Bruce taking ownership of it and reforming it demonstrates clearly that he is a different person than the dead kings who made him, and a big step towards healing citizens' distrust towards Gotham's big institutions. That really negates the decision though, but this Wayne Hospital got me in a mental tizzy. Cleverly centering in on the most popular, and often the best-executed, part of Batman's mythos is a good way to move this hit franchise further. As he is being dragged way, Bruce demands to know what Strange did to Selina Kyle. Sometimes starting fresh helps the most psychologically and can even be the more cost effective option (taking a cramped old building and turning into a high class place isn't easy). There are three Jokers running around officially licensed DC films these days, each only tied to each other by similar tastes in clothing and face paint. One thing that were not doing that I was gonna do so theres the Gotham police show, which, that one actually is put on hold, Reeves said. I mean, Harvey and Bruce's proposal was just that: a proposal. Gotham Police Department. Batman: Arkham City Lockdown is a fighting video game developed by NetherRealm Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for iOS which was released on December 7, 2011. Fixing Arkham helps immediately and a new facility would take a long time. Like Alfred himself says before you choose whether to attend as Batman or Bruce Wayne. They may not make Jim Gordon's stay any more comfortable, but they should make you feel a little more at home. " The Batman " television spinoff series centered on the Gotham police department is on indefinite hold, Matt Reeves confirmed during an interview on the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast. When The Joker wrangles of control of Arkham Asylum, Batman must endure the toughest night of his life as wrestles against his enemies to restore order. [18], After being subdued by Jim Gordon and arrested by the police, Nathaniel Barnes was incarcerated in Arkham Asylum. The whole story got started because Bruces dad was a criminal who abused his power at Arkham. By viewing the Asylum through the eyes of a commoner, readers get an honest sense of what it would really feel like if they found themselves in the madhouse. Many Batman stories, to their credit, have shown Bruce as caring about the mental well-being of his enemies and trying to help rehabilitate them, but why not take this a step further and show billionaire Bruce Wayne investing in state-of-the-art mental health hospitals? Arkham State Hospital is a brilliant setting for a series designed to show viewers the darkest parts of Reeves' already pitch-black take on Gotham. It's a silly plot point since building a new version of Arkham doesn't promise that what's going on inside will change. I still need help though. Why the hell would you end construction on a newer, better, mental health facility? Plus even if they rename it the Thomas and Martha facility isn't going to go over well. Well first off it could be considered poor taste to still make a mental health facility named after the Waynes, considering how many people' mores mental health Thomas destroyed for his own gain. I also think effective police and having that backup to rely on is essential for Batman. So would that make it the better option? Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. There doesnt appear to be any single fatal flaw in the facility'ssecurity, either, as the inmates/patients seem to find a new way out every time. The real reason to focus on Arkham State Hospital is to build the central narrative around the most beloved and well-received aspect of the Batman mythos; his rogues gallery. During the events of Forever Evil, all of Gotham was actually taken over by Batmans rogues. This is a concept very much paralleled by Batmans eternal struggle against the force of evil in Gotham City, the evil he tries to lock away in Arkham Asylum. Lovecrafts Cthulu mythos. Take out the guards and go inside. "Again, the way that Gotham is a character in the movie, I really want Arkham to exist as a character, so that you go into this environment and encounter these characters in a way that feels really fresh. Jeremiah rebuilds Arkham Asylum from the ground up, retooling it to better house the likes of the kind of supercriminals that would eventually make his facilityfamous. Up until the night at Blackgate Prison, he didn't believe that Batman existed, and thought that he was just an urban legend who was made up by criminals. I decided to support the GCPD, after all it was Gordon's speech about him getting promoted to Commissioner. Written by Amazing Spider-Man's Dan Slott, Living Hell has the Asylum live up to the title's namesake. Renovating Arkham was a great end to Bruce's arc of coming to terms with his father's sordid history and the effect it had on countless people. Here's everything you need to know. The Joker, the Penguin, and the Riddler are a . He also has a BS in Psychology. Arkham himself was slowly driven insane shortly following the grisly murder of his wife and child by a lunatic named Martin "Mad Dog" Hawkins. Victor Fries raided Arkham Asylum to reclaim Nora Fries. Over the years, some directors (such as Jeremiah Arkham) were of the