Batman: Arkham Knight - 10 Coolest Easter Eggs, Secrets And References Explained

by Ewan Paterson

1. The Panessa Studios Passcode

Batman Arkham Knight Panessa Studios Passcode
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Most players who went through Arkham Knight's story will probably agree that the game's best segment comes during the return to Panessa Studios, where Batman and Robin have to deal with a fake Joker breakout courtesy of Harley Quinn.

There are some truly great moments in the mission, including a lovely little song number from Johnny Charisma (who Batman hallucinates to see Joker), but there's also a sneaky Easter egg fans may have missed.

In order to enter Stage C and apprehend Johnny, players must input a passcode. The code itself is 0539, and if you turn that into a date, it becomes May, 1939 - the month and year Batman made his very first appearance in Detective Comics #27.

Subtle, but a lovely touch all the same.

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Content Producer/Presenter

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.