The “Batman Arkham” series is no stranger to the old bait and switch. The last game in the franchise, “Arkham Origins” advertised Black Mask as the villain in all its marketing materials, before revealing a different character as the big-bad, part-way through the game’s story. When developer Rocksteady Studios first revealed it’s next game in the series “Batman Arkham Knight,” the team positioned the titular Arkham Knight as a mysterious equal and a capable foil for the “Caped Crusader.” A series of post-release comics promises to provide an in-depth origin story for the Arkham Knight.

IGN reports that the Arkham Knight’s background will be explored in a six-issue series of books called “Batman: Arkham Knight – Genesis,” written by current “Batman: Arkham Knight” comic writer Pete Tomasi. The book will be illustrated by Alisson Borges, with cover art by Stjepan Seijic, and is set for release on July 29 just over a month after the release of the videogame.

As IGN notes, little is known about the mysterious Arkham Knight, except that he wears a costume similar to Batman’s, possesses an unknown connection to the Caped Crusader and is teaming up with the villainous Scarecrow to end the Bat’s life. While theories abound as to who is behind the Arkham Knight’s mask, Rocksteady and DC have both maintained that the character is an entirely new creation, made specifically for the game. Speaking with VG24/7, Rocksteady producer Dax Ginn said that the team was excited about the possibility of adding a new, permanent fixture to the Batman universe that would live beyond the games.

“The opportunity is exciting, but the expectation [from fans] is off the scale, that’s why working with DC is so awesome for us, because those guys are so experienced and it’s obviously something they do a lot of. So when the idea was on the table for us to develop our own character and introduce that into Batman’s world, there was so much energy and excitement around it at Rocksteady – but we really were conscious of the value of the collaboration creatively we have with DC to make sure the gameplay role the Arkham Knight has is really reflected in his appearance and his outlook and his perspective,” he said.

Following a series of delays that saw the game pushed from its original release late last year, “Batman Arkham Knight” is finally set for release on June 23. The game will be released on Xbox One and PS4, with Sony offering a limited edition branded PS4 console bundle for interested gamers.

(Credit: YouTube/Batman Arkham)

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