try to make it emotional with all the Joker memory scenes, but that just doesn’t pack the same punch as building up to it through previous games.
The Dark Knight is a perfect example of this same mistake. Think about it: Had they replaced Rachel Dawson completely and put a child and younger Harvey Dent into the picture instead as Bruce Wayne’s best friend, the emotional impact of him becoming Two-Face would have been huge. Harvey becoming Two-Face seemed like a throw away to me, and I always thought the Rachel character was useless anyway. Bruce failing to save Harvey and getting his childhood friend disfigured would have shocked the audience and shaken Bruce Wayne to the core. Seeing that video games are becoming a huge part of our entertainment and try to go for the emotion stories now, having mentions of Jason in earlier games would have seriously kicked people in the stomach when he was revealed.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I loved this game and I’m excited to get back home and finish it to 100%. I want to see all those endings, being the comic book nerd that I am. I’m very sad that this series is over for Rocksteady – they’ve been games that I’ve enjoyed very much and some of the few I replay. I have and will continue to enjoy and love their swan song to Batman. While I’m sad that they are done with the Dark Knight, I’m excited to see what they have in store for whoever they take on next. I’m hoping that it’s the Superman that Metropolis deserves, but I wouldn’t shy away from a good Green Lantern or Flash game. Whatever Rocksteady decides to take on next, I’ll be there rooting for them on launch day.
What did you think of the Arkham Knight’s reveal? Did you see it coming all along or were you totally blown away? Let us know in the comments below.