One of the big announcements in video games this year, that some gamers may have already forgotten about, is James Gunn revealing the next ten year plans formed by DC Studios, called Gods and Monsters.
James had been hired months earlier by Warner Bros head David Zaslav, to head DC Studios alongside Peter Safran. In the announcement, James revealed that DC would be forming an interconnected universe, between movies, TV shows, animation, and video games, where the same actors would be playing the same roles. All these media would then form one unified continuity for the DC characters.
But did this new Gods and Monsters plan mean the end of the Batman Arkham series? James has emphatically said no. As shared by DCU Updates, James was asked, not on Twitter, but on Threads, if Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League would mark the end of the Batman Arkham universe of video games. James replied:
“No plans of it being the last!”
James then followed up with a fan pointing out that many are worried that the universe would be over after Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. He then responded:
“No way! I personally can’t wait for the game and hopefully more. I’m a fan!”
James then deleted these replies on Threads.
So how should we take this? It doesn’t seem like James explicitly said there are plans to make a Batman Arkham 4. Instead, James says that he didn’t make any plans to end Batman Arkham as head of DC Studios.
And, if you were paying attention to that announcement in February, you understood that James and Peter really wasn’t closing the door on any projects outside Gods and Monsters. Of course, we now know that they have essentially decided to leave behind what was left of the Snyderverse.
But Matt Reeves’ The Batman and Todd Phillips’ Joker movies are being allowed to continue. They will now fall under the branding of DC Elseworlds, the same branding DC the comics publisher used for out-of-continuity storylines of their comics.
As for why James deleted those comments? People probably misinterpreted these signals to indicate there would be a Batman Arkham 4. That isn’t something Rocksteady is interested in working on, and of course, right now they have their hands full. If a Batman Arkham 4 is coming in the future, it may not be from Rocksteady, and it may not be in a form we expect.
There are no plans to end the Arkhamverse, but no plans for a new game either. Maybe it will take time off for a new, better idea after Batman Arkham Knight, and maybe it will require another studio to take over the reigns. We can hope for a Batman Arkham game in the future, but not the near future.
