Batman: Arkham Insurgency - 10 Villains That Must Be Included
9. Ventriloquist & Scarface
Warner Bros.
Arnold Wesker - the Ventriloquist - is one of Batman's most tragic and compelling adversaries, and one who's been referenced on countless occasions throughout the Arkham series.
The first reference came in Arkham Asylum, where his dummy Scarface was used by the Joker throughout as a gimmick to taunt Batman. The doll would once again be found in Arkham City - sans Joker - before it was placed on display in the GCPD lockup in Arkham Knight, albeit with a different owner in mind.
In City, GCPD dispatch said that Wesker had taken hostages and was exchanging fire with police, but by Knight, it's Peyton Riley who's in the thrall of the puppet. Given how Insurgency will supposedly follow on from Origins however, it'd make more sense to follow Wesker and to put him in a leading role too.
Batman: The Animated Series did some really fascinating work with the character, particularly in regards to the Ventriloquist's attempts to free himself from the doll, so it'd be great to see that thread repeated this time around too. Especially so, in light of the fact that Batman's more tragic elements - in respect to his rogues at least - have been sorely lacking in Rocksteady's world thus far.
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.
