Gotham Knights Trailer : Out Of The Shadows + behind-the-scenes

Gotham Knights – Official Court of Owls Story Trailer

DC FanDome 2021

Gotham Knights Trailer Brings The Court Of Owls Out Of The Shadows

WB Montreal and DC also released a behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming Batman co-op action game.

At the DC FanDome event, WB Montreal and DC Comics showed off a new trailer for Gotham Knights, the upcoming co-op action game set in the Batman universe. The trailer focuses on story and continues to set up the game’s main antagonists: the Court of Owls.

In an unexpected twist, however, this time it isn’t the voice of a young girl, unsettlingly reciting the terrifying legend of the Court of Owls and their murderous assassin, the Talon. Instead, it is Oswald ‘The Penguin’ Cobblepot, one of Batman’s primary villains, warning Nightwing that the Court of Owls isn’t a myth and that pursuing them is something that he won’t be able to come back from.

Of course, Nightwing isn’t alone in seeking out the Court of Owls, as Gotham Knights allows players to take on the mantle of various members of the Bat-family. In the trailer, an ornate gate with the sigil of the Court of Owls is shown opening, and figures wearing menacing owl masks walk out from the shadows and into the light. Nightwing can be seen skulking around a dark and decrepit cathedral-like structure; Robin picks up a rusty key with an owl on it; Batgirl explores what looks to be a cave while, just out of view, a figure scurries by above her; and Red Hood, meanwhile, is shown being caught in a trap and caged.

The aforementioned little girl does make her return for the trailer, but this time she’s doing some creepy singing as images of dozens of Talons emerging from coffins are shown, and the members of the Bat-family are besieged by them.

At FanDome, a behind-the-scenes video was also shown. In it, key creatives that were involved in the original Court of Owls comic book arc discuss Gotham Knights. “One of the joys of writing comics is the hope that someone will take that story and make it something their own,” explained acclaimed writer and co-creator of the Court of Owls, Scott Snyder. “I think the folks at Warner Bros. have done a fantastic job at translating and evolving the Court of Owls into the game.”
Greg Capullo, comic book artist and co-creator of the Court of Owls, as well as Jim Lee, legendary comic book artist, publisher, and chief creative officer at DC, added that fans love these characters–both the heroes and villains–and now people will be able to play the conflict that the Court of Owls instigates themselves.

Members of the WB Montreal dev team including narrative director Ann Lemay and creative director Patrick Redding also appeared to talk about how the studio used the source material to bring the story to a new medium in their own way. Interestingly, it seems WB Montreal has expanded and added to the mythos of the Court of Owls, along with help from Snyder and other creatives at DC.

Gotham Knights – Official Court of Owls Story Trailer | DC FanDome 2021

Gotham Knights ‘Court of Owls’ story trailer, behind-the-scenes video, and screenshots

Uncover the secrets of the city’s past before it’s too late.

Publisher Warner Bros. Games and developer WB Games Montreal debuted the “Court of Owls” story trailer, behind-the-scenes video, and new screenshots for Gotham Knights at DC FanDome 2021.

Get the latest details, via Warner Bros. Games.

Debuted at DC FanDome, the video features the game’s main antagonist, the fabled Court of Owls, a secret society made up of Gotham City’s wealthiest families.

The trailer also introduces Oswald Cobblepot (also known as The Penguin), the infamous DC Super-Villain who seemingly knows important details about this omnipresent silent predator and the threat it poses to Gotham and its new guard of DC Super Heroes—Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood, and Robin.

As part of DC FanDome, fans were also treated to a behind-the-scenes featurette for Gotham Knights, with commentary from Jim Lee (Comic Book Artist, Publisher & Chief Creative Officer at DC), Scott Snyder (Writer & Co-Creator of “The Court of Owls”), Greg Capullo (Comic Book Artist & Co-Creator of “The Court of Owls”), Patrick Redding (Gotham Knights Creative Director, Warner Bros. Games Montréal) and Ann Lemay (Gotham Knights Narrative Director, Warner Bros. Games Montréal), who all expand on the Courts of Owls origins, lore and inspiration in bringing this elusive enemy to the interactive world of Gotham Knights.

