Batman: Arkham Origins 2 - 10 Big Things It Can Fix From Knight
6. Joker Fatigue
Arkham Asylum was a fantastic battle of wits between The Dark Knight and his green-haired adversary, but at what point did Joker's presence become eye-roll worthy? Whilst a fitting end to the two's relationship, Arkham City was largely built up on the threat of Hugo Strange knowing who Batman's identity was - the antagonist then went on to form a measly part of the story, only reminding players of his presence with timely audio announcements regarding the mysterious Protocol 10. Half of the game is spent in the company of Joker, and though Origins more than suffered this too, both games benefited from his presence. Arkham Knight however? Maybe not as much. Don't get me wrong, Knight actually had some truly great moments between the pair, with the psychological climax at the end really forming a part of what I'd consider to be a 'perfect' Batman moment, but his overbearing presence was just too much, and really helped to detract much of the emotional worth many of Knight's key plot points aimed to deliver. The Joker is a fascinating character when deployed effectively, but his presence has become so fatiguous that any significant role in a future Arkham story can only be detrimental to its quality.
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.
