Merry Xmas / Happy Holidays guys! Here is some compiled information about the superhero goings on at WB Games. Involves a buttload of possible leaked info about the next Batman game (some of which has been leaked by several sources, including a possible leaker from Reddit and a writer for Playstation Magazine), the cancelled Suicide Squad project and what Rocksteady is apparently working on next. (Beware, long but worth it read).

*Beware - May feature spoilers for Arkham Knight*

The Batman Game Itself
- Originally, early titles that were thrown around were "Batman: Beyond Arkham," "Batman: Arkham Beyond," "Batman: Arkham Legend" and "Batman: Arkham Generations." None of these titles will be used, the higher-ups at WB want to steer clear of them.
- The game is intended to be a soft reboot while still being a direct sequel to "Arkham Knight," so you will see the outcome of the Knightfall Protocol. However, it's a reboot in the sense that it's a new character and a new introduction to everything.
- It is planned to be the first in a new trilogy starring Damian Wayne as Batman.
- The overall theme of the game is very "Batman Beyond" but with Damian Wayne instead of Terry McGinnis.
- The story is set well over a decade after the events of "Arkham Knight."
- The Batmobile isn't featured in the game except for one of the final missions. Instead, your mode of transportation is the Batcycle.
- The visual aesthetic is bleaker than that of previous Batman games. The city gives off a ‘something happened here’ vibe, and there’s even a bit of fog to help push the darker atmosphere that much further. There’s still neon lighting in Gotham, but doesn’t seem as prevalent as it did in Arkham Knight (of course, things can always change during the course of development). Featured landmarks we can expect to see are the Monarch Theater, Goth Corp., and even a rundown version of Wayne Enterprises.

The Bat-Family
- McGinnis was originally considering and planned to be the new Batman but WB execs ultimately figured it would be easier to sell Batman's son instead of what seems to be a wannabe teenager, not to mention the Wayne name recognition. In the product now, Damian is an amalgamation of Terry and Damian. He possesses the background history and skills of Damian but the personality of Terry that leads to the rapport with Bruce that was so well received by fans.
- The Batsuit; think Beyond suit mixed with Hellfire mixed with Batman's suit from Arkham Knight. It's armored with a big red Bat logo. Batman's eyes are red instead of white. The cape is metallic.
- It's explained that Bruce and Talia's one night together some years before Arkham Asylum resulted in a pregnancy. This was a plan by Ra's to create the ultimate assassin to use against Bruce.
- Bruce Wayne is much older and lives in an expanded and newly built upon Batcave hidden beneath the ruins of Arkham Asylum full-time.
- With Alfred having passed away some years prior, Bruce serves in the mentor role who is always communicating with you via comms as you patrol the city.
- Dick Grayson also serves as a mentor. He is bald and has a scar on the side of his head. He wants to go into retirement from crime fighting but something in the games plot stops him from doing so.

Location and Citizens
- The location is obviously Gotham City. The city is not abandoned or evacuated except for the areas where the villains reside which have no civilian presence except for thugs.
- There are plenty of civilians in Gotham City, as well as a crime system in which Damian is alerted of nearby crimes in progress, like muggings, car-jackings, robberies, murders, serial killers, thieves, etc.
- It isn't wise to go on most roads, as cars will hit you and critically damage your health.
- Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis system is in this game and it's great! It ties into these crimes located around the city. If the criminals get away, they continue to commit crimes and become noticed by the various gangs and villains. They receive equipment from them and can even be recruited by them. They commit bigger and bigger crimes and will start to lead squads of bad guys if Batman keeps failing. Eventually, they can adopt a criminal persona (there are a ton of them and which one they adopt depends on which villains support them). Even if Batman stops them, villains can break them out if they were a "high-level" criminal. You have to keep sending them back to jail and thwarting their plans a certain number of times to stop them for good.

