Batman: Arkham Knight - 9 Reasons Why Season Of Infamy Is Already A Disappointment
9. Mad Hatter Again... Really?
The Season of Infamy will mark the Mad Hatter's third appearance in an Arkham title, having featured in both Arkham City and the franchise's prequel, Arkham Origins. What else is there to do with the character at this point? In both a gameplay and narrative sense there's little reason to include him, seeing as how he works as an environmental manipulator in the same vein as Scarecrow and has been given a hefty chunk of side-mission time in two out of the four main Arkham games. Don't get me wrong, Peter MacNicol is a splendidly sinister Jervis Tetch and his appearance in Arkham Origins really improved upon the character's gameplay foundations in City, but surely we've seen enough of him by now? The Hatter's return epitomises the missed opportunity in Season of Infamy's choice of rogues, and really begs the question of why we're yet to see a new villain in this DLC. The Arkhamverse has yet to put its own stamp on so many of the Bat's rogues gallery that are worthy of an appearance, so returning characters are always going to cause a headache for fans yet to see their favourite villain crop up.
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.
