One of the bigger plot points in the upcoming Gotham Knights game is that Batman is killed off prior to the events of the story and plays a role in the setting.
It has already been stated that he’s really dead, even if there are some lingering doubts among fans – so its team discussed why the Dark Knight was killed off.
Gotham Knights executive produce Fleur Marty and lead writer Ceri Young talked up the reasoning for this decision. They believed if he were alive and in the plot, the caped crusader would take focus away from the rest of the bat family.
“It simply wouldn’t have made it easier to have Batman present at all, actually, because anywhere he is, he just takes up all of the space, he takes all of the air out of the room,” Marty says. “And so it was so much more interesting to start afresh without him.”
She added, “I think [Batman’s absence] really drives these characters. There are various points where each finds themselves asking: ‘If Batman were here, I think this is how he’d handle it’. But they don’t have him, and so they have to figure out how to do it their own way and that’s where a lot of their interest and drive lies.”
Young also spoke on the matter, agreeing with her. The reasoning is interesting, as some might say there are other methods to removing him from the Gotham Knights story while avoiding killing him. The writers could have put Batman elsewhere handling another important matter, similar to what occurred with Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
Of course, depending on the story, his death could also provide an important catalyst for the characters in Gotham Knights. This does remain to be seen until the game launches later this year on October 21st for Windows PC (via Steam and the Epic Games Store), Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.