Batman: Arkham Knight - 10 Big Story Moments Fans Will Debate For Years
10. The Near Death Experience - Was It A Cop Out?
For many who have played Arkham Knight one of the story's biggest highlights took place very early on in the game, where Batman has to mitigate the effects of a toxic cocktail getting ready to unleash Hell over the rest of Gotham at ACE Chemicals. It's a very poignant scene, but one that could've been so much more. As Nick Arundel's theme plays over the player's actions we are led to believe that Bruce Wayne is well on his way to an untimely demise. The emotion conveyed between Wayne and his faithful butler hits a high that the game doesn't really manage to match until its finale, but as Bruce makes his escape from the facility one can't help but think of what Knight could have been with Bruce now incapacitated. Sure, it would've been a move to anger a large section of the fanbase, but it would've brought something entirely new to the table. Rocksteady could have relished the opportunity to re-tell a Battle For The Cowl-esque tale, and would've made for a twist like no other. For a character that has such a rich set of allies, it would've been the perfect way to highlight each reason why they're essential to Batman's mission. It's a shame we have to wait for DLC to make that point clear.
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.
