Gotham Knights Trailer Reveals the Penguin

Gotham Knights made an appearance during this year’s DC FanDome event just as Warner Bros. and DC had been teasing throughout the past few weeks. Through this appearance, we finally got a better look at the game’s antagonists who players will face off against when playing as the Batman Family, antagonists that now include the Penguin, a core villain from the DC universe. The game still does not yet have a release date following a delay to 2022.

The Penguin was shown a couple of times in the newest trailer for Gotham Knights that’s found below. Instead of fighting against the Batman Family, however, he’s seen speaking to Nightwing in as cordial a manner as one could expect from the villain. He cautions the hero about the existence of the Court of Owls, and though Nightwing suggests that the crime syndicate is a myth, the Penguin says otherwise.

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While the Penguin has historically been an antagonist, he’s certainly not doing much antagonizing in this trailer. Perhaps the Penguin is someone the Batman Family reluctantly has to consult for help in Gotham Knights, or perhaps he’s pulling his own strings just as the Court of Owls is and will still take on a more villainous role in the game.

For the most part, the previews of Gotham Knights have focused broadly on the Court of Owls as far as the game’s antagonists were concerned. This organized crime faction of assassins and influential Gotham residents is secretive and cryptic by design, however, so that means that the most we’ve gotten to see of the Court of Owls so far has been various characters including the supernatural assassins known as The Talons with masks obscuring their faces. Mr. Freeze also made an appearance during a boss fight shown off during a gameplay preview, though it’s unclear how involved overall that character will be compared to the looming presence of the Court of Owls.

We have, however, been well introduced to the main cast of Gotham Knights that people will be playing as in the open-world RPG. You can play by yourself or with one other person online and will have the option to play as Red Hood, Robin, Batgirl, and Nightwing. Batman himself isn’t an option because the titular DC hero is apparently dead in Gotham Knights, though people already have their suspicions that Batman’s “death” might be a misdirection that doubles as a way to keep the focus on the Batman Family as opposed to Batman himself.

“Batman is dead. A new expansive, criminal underworld has swept the streets of Gotham City,” a preview of Gotham Knights said to set up the story of the game. “It is now up to the Batman Family; Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood, and Robin; to protect Gotham, bring hope to its citizens, discipline to its cops, and fear to its criminals. From solving mysteries that connect the darkest chapters in the city’s history to defeating notorious villains in epic confrontations, you must evolve into the new Dark Knight and save the streets from descent into chaos.”

Gotham Knights is scheduled to release at some point in 2022.