11 Mind-Blowing Facts You Didn't Know About Batman: Arkham

9. From Asylum-Knight, Over 23 Other DC Heroes Are Referenced

Arkham Knight Starro
Warner Bros.

From the very get-go, it became clear that Batman: Arkham Asylum had more to it than just the Dark Knight. The game referenced the Injustice Gang (a typical foil for the Justice League of America), and the decision to focus on a Batman at the peak of years seemed to indicate a rich and well-established universe. After all, if Barbara Gordon was Oracle that would mean The Killing Joke happened, and if that happened, then surely Babs would've been involved with either Task Force X or the Birds of Prey.

Aware of the obvious potential the series had to branch out into other DC properties (one that's still yet to be fully realised), Rocksteady upped the amount of Easter eggs on show in Arkham City by a ludicrous amount. The game referenced the cities of Metropolis and Keystone, thereby confirming the existence of Superman and the Flash, and WB Montreal followed suit in Arkham Origins, with the very first trailer opening with a box owned by Queen Industries, Green Arrow's own company.

Arkham Knight went even further. Bruce can take a message from Lex Luthor, and the Matter of Family DLC included Starro, the Justice League's first ever villain.

Martian Manhunter, Swamp Thing, the Question, Huntress and John Constantine were all referenced too, alongside countless other DC figures. Point being, there's a massive universe outside of Gotham, and one WB have to explore sooner or later.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.