If We Have To Go Back To Gotham, This Is Probably The Best Way To Do It
Cleaning up the blocky streets of Gotham, one final time.
I’ve gone on the record about my thoughts on Batman’s future in gaming. After five fantastic single-player outings and several appearances in DC games like the Injustice series, other DC characters are long overdue for getting the same treatment the Dark Knight has received since the start of the Arkham series. Unfortunately, WB doesn’t seem interested in committing to this idea. Wonder Woman was unceremoniously canceled, despite the caliber of its developer. Suicide Squad seemed like a game made with live service dollars in mind first and a genuine attempt to translate the comics into something people actually wanted to play second. And Superman is destined to go more than a quarter-century without starring in a game of his own.
So when a Lego-fied version of Batman popped up at the start of Opening Night Live, I was ready to fold my arms. Did we really need a fourth Lego Batman game (fifth if you count 2018’s Lego DC Super Villains)? Is this not something we’ve already mined for all of its potential? To my surprise, however, the debut trailer for Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight charmed me enough to get me on board for this satirical love letter to DC’s most iconic vigilante.
Long-time Lego game developer Traveller’s Tales is back in the saddle for 2026’s Legacy of the Dark Knight. But it’s clear the team is taking a different approach this time around. It’s done the open-world thing with Batman before, as Lego Batman 2 was the first game in the franchise to widen the series’ scope beyond linear levels. This time around, though, it’s all about adding some much-needed depth to the tried-and-true Lego formula.
Similar to Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, Legacy of the Dark Knight pulls back from the simplistic beat-em up and platforming mechanics in favor of a more focused experience unique to the franchise it's based on. The game’s trailer shows Batman gliding through a blocky version of Gotham, stealthily stalking enemies from above, trading fists with thugs in free-flow combat, and using familiar-looking gadgets. There’s even a moment when we see our hero driving a Batmobile pulled straight from Matt Reeves’ unforgettable take on the character.
For all intents and purposes, Legacy of the Dark Knight looks like it's using Rocksteady’s gameplay systems from the Arkham series as the sturdy skeleton for this new game. Considering how well all of those games hold up, I’m not mad at it. Where Traveller’s Tales does depart from those games is in its story.
Legacy of the Dark Knight is notably a celebration of Batman’s many, many incarnations, as the trailer makes a ton of nods to modern Batmen. We see Bruce Wayne training with the League of Shadows deep in the snow-topped mountains. He’s interrogating a Joker clearly modeled after Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight. Tom Hardy’s Bane, Zoë Kravitz’s Catwoman, the explosive gel from the Arkham series, the Tumbler from Nolan’s films, even the saturated colors and Dutch angles of Joel Schumacher’s cult Batman films are each given a shout.
The gameplay for Legacy Of The Dark Knight looks like a straight Lego adaptation of the Arkham Games.
Traveller’s Tales confirmed that Legacy of the Dark Knight will have an original story. But that story looks to be a quilt pieced together by the iconic scenes, villains, and lore of Batman’s most enduring stories. With over 60 years’ worth of television shows, movies, and video games, a new release dedicated solely to lovingly lampooning Bats is something I can’t bring myself to root against. If the gameplay is anywhere near as sound as it looks, then I’m all in for this swan song for this Lego subseries.
I’m still hopeful that other DC heroes will get their time in the gaming sun. We’ve been stuck with Batman for better and worse for nearly two decades now, and his shtick has more than run its course. But with The Lego Group investing in making its own Lego games, Traveller’s Tales’ time with the Lego franchise may be coming to an end after more than 20 years.
If the undisputed masters of family-friendly platformers want one last swing with the character to deliver some laughs and nostalgic joy for a final time, who am I to object? I’m here for Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, and hope it lives up to the hype.