opinion that it was possible to heal some of these inmates, allowing them to re-enter society. Issue #3 alone is worth the price of admission, featuring the most original Batman V. Joker confrontation this side of Grant Morrison's The Clown at Midnight.Writer Gerry Duggan delivers a sharp script that isn't afraid to crack a smile every once in a while, while artist Shawn Crystal brings it to life with playfully haunting visuals. In addition to their inability to keep psychopathic criminals locked up, Arkham has a long history of terrible employee hirings, with multiple villains having spent time working on Arkhams staff. If you ever had sympathy for Batman's villains, this series will do a solid job of erasing those feelings. spin-off series centred on Colin Farrell's Oswald 'Penguin' Cobblepot. - January 12, 2015 12:58 pm EST. https://t.co/viLt2LsWVf. Joshua is a lifelong film buff, D&D enthusiast, tournament winning Smash Bros. player and extremely passionate writer. The first obvious guess as to why the GCPD spin-off has changed is that the idea has been done before. I had fun reading this thread . If you went as Bruce, the madman will attack you. I mean, technically Martha Wayne was clean, but she was aware of what was happening and guilty by association according to Gotham citizens, I would guess. With the police, the town and Batman recieve clear, tangible benefits, just as given by the improve Arkham decision, but the facility's inclusion would really make things unbalanced. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Sadly adding this to the ones that got away column. Although it was reported the spin-off show would be a direct follow-up toThe Batman, one of the more interesting insights to Arkham in the movie is in regards to its past. Whatever this show ends up being, plans still seem to be in place for a separate spin-off series centred on Colin Farrell's Oswald 'Penguin' Cobblepot. Naming himself mayor, Penguin divides Gotham up, assigning different neighborhoods to former Arkham inmates. That's right, Bruce Wayne's home, his family legacy, now hosts the nightmares he's sworn to fight against. If you didn't know how screwed up Batman can truly get, you'll find out here. 2 - Perform a . It really would have been something special. [23], Jeremiah Valeska was sent here after being presumably put into a comatose state, and would regularly be abused by the other inmates, although they (along with the staff) were unaware that he was faking it and only biding his time until Bruce Wayne returned to Gotham. [citation needed] Meredith's performance is perhaps best remembered for his signature laugh, meant to mimic the squawk of a penguin. My biggest disappointment was by far Selina though. Reeves made a slight alteration to the character of Martha Wayne, revealing that she was a member of the Arkham family and had her own battles with mental illness. The torment of this vision was so strong that he actually designed the floorplan of the asylum to take the shape of various runes in an attempt to keep the bat at bay. Later on, Oswald is thrown into the same room with a chained up Aaron. It really would have been something special. What kind of message does it send when this incredibly popular billionaire superhero is dealing with the problem of mentally ill villains by throwing them into an evil-looking, decrepit hellhole that may-or-may-not be cursed? Its the same case for the Batcave. Did anyone ever expect a series about Arkham Asylum to go into development? 2023 Variety Media, LLC. Use the Explosive Gel to take down the wall and continue. Hope Matt gets to make it one day.. In the film set in Batman's second year, the Dark Knight. Want to discuss a possible story? A bright high schooler who won't go along with the plan is the town's only hope of survival. I still think the majority of Bruce's money should be sued away from him. Cartoonish, but dense with dark shadows and jagged lines, Crystal's pages are like an episode of Looney Tunes on abad acid trip. For Batman, that place is Arkham Asylum, the most famous psychiatric hospital in all of comics (though it often functions as a standard prison). See: episode 4. I love Batman, and I think part of the reason he (and other DC characters) has lasted so long is because he and his mythos got "modernized" over time without losing the core aspects. I chose to improve the asylum. Tomb Raider: Reloaded is available now on iOS and Android mobile devices via the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. In a few moments, Richard Grayson will be live on stage to explain his sudden interest in Gotham politics. Worlds collide in The Flash when Barry uses his superpowers to travel back in time in order to change the events of the past. An the reason why Bruce stops funding the building of the Wayne Mental Health Facility is because by not doing so he would show how he doesn't care about what his dad did which was make perfectly sane people insane and send them to Arkham. Reeves said the original plan for the Gotham PD series was to take inspiration from Sidney Lumets Prince of the City and center the show on a corrupt Gotham cop. At the end of the day, Batman villains exist primarily to provide a challenge for the Caped Crusader to be tested against, and