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

6. Direct References To The Comics

Batman Arkham Knight The Killing Joke
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

The secret to a good adaptation often lies in pulling inspiration from a variety of different sources - at least when it comes to comics specifically. Rocksteady did just that when it came to creating the Arkhamverse, even referencing specific comics and wider Bat-media in all three of their Arkham titles.

Arkham Knight includes a lot of these references, and more-so than the previous entries because it takes direct inspiration from a number of specific storylines. There's a Scarecrow induced flashback to The Killing Joke, where Batman is forced to witness Barbara being paralysed by the Joker, and then of course the nods towards other such stories that inspired Arkham Knight's narrative, including Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and Under the Hood.

The game also makes direct reference to classic Batman comics such as The Cult and The Long Halloween, with Jack Ryder pitching a headline for his exposé on Deacon Blackfire as "The Cult", and Alfred Pennyworth mentioning to Bruce how Professor Pyg's spate of killings bore similarities to the Holiday Killer from Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's seminal year two tale.

There are countless other shouts towards the comics, including a mention of Joker's failed bid for the presidency (potentially referencing an iconic cover from Batman: Dark Detective), but these are some of the best.

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.