15 Batman Arkham Series Elements That Would Make Future Films Great
4. The Arkham City Concept
Batman: Arkham City has two primary storylines that can be seen as independent to one another despite the fact that they intertwine on a number of occasions. One of these revolves around the overall concept of the Arkham City facility, a walled-off open air prison on the streets of Gotham City where criminals, minor and major, are confined following the events of Arkham Asylum by Mayor Quincy Sharp, the asylum's former warden.
Sharp is revealed to be a puppet of Hugo Strange, who oversees the prison facility. Strange is one of Batman's oldest villains, yet has never appeared in a film. His controlled demeanour and exercise of control that results from his deduced knowledge of the Dark Knight's secret identity would be interesting to explore on film, as would his relationship with Ra's al Ghul, who is eventually revealed as the brainchild of the prison's ultimate goal - the systematic extermination of Gotham's criminal element.
Ra's relationship with Batman, who he sees as a worthy successor to his mission to violently rid the world of injustice, has been featured before in Batman Begins, but in Arkham City he was arguably at his finest, particularly given that the romantic feelings mutually shared by his daughter Talia and Bruce Wayne (touched upon somewhat haphazardly in The Dark Knight Rises) were brought into the mix and made much more emotional by her murder.
Transferred to the screen, the Arkham City narrative could translate well to a film of the hardboiled variety, where Batman has to function primarily as a detective against a desolate backdrop, identifying and attempting to eliminate conspiracy. The story has more than enough moments capable of shocking and awing audiences, chiefly Strange and Talia's deaths.
Though the latter would have to be changed to avoid bloating surroundings given that it came at the hands of the Joker, the fact that it made Batman pursue personal vengeance over saving people from Ra's murderous programme would allow a film to demonstrate his flawed (but human) side.