Summary

• Arkham Asylum is an iconic setting in Batman lore, inspiring movies, comics, and games with its eerie atmosphere and rogues gallery.
• Different Batman movies use Arkham in unique ways, from tense interrogations to supernatural encounters, highlighting its horror elements.
• The best use of Arkham is in Batman: Assault on Arkham, set entirely in the Arkhamverse with dark comedy and thrilling heists.

When Batman fans think of what makes Gotham City so iconic, they might name the cramped, noir style of the city, Wayne Manor, and maybe all those impractical blimps. But, most importantly, they'll probably name the infamous Arkham Asylum. Since its inception in 1974, this "hospital" for the "criminally insane" has helped few patients. Instead, it's become a creepy setting that houses the most iconic members of Batman's rouges gallery.

As a setting, housing all of our worst fears of medical malpractice in oppressive architecture, Arkham has inspired movies, comics, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:and even entire games. It's also appeared over and over again in DC's animated movie lineup, with animators trying their hand at using the setting for everything from reveals to a stage for massive fights. So, of all the movies that embrace this setting, which one does it best?

13 💦 Batman: Hush

In this movie, we see part of the climax set in Arkham Asylum, asꦆ Batman finally learns the truth about who Hush is. This scene is tense, atmospheric, and it features the two things Batman enjoys doing most in Arkham asylum: interrogating suspects and beating up inmates.

Since the setting isn't used extensively, this movie loses a few points, but it does do a great job of building up our anticipation for it. After all, the more of the cast that come from Arkham, the more we want to end up there, and it definitely delivers on that front.

12 Batma𒆙n: The Doom That Came To Gotham

As a setting, Arkham has long been associated with horror, so it makes sense that Batman could meet up with a ghost there, right? In this use