A new video game set in the DC universe will be arriving in 2022, Gotham Knights. Gotham Knights will tell the story of four heroes, Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl, Dick Grayson aka Nightwing, Tim Drake aka Robin, and Jason Todd aka Red Hood as they attempt to clean up the crime of Gotham City after Batman’s death. The game is being developed by WB Games Montréal and recently updated its release date to October 21, 2022 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, and PC.
WB Games Montréal last developed an entry in the Batman: Arkham series, Batman: Arkham Origins, although Gotham Knights does not take place in that universe. The game recently released a new trailer at Gamescom’s Opening Night Live, which showed off a new look at some of the villains of the game. So looking at the trailer and the promotional material they have released in the past, let’s take a look at every villain we know will be in the game so far.
Talon and the Court of Owls
The first villains to be teased in the game were the Court of Owls. The marketing for Gotham Knights has really been pushing the Court of Owls so they seem to be the main villain of the game – if they are not hiding the true main villain of the game that is. They are best known for their appearance and introduction in the New 52 run of Batman by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. Also introduced in the run was a villain that was revealed in a new trailer for the game, Talon. Talon is an assassin of the Court of Owls, of which there have been many, as the Court of Owls as an organization were active in Gotham for hundreds of years. The main Talon in the comics was named William Cobb. Talons have a long life span as the Court of Owls tends to keep them alive and spry, unleashing them as needed.
Harley Quinn
One of the villains revealed to be in the game via the new ‘Villains’ trailer for the game is fan-favorite Harley Quinn aka Harleen Quinzel. Harley Quinn is probably best known for her live-action appearances as played by Margot Robbie in both The Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey. This would not be the only time Harley Quinn would appear in a video game, being one of the main characters of the Batman: Arkham games. Based on the trailer it seems like Harley will be one of the main villains as opposed to Rocksteady Studio’s upcoming game Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League where she is one of the main playable characters.
Mr. Freeze
Mr. Freeze, the scientist with a tragic love story named Victor Fries, will be one of the villains in Gotham Knights. While his back story has changed over the years, Mr. Freeze is often searching for a cure for his wife’s condition. In the Batman: Arkham games Nora Fries suffers from Huntington’s disease, and as a brilliant scientist, Victor attempts to find a cure for the condition while putting his wife in cryofreeze.
Some of the great Mr. Freeze stories portray him as a sympathetic character, one who has both fought and sometimes worked with Batman. From the looks of the trailers of Gotham Knights, it seems that Mr. Freeze has frozen a portion of Gotham City, so he might just be an all-out villain in this game. Let’s hope nothing happened to Nora.
Clayface
One of the villains shown in the new trailer is the shapeshifting Clayface. Clayface, also known as Basil Karlo, has the ability to shapeshift his clay body, allowing him to take the shape of anything or anyone he desires. Clayface had a pivotal role in what is arguably the best Batman game ever made, Batman: Arkham City, so hopefully Gotham Knights will be able to utilize the character as well as Arkham City did.
Of course, he was a part of the main reveal of Arkham City – that Joker was dying throughout the game and Clayface was posing as him whenever he interacted with Batman. Based on the trailer he seems to be playing up his theatrical quips which is not necessarily a bad thing but we will have to wait and see if they have any greater plans with Clayface in Gotham Knights other than a boss fight.
Talia al Ghul
The Daughter of the Demon and the mother of Bruce Wayne’s child, Talia al Ghul will be making an appearance in Gotham Knights. The daughter of Ra’s al Ghul, Talia has not been in any trailers but her voice actress has been listed as Mylène Dinh-Robic so we know that at least her voice will be in the game. Talia is probably best known for her appearance in The Dark Knight Rises where she was played by Marion Cotillard.
With Batman dead, it seems likely that Damian Wayne — the child of Talia and Bruce — has either been born and is with Talia along with the rest of the League of Assassins or he does not exist in this universe. However, it is always possible that Talia’s appearance in the game has nothing to do with Bruce Wayne and she might have taken over her father’s organization as she did in the Arkham games. Another possibility is that Bruce faked his own death to raise Damian with Talia, but that seems rather far-fetched.
The Penguin
The Batman villain who was most recently featured in The Batman as portrayed by Colin Farrell is the Penguin. The Penguin — who is also known as Oswald Cobblepot — will be making an appearance in Gotham Knights as you can see from the above image, though it is unclear if he will be a main villain in the game. We have gotten major looks at the Court of Owls, Harley Quinn, and Mr. Freeze but we have not seen much of The Penguin. As his voice actor is already named as Elias Toufexis, The Penguin will be in the game in some capacity. While never the main villain in any of the Arkham games, The Penguin’s presence was always felt, and he was voiced by Nolan North.
Professor Pyg
Professor Pyg is not confirmed to be in Gotham Knights – although we think he was spotted in the trailer as seen from the screenshot above. Professor Pyg, also known as Lazlo Valentin, is not a villain that has any superpowers, instead using his surgical skills to carve up his victims while he wears his pig mask. He was also in the Arkham games, voiced by David Schultz. His look is usually a little different from a goon wearing a pig mask, which is in the image above and he usually wears surgical gear so it is unclear if this character is actually Professor Pyg.
There you have it, every villain in Gotham Knights that has been confirmed (and deduced) to be in the game so far. Again, if this game is anything like the Batman: Arkham games, there will be many villains in Gotham Knights and with the largest version of Gotham in a video game, we will surely get more villains than the ones listed above.
Gotham Knights will be coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, and PC on October 21, 2022.