he will always win in the end. Mayor Aubrey James mentioned that the Wayne Family was in the process of redeveloping the site, tearing down the century-old asylum building and building a modern, state-of-the-art mental health facility in its place. It also delves into the Asylum's twisted backstory. Why Did Neve Campbell Turn Down Scream 6. On their own, Heath Ledger's Joker or Paul Dano's Riddler is an immensely menacing nightmare while still remaining unnervingly human, but all that fear drains the moment Batman shows up. The series is already slated for cancellation unfortunately, but that shouldn't stop readers from checking out the six issues that will be published before its end. The Arkham series is one of two shows being spun out of The Batman, which just topped the U.S. box office with $134 million in its debut. Though he was seemingly a trustworthy authority figure, he was a covert serial killer and a puppet to Professor Hugo Strange, with both men sharing a connection to a powerful criminal organization using them for their own operations. This article is about the Arkham Asylum.For the district, see Arkham District.For the bridge, see Arkham Bridge. The value of supporting the police is a different matter. Down in the catacombs of Arkham Asylum Vicki asks Batman who he wears the mask options for response are as follows, Batman is who I am - pretty much self explanatory, Mask protects who I am - meaning hides your true identity. G0th4m_Kn1ght5 1 yr. ago. When the Joker once again takes control of Arkham Asylum (surprise)and holds its staff hostage, Batman must enter the Asylum for a long night of skull busting and soul searching. Subsequently, Joe Barton (Giri/Haji, The Ritual) stepped in to executive produce and showrun. was originally green-lit by HBO Max. and our [15], Oswald Cobblepot later visits the current warden of Arkham Asylum named Charles Quimby and gives him an option to have Edward Nygma released or have him demoted to a lowly position at Arkham Asylum. Its entirely possible this experience will harden Luthor, making him more cold and calculating like the comics version many are more familiar with. [8], Hugo Strange started doing some group therapy with Barbara Kean and some other female inmates in the group therapy. It may already sound like a classic case of the inmates running the asylum, but thats actually literally the case in several comic arcs. Cold Cold Heart Incident One of the chief complaints from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justices detractors was in regards to Lex Luthors personality. You are not permitted to copy any image, text or info from this page. [1], Mayor James later reassigned James Gordon to guard duty at Arkham Asylum working under its director Gerry Lang. This is definitely one of my more controversial opinions as a Batman fan, since Arkham Asylum has become so ingrained in the public's collective knowledge about the Batman mythos, alongside Robin, Gotham City, the Batsignal, etc. An Arkham guard was reported by the Gotham Star as having been killed on duty. Bruce wants his friend to get the best treatment he can get. There can be no better way to resolve that problem than to simply remove Batman, and build a series around regular people pitted against the darkest beings the human race has to offer. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Arkham Asylum made its first appearance in October of 1974 in issue #258 of Batman, written by Dennis ONeil, and drawn by Irv Novick. I personally chose to fund Arkham Asylum because of all of the suffering that was endured within the facility. Second of all, renovating the existing Arkham Asylum shows that Bruce is trying to fix his family's past mistakes instead of just tear it all down like it didn't exist in favor of some fancy smancy new institution. Batman tracked down DeMarco on the top building with his teammates, interrogated him for what he did to Ramo, and left him to be apprehended. It seems that no actual work went into it yet, and the name, while easily changeable, would be problematic. This is also an similar issue if you went GCPD. After being rescued by Gordon, a sample of his blood was taken from Tetch and was left for the rest of the police. The most focus it's received on the big screen probably came in Batman Begins, where Scarecrow used the facility to carry out his experiments. The Batman television spinoff series centered on the Gotham police department is on indefinite hold, Matt Reeves confirmed during an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. I think we would be yes. The Batman finally arrived last week, ushering in Robert Pattinson's take on Bruce Wayne in a movie we awarded 10/10 to in our review. By firing on all cylinder despite only a few cameos by the Dark Knight, Living Hell does an excellent job establishing just how important The Asylum is to mythos. Thanks to some directions from her in exchange for directions to the basement, Nygma makes his way to the roof only to be recaptured. Privacy Policy. Gotham's police department being under the payroll of mob bosses and organized crime is a staple of Batman mythos that I agree should not go away any time soon. Once by Jermiah Arkham, as Black Mask, and again by the Spectre during the events