The Penguin, Two Face, Catwoman, & Black Mask Join Joker As Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 Villains?
Geoff Keighley posted a tweet nine hours ago asking his followers if they happened to pick up on any of the villain reveals in the Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 trailer revealed on Spike TV’s Video Game Awards show last night. This prompted me to watch the trailer a few times over to see if I could spot any of them myself.
In addition to Harley and the Joker, who are clearly visible towards the end of the clip, the freeze frame images and animations snapped below from the VGA trailer seem to point to the possible additions of The Penguin, Two Face, Catwoman, and Black Mask.
The first image looks to spell the word “ICEBERG” on a building structure. I originally thought this was a reference to Mr. Freeze, but Demi (who apparently knows way more about the Batman franchise than I do) told me about an Iceberg Lounge operated by The Penguin, so it seems that this is most likely a reference to him.
The second comes by way of three dimensional lettering on a brick wall that spells “Sionis.” The Black Mask’s true name is Roman Sionis.
The third is a “We Want You” style poster sporting what looks like a coin flipping character with a partially disfigured face. It’s blurry even after Photoshop enhancement, but this sure as hell looks like Two Face.
There’s at least one other that we haven’t been able to identify yet, so if you were able to spot any other villain reveals, feel free to share them in the comments section below.
The fourth villain Keighley may have been referring to could be Catwoman. The animated gif I just put together is based on a portion of the trailer that features a cat perched high above the streets on a fire escape. This was brought to our attention by reader rynethomas. In the theme of things, this does seem like a very good indicator for Catwoman in the game.
While we seem to have spotted four villains, that’s not to say there aren’t more leads hidden in the video. Other possible clues are a sign that we think reads “IDEAL HARDWARE”, a greenish yellow banner hanging far down the street, and several shadows that appear to be fighting down an alley just before you enter Joker’s building. The video itself is below.
Reader Feedback Updates: I’m inserting pieces from the clip based on readers suggestions below. This will be ongoing as more feedback comes in.
The first reader update comes from paulstrife and highlights the guards shadow near the Asylum. The thought here is that the funky shadow movement has something to do with Shadow Thief. After watching the clip a few times, it seems that it may just be shadow distortion caused by the police car spinning red and blue lights.
I originally mentioned the “IDEAL HARDWARE” sign above, but didn’t include an image of it because I had no idea what it referenced. I still have no clue what it might mean, but I’ve inserted it below in the event someone else may know what it hints at (if anything). Reader oedipusopus found the following information on Wikipedia about the Mad Hatter which references hardware.
“He is an insane neuroscientist and developed hardware that can control the brain and induce hypnotic states, and often uses hats or other headgear for mind control.”
This is the best lead we have so far on the hardware sign and it seems pretty plausible to me. If you have an alternative theory feel free to add it in the comments section.
The image below is an animated gif of the shadows in the back of the same alley the cat is overlooking on the fire escape. At first it looks almost like Batman holding up an enemy, but then the thing in the air seems to transform into something else.
Here’s the mask a few of you have noted in which drops down from above in the clip. I’ve brightened it up to try and make any detail on it a little more visible. Someone suggested that it looked like the old Joker henchmen masks, but I looked and couldn’t find anything that matched it. That’s not to say it couldn’t be Rocksteady’s own personal spin on the object.
Again, I have absolutely no idea what the highlighted banner in the image below hints at if anything, but its colorful enough that it catches your eye at the far end of the street. If any of you readers think you know what it is feel free to chime in.
