The teaser trailer unveiled at the Spike VGA awards does exactly what it should — tease. You see no Dark Knight, you get an ever greater sense of (initial) hopelessness than in the first game and you see two very familiar faces (and one very distinct voice) that you can only hope return in the final product. Someone did their movie homework on this one and said “I’m gonna make you watch this over and over.……and over, trying to pick it apart and guess what is going on.” All that we DO know is the website where you can sign up for more information gives us a hint:
So, if you have been living under a rock, here is the fantastically frustrating trailer:
Now, I will try to pick apart things in my own way. First, going by the website and the visuals, we know that Arkham has moved off of the island. (SPOILER WARNING) This could be for some very obvious reasons. In “Arkham Asylum,” Poison Ivy was temporarily mutated and went more insane than usual; the result was that one of her plants destroyed a good 70+% of the island’s real estate, including the hidden second Batcave. Maybe they felt the asylum was no longer secure enough since an insane clown took over the whole damned thing so easily. We just do not know enough — yet. The gates to Arkham Asylum seem to be locking off Gotham City now which begs the simple question: “What the hell is going on?”
The appearing new location of the asylum coupled with the Joker sitting in a chair and being on an IV lead many to believe that a serious amount of time has passed since the first game. At first I was not a fan of this speculation as the ending to B: AA showed the Joker getting an explosive-laden, Shoryuken-style uppercut in the mouth, courtesy of the caped crusader. Had he not been a giant frak mutant at the time, the blow definitely would have taken his head clean off. I’d say a strike like that, coupled with the fact that he was recovering from a mutagenic agent would leave the Joker in relatively bad shape. However, there is the final piece of imagery to consider: The crumbling of the Bat insignia. The symbol that strikes fear into the criminal heart of Gotham was falling apart. Could Batman have given up? Is he now too old and worn down to continue? Let’s face it, Bruce Wayne is only one man and a normal, albeit it well-trained and physically powerful man. Having your back broken, being shot and stabbed countless times and just being pummeled severely about the head and shoulders for years on end has to take its toll.
So now the big question — I have no doubt that Kevin Conroy will do voice work in this game, especially if Mark Hamill is returning. What I am suggesting is the possibility that “Batman” may have a different face under the cape and cowl, or that at the very least, he may have more help than just Oracle on this one.
Only time will tell.