of Batman Eternal. Scott presents a dark, twisted construct of horror that oozes darkness out of every panel. The most obvious example is what do you do about the John Does of Gotham, i.e. It's also a legacy thing for the Wayne name and symbolizes the way business was conducted under the Wayne-Hill-Falcone triumvirate. Legend of the Dark Knight: The Beginning Rise of the Villains: Damned If You Do https://locationmanagers.org/shadows-of-gotham-keith-adams/, https://www.silive.com/entertainment/tvfilm/2014/09/new_tv_series_gotham_films_at.html, 80 more inmates during the great outbreak caused by Jerome, Tetch and Crane. "[7], When the news of Jim Gordon being found guilty and being sentenced to Blackgate Penitentiary was reported on the radio, Barbara Kean awoke from her coma. [25]. Jim Gordon is officially in the madhouse. After a portal to hell is opened inside Arkham Asylum, the Bat family has its hands full withdemons. The mask is a symbol - doesn't really answer the question as to whether the character believes himself to be Batman or Bruce Wayne but explains why he wears it. Announced asGotham PD, the show was originally planned to focus on Gothams police force in the first year of Bruce Waynes work as a masked vigilante. The classic death of the second Robin, Jason Todd, is told through the A Death in the Family comic arc. The most obvious one is Harley Quinn, but Hugo Strange and Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow have also been placed on Arkhams staff in various incarnations. Yes, that's his real name. [22], At some point, Jonathan Crane was incarcerated at Arkham Asylum. It's off to Arkham Asylum for this genius, who quickly discovers that Blackgate is a trip to Sandals Resorts when compared to the most insane place on Earth. I chose to improve the asylum. This story was reimagined for the Arkhamverse videogames in Arkham Knight. And it was going to be about how the worst gang in Gotham were the GCPD. But of course, we all know better. Weve actually now [moved] more into the realm of exactly what would happen in the world of Arkham as it relates coming off of our movie, and some of the characters, again in their origins [] Its like a horror movie or a haunted house that is Arkham. Much like Gotham City, Arkham Asylum is a character in its own right. Batman: Arkham Asylum Video Game. Warning: Contains SPOILERS forThe Batman. After making a reference to Alexander the Great, Nygma reminds Cobblepot that penguins eat fish. "I suppose you must decide who apperance will be more valuable. The show is one of two planned spin-off series based in Reeves' Gotham; the other will focus onthe Penguin, with Colin Farrell reprising his role from the movie. All rights reserved. Erin has previously written for her own film review blog, Making It Up As I Go. That is, unless Barry can coax a very different Batman out of retirement and rescue an imprisoned Kryptonian albeit not the one hes looking for. Benjamin Stoner was Arkhams Chief Medical Authority before getting possessed by Typhon, the Lord of Chaos, and many other guards and orderlies are manipulated by inmates, particularly the Joker, into assisting in some sort of scheme orescape plan. If you've chosen Batman, the madman on the conference will attack Commissioner Gordon. One of the most defining Arkham stories, Grant Morrisons Arkham: A Serious House on Serious Earth, is about just that. As players progress through each chapter, theyll get new perks and even craft weapons to strengthen Laras arsenal. It's not Silent Hill, mind you, but Arkham Asylum delivers the most haunting Batman gaming experience yet. Arkham Asylum's founders were obviously The Arkhams Vicki's biological parents so by doing this he is trying to honour them and maybe all of the past victims of his dad's Arkham Asylum including Vicki. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. It wasnt going to be a Batman story, it was going about about this corrupt cop, Reeves said. The other big spin-off of the film is set to focus entirely on Colin Farrell's Penguin, making both of the proposed follow-ups bad guy stories. He was once a professor at Gotham University and an employee of his former friend Thomas Wayne at Pinewood Farms. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, Scan this QR code to download the app now. Amadeus Arkhams madness had him seeing visions of a giant bat, the same visions that drove his mother mad -- eventually causing him to kill her. [10], Jim Gordon later visited Hugo Strange at Arkham Asylum in order to get information about what happened to Pinewood Farms. Inspired mostly by Len Wein's work in Who's Who #1, Morrison's work on Arkham Asylum is largely used as the definitive origin story of the facility. A single quote from Lovecrafts Call of the Cthulu could even be said to be the foundational philosophy behind Arham Asylum,and especially characters like the Joker: "The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents.". Unfortunately, the walls of Arkham arent very good at containing the criminals Batman puts there. A nurse noticed this and shouted for someone to inform Hugo Strange. Jerome later collaborated with him and Jervis Tetch where they release all the inmates from Arkham Asylum as a diversion to begin Jerome's plot.