The Dream: As The Joker told Batman in The Dark Knight, "I think you and I are destined to do this forever." The yin-and-yang hero-villain pairing are a perfectly opposed match, and as the Caped Crusader's most infamous and potent villain, Rocksteady will just keep bringing him back for a special appearance in every game, even if it's not as the main antagonist. The Joker is just too awesome to kill off. The Reality: We learn early on in Arkham City that the Titan formula is slowly killing The Joker, but we didn't for a second actually believe that he'd be killed off by it. After Batman cures himself at the end of the game and prepares to also cure The Joker, Jokes seals his own fate by attacking Batman, causing the antidote vial to smash, confining him to an unpleasant death as the sickness overcomes him. We get an awesome scene in which Bats carries The Joker's body out of Arkham City, but was it really worth killing the series' cash cow over? Smartly, the follow-up game (which wasn't created by Rocksteady, mind), Arkham Origins, was a prequel, so the Clown Prince of Crime was still able to make an appearance, yet with the impending Arkham Knight, a direct sequel to Arkham City, Rocksteady won't have the same luxury.
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
