Batman: Arkham Origins Was The Perfect Joker Story | Screen Rant
Arkham Origins reimagined the Dark Knight's first encounter with Joker, combining arcs in a story about Batman's journey from vigilante to superhero.
WB Games Montréal's underrated Batman: Arkham prequel, Batman: Arkham Origins, told the perfect Joker origin story, spotlighting the Clown Prince of Crime's first encounter with the Dark Knight in a night where Batman also faced his first-ever supervillains. Released in between Batman: Arkham City and Arkham Knight, Batman: Arkham Origins took place eight years prior to Arkham Asylum and focused on the Caped Crusader fending off several of the world's deadliest assassins after Black Mask put a bounty on his head. The highlight of the story, though, is Batman's encounters with the Joker, with Arkham Origins delving deep into the pair's twisted relationship, and the beginning of the Clown Prince's fascination with the pointy-eared vigilante.
[Warning: spoilers for Batman: Arkham Origins below.]
Whereas Rocksteady's Batman: Arkham titles took place during the peak of Batman's career as a crimefighter, Batman: Arkham Origins focused on his beginnings as a vigilante, taking inspiration from comics like Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli's Year One and the Legends of the Dark Knight series in crafting its story. Other comics, such as Knightfall, Mad Love, and The Killing Joke, also inspired elements of the game, which saw Batman go up against the likes of Bane and Killer Croc, but primarily with a focus on the Joker. Arkham Origins also did away with the voice cast of the other Batman: Arkham games, with Roger Craig Smith and Troy Baker replacing Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill as younger versions of Bruce Wayne and the Joker respectively.
In the run-up to Batman: Arkham Origins' launch, the focus was on Black Mask as the ostensible lead antagonist. However, early on in the story, it is revealed that the Joker - a brand new villain who has only recently emerged in Gotham - disappeared Black Mask and took on his identity. It is also the Joker who used Black Mask's resources to hire the assassins to go after Batman. He treats the Dark Knight as an inconvenience to begin with, before developing a sick fascination and even love for his would-be arch adversary. The relationship between Batman and Joker being depicted as a sick romance isn't a new concept, but it was well executed in Batman: Arkham Origins, which built upon Rocksteady's interpretation in compelling fashion.
The most famous Batman origin story is Year One, which retold Bruce Wayne's beginnings as Batman as he took down the Gotham mob and the corrupt GCPD with the help of a young James Gordon. However, it's far from the only comic set during the early years of Batman's crimefighting career. Works like The Long Halloween, Year Two, and the aforementioned Legends of the Dark Knight series all ventured into similar territory, depicting pivotal moments such as the origin of Dick Grayson's Robin, as well as Batman's first encounters with many of his infamous rogues. One of the more interesting aspects of Batman's comics is the delineation between his early days as a vigilante, and when he truly became a superhero to fight the eccentric villains that would come to define him. Batman: Arkham Origins focuses on that aspect, detailing a version of Batman who, while experienced, is yet to encounter any of DC's Gotham and Arkham-based villains.
Following the all-in-one night trope of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, Arkham Origins sees the Caped Crusader come to blows with legendary DC assassins like Deathstroke and Deadshot, whilst also contending with menacing new adversaries like the Joker and Bane. It's a great set-up for a story because it plunges Batman into the unfamiliar; this version of the character is arrogant and rougher around the edges, and it's conveyed how, although skilled, the Dark Knight has been thrust into a world he wasn't aware existed. He has the tools and abilities necessary to succeed, but when presented with the Joker, his reaction is one of perplexion. The established back and forth between the characters isn't there, and one of the strongest elements of Batman: Arkham Origins' story is seeing that element develop over time.
Although it is possible that the Batman: Arkham games overused Joker as a villain, he was deployed to great effect in Batman: Arkham Origins. There are other villains who could have potentially taken the Clown Prince of Crime's place, but in order to really sell Batman's entrance into a previously unseen world of Gotham, he's sort of essential. The Joker epitomizes the freakiness and theatricality of the Dark Knight's rogues gallery, and it makes sense that he'd be the one to introduce it. While there are multiple origins for the character in the comics, many tend to gravitate toward the idea that the Joker was once a normal criminal in Gotham's underworld. Because of this, he symbolizes a bridge between two distinct Batman eras: his beginnings as a burgeoning crimefighter, and then as a superhero defending Gotham from increasingly bizarre threats.
The game succeeds in depicting that transition, anchored by two great performances from Roger Craig Smith and Troy Baker. There are many moving parts to the story - including Batman: Arkham Origins' menacing depiction of Bane - but it all comes back to Batman and the Joker, with Smith excelling at depicting a restless and desperate version of the Caped Crusader, and Baker channeling his best Hamill as the Joker's morbid fascination begins to develop. It isn't made immediately clear in the story that Joker is behind everything, and it takes a good few hours for the pair to come face to face at the Royal Hotel. There's a real sense of anticipation for this encounter to happen, and it does not disappoint. Joker playfully toys with Batman while selecting random targets to blow up in Gotham, which then leads to a moment where he begins to look at the Dark Knight as less a novelty to mess with, and more a rival worthy of his attention.
Following an explosion that sends Joker off the top of the building, Batman dives off in an attempt to save him. Joker resists mid-freefall, but the Dark Knight - rightfully incapable of committing the worst crime of all in Batman: Arkham - succeeds in saving his life. He can't quite understand why, and as he's wheeled off to Blackgate, it's made clear that this is the moment where his Batman obsession begins. During a psychological evaluation with a young Harleen Quinzel, Joker discusses how this encounter with Batman has changed his entire perception of his own being. This narration is accompanied by a Killing Joke-esque flashback that depicts a version of Joker's origin, as he slowly arrives at the conclusion that Batman is his only kindred spirit - an equally twisted force mangled by Gotham, and the only person who could understand him. He is, in the Joker's own words, "someone I can actually relate to."
There were multiple disparate elements to Batman: Arkham Origins' plot, but it succeeds in telling a comprehensive tale about Batman's first encounter with supervillainy. Joker - although arguably saturated as a villain in the Batman: Arkham series - was a natural choice to focus on, given his potential roots as a Gotham mobster prior to becoming the Clown Prince of Crime, and Troy Baker does an excellent job of stepping into Mark Hamill's shoes. The game expertly weaves the beginning of his fascination with the Dark Knight into Batman's own realization that Gotham has changed, and is no longer the city he once knew. The story of Batman: Arkham Origins tells a defining night in the Caped Crusader's career, and deftly incorporates multiple aspects of the source material in constructing its own unique version of Batman's first encounter with the Joker.