In 2008, EA and Pandemic Studios got to work on Batman: The Dark Knight, a PS3 and Xbox 360 game based on the Christopher Nolan movie of the same name. It was billed as an open-world Gotham City complete with drivable vehicles and missions, much like its Rocksteady successors. However, it failed to reach its December 2008 deadline, so it was cancelled. EA chose not to renew the Batman license, so it defaulted back to Warner Bros., a domino effect that would eventually lead to the Arkham series.
However, as reported by Exputer, concept artist Goran Bukvic – who worked at Pandemic Studios from July to December 2007 – has shared some of the artwork for Batman: The Dark Knight on their Art Station page. Here, we get to see their renditions of Deadshot, Black Mask, and The Electrocutioner.
“In 2007, I got my first job as a character designer on a AAA video game, BATMAN – THE DARK KNIGHT,” Bukvic posted in the description. “the game was eventually cancelled but I got to spend a year designing villains in the game. The idea was that they should look believable and not too exaggerated, so that if you saw one of them on the street in real life, you’d buy it. These designs are obviously outdated with the level of my skill 16 years ago but they hold a special place in my heart, as they gave me a start in the industry.”
While the game was never officially announced, there were plenty of rumours and reports surrounding its cancellation, and these were fueled further by an interview with Jim Gordon actor Gary Oldman. He told G4 that Batman: The Dark Knight would be released after the movie came out on DVD and Blu-ray – he even went into detail about how it would include gliding abilities. Insiders at Pandemic Studios later revealed why the game had been cancelled, though EA has still not commented on it.
Interestingly, the villains depicted in the concept art don’t show up in Nolan’s The Dark Knight. In the film, there’s Joker, Two-Face, and Scarecrow, while here we have The Electructioner, Deadshot, and Black Mask. How much the game would have tied into the movie isn’t clear, but it may have worked similarly to the Sam Raimi Spider-Man tie-ins that expanded on the wallcrawler’s rogues gallery.
If you haven’t heard of them, the Electrocutioner is a character called Lester Buchinsky. They actually followed on from a hero of the same name, but later became a mercenary for hire, butting heads with Batman. His powerset is much like that of Marvel’s Electro, and while he’s an obscurer villain than the others listed here, he has made an appearance in games before. He popped up in the 1989 Batman game and even in Arkham Origins as one of the eight assassins hired to kill the Joker.
Whether we will ever see more of this cancelled Batman is a mystery, but for now, we have a glimpse at its roster of villains.