Gotham Knights Footage Teases a Batfamily Brawl

What’s a family of bats and robins to do against a whole court of owls?
The next video game out of Gotham City is missing its former hero, at the worse possible time. So it’s probably for the best Bruce Wayne left some very trusty friends behind—because they’re going to need each other to go up against a familiar threat from DC’s comics.

Following its reveal at the DC Fandome event last year, Warner Bros. Montreal—the studio behind the Arkham prequel spinoff game, Arkham Origins—returned this year to give us an updated look at what to expect from Gotham Knights, as players hop between four playable members of the Batfamily. Although not explicitly a continuation of the story seen in the Arkham games, Knights is set in a world shortly after the seeming death of Batman, killed in a blast that also took out his Batcave. Dick Grayson’s Nightwing, Barbara Gordon’s Batgirl, Tim Drake’s Robin, and Jason Todd’s Red Hood will have a lot to deal with stepping up to defend Gotham in the wake of Bruce’s seeming death, so it’s a good job you’ve got four times the heroes to play around with.

Gotham Knights – Official Court of Owls Story Trailer

As the new trailer shows, Dick, Babs, Tim, and Jason will have plenty of villains to face, from members of Batman’s Rogue’s Gallery looking to capitalize on the Dark Knight’s death (like the Penguin, glimpsed in the trailer), to a sinister new threat: The Court of Owls.

The villainous cult was one of the first rumors circling the next Arkham game well before Gotham Knights was officially unveiled last year. Introduced by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo during the 2011 New 52 Batman run, the Court is a secret conglomerate of some of the oldest families to have ever lived in Gotham, operating beneath the city’s surface—and beneath white owl masks. They use their money and influence to maintain a grip over Gotham at large and struck against Batman with an army of agents called Talons—plenty of who we get to see here, too—assassins enhanced with a powerful formula to give them regenerative abilities and increased strength and reflexes. Suffice to say, the Bat family’s going to have a hell of a time stepping up to the plate. Check out a little more of the Talons in action in some behind-the-scenes footage below.

Gotham Knights – Court of Owls: Behind The Scenes

Thank you for your attendance at this year’s Masquerade Ball. We’ll see you soon. #GothamKnights #CourtOfOwls
— Gotham Knights (@GothamKnights) October 16, 2021

Gotham Knights Will Expand Court of Owls Storyline

Two new videos explore how Gotham Knights will expand and elevate the Court of Owls storyline, particularly in the absence of Bruce Wayne.

The upcoming Batman title Gotham Knights is set in a version of Gotham where two of the franchise’s most iconic faces, Jim Gordon and Batman himself, are already dead. In their place, Nightwing, Batgirl, Robin, and Red Hood must step up to the plate and defend Gotham from a variety of well-known threats – and one that’s determined to stay secret. The Court of Owls may not be the most famous Batman villains, but a hidden conspiracy will see them take center stage as the main antagonists of Gotham Knights.

Introduced in 2011 as part of the New 52 DC Universe reboot, the Court of Owls is a secret society that has been manipulating Gotham for centuries. In the original The Court of Owls and Night of the Owls comic story arcs, Batman was pitted directly against the Court of Owls and barely survived, particularly once it sent out its Talons – deadly reanimated assassins with superhuman abilities. Fans may wonder exactly how Batman’s four apprentices are meant to take down the conspiracy without him, especially since the Court of Owls may be responsible for his untimely demise.

Gotham Knights

Gotham Knights is an upcoming action role-playing video game based on the DC Comics character Batman and his supporting cast.

The game is being developed by WB Games Montréal and will be published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It is set to be released in 2022 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.