The Batman’s Ending Parallels with Batman: Arkham City- Here’s How (SPOILERS)

The Batman, released earlier this month, was a pleasant surprise and a great addition to the DC lineup of its superhero’s modern-day cinematic treatments. Ever since I watched it, I have been recommending it to anyone in earshot, and if you are at all interested in comic book films, I highly suggest you check it out as well. With that being said, the film’s closing minutes reminded me of my favorite game in the Batman: Arkham franchise, Arkham City, and I want to discuss just exactly how. Also, this goes without saying, but SPOILER ALERT for The Batman, Arkham City, AND the sequel to City, Arkham Knight.

The Batman’s Ending Mirrors The Setting Of Arkham City

One of the biggest shockers in the movie is the Riddler’s ending goal, to flood Gotham by blasting the seawalls with bomb-rigged trucks to lead people to a fatal funnel. Although Batman is able to apprehend Riddler and become a hero for Gotham in the end (except for the poor dog swimming at the end of the movie, get on that, Bruce), the ending monologue shows The Penguin, A.K.A. Oswald Cobblepot, looking over the flooded city and being hinted that his role as a mob boss will be further explored in a future film.

So how exactly does this tie in with Arkham City? Although I might be stretching here, the image of a flooded Gotham with Penguin running his army of mobsters from the Iceberg Lounge (a pivotal location for the movie) really sounds like where the future of the franchise will be heading. Not only that, but the three main supervillains in Arkham City (Joker, Two-Face, and Penguin) have their own gangs that are at war with each other, fighting over what’s left of the broken and flooded city. Joker was also revealed at the end of the film, and when looking at Batman’s Rogues Gallery to choose who could be another villain for the sequel, I think Two-Face could be a realistic and amazing choice. Two-Face/Harvey Dent is wacky enough to be recognized as a comic book character, while also being realistic enough that when placing him in the Battinson universe, it could absolutely work.

Another thing that I noticed that links the film to City is the feeling of the ending being a lot more macabre than usual superhero media. We expect the hero to save the day and everyone to be safe in bed that night, but that’s not what happens. Riddler wins at the end of the day, countless people are dead, and Riddler seems to make a new and dangerous friend in prison. In Arkham City, Batman is able to cure himself of Joker’s Titan-infected blood, and presumably save many others around Gotham who unknowingly were infused with said blood. However, Joker is dead, and Batman has to learn to deal with the guilt in the sequel as well as the few who weren’t able to cure themselves of Joker’s blood.

How Might The Batman’s Sequels Go?

After thinking about how much the games might’ve influenced the film (especially the fight scenes, I was clicking the “Counter” button in my head as I was watching), I can confidently say that the sequels can very much end up building its world very similar to the games. The sequels may even introduce some villains that we have seen up close and personal from the Arkham series (a topic I want to explore in the future), however for now I’m confident that the games will reflect the cut-off, flooded, and gang warfare-filled city of Gotham that Bruce will have to restore order to. Plus, we still need a scene where Batman drops down into a pile of thugs, and one yells the one line all of us players wait for- “It’s the freakin’ Bat!”