The Rogues Gallery
- The Riddler is back and is now more manic than ever.
- Penguin is pretty much the sole major crime boss in Gotham City now and is much older. His health has been in decline for a while and has a really bad cough whenever he speaks.
- Black Mask is now a female that has very recently adopted the persona as her own. The persona has become more of a title to protect whoever is in charge. It's stated that Roman's gang went through many leadership changes over the years (with each having being killed). She likes to torture her victims with a syringe and hammer.
- Harvey Dent in this game goes by The Judge, a separate personality from Two-Face that acts as a vigilante that wants to rid the city of crime by killing the guilty. He puts a huge emphasis on being the executioner and being the one to carry out justice in his own sadistic way.
- Poison Ivy returns and you find out that advanced plant life allowed her to transfer her consciousness into a newer, younger body.
- Harley Quinn, as well as her daughters, The Dee Dee Twins, are present.
- Talon and the Court of Owls are in.
- Ra's and Talia al Ghul appear in several flashbacks to Damian's youthful training.
- Man-Bat returns, however this time it is someone else trying to continue Kirk Langstrom's work.
- Jason Todd / Red Hood are in. Despite the fact he still feels guilty over the events of Arkham Knight, he still kills criminals and that has put him at odds with Bruce.
- Several D-list villains have Most Wanted Side Quest missions attached to them. One features Kite-Man and is "the best."
- Katana is in, thanks to being featured in the Suicide Squad flick.
- Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow and Bane also return, some in limited roles.
- Most characters think Bruce Wayne is still Batman and have dialogue where they refer to Batman as "Mr. Wayne."

WBM's Cancelled "Suicide Squad"
- The game let you switch between several Squad members throughout the game for certain missions.
- The game focused on Deathstroke and was a sequel to "Arkham Origins." The plot revolved around Deathstroke and Waller using the Squad to try and kill Batman. Gameplay wise, Deathstroke handled much like Batman, only with killing finishers. Instead of Batarangs, he'd use pistols to quickly kill or stun enemies. He also had a sniper that the player could use.
- Harley Quinn was in the game near the end. The executives did not like this and wanted her to be a big focus of the game, much like the movie.
- Deadshot was a pretty big character and had a playful rivalry with Deathstroke throughout the game over who is the better assassin.
- Slipknot was in a few levels, not even kidding. He was not playable though.
- You'd fight Batman in a lot of the levels. Batman was a bit like Kai Leng from Mass Effect 3 though. He doesn't work well as a boss fight. If you beat him, it'd play a cutscene of your character winning the fight then Batman using a gadget to knock them out for the sake of the story. The Squad would be in and out of jail for most of the game until the last third. In the last act, the team was in full force and you'd be allowed to switch between them and perform combos.
- There was co-op! Every mission featured at least two Squad members. It worked like the Batman/Robin team in Origins' multiplayer.
- Joker was in it for a few levels.
- There was a mini-campaign featuring Batman and Robin.
- The game was not very fun to play. The open world aspect did not work at all. Certain characters could not traverse the world too well. They tried implementing a hook gun for everyone but it was stupid.
- This game faced lots of issues from having an uninteresting story to a wonky co-op system in which the combos did not work very well to a bad open world.

Rocksteady's Future
- As for what Rocksteady is working on, they started work on a Superman game but have run into many issues. Superman had to be depowered for part of the game and even at maximum strength they had him be much weaker than he normally is (there are skins that make him unstoppable). The plot saw him facing off against magical foes, as well as familiar faces like Lex Luthor and Metallo that would utilize Kryptonite. There was also a challenge mode, much like in the Arkham games. The plan was to announce this game at the Video Game Awards this year but that fell apart.
- The coolest part about this project are the collectible skins. Each skin determines his move set and his weaknesses. The more powerful incarnations of Superman are harder to obtain, obviously. All of the movie incarnations of Superman are in as well as many of the comic versions. You can also play as Cyborg Superman, Zod, and even Nuclear Man from the God-awful Superman IV film (easter egg skin).
- They started full force right after the last DLC for Arkham Knight was finished. A lot of the ideas were laid out a little before. The announcement was more to just drum up hype and announce early what they’re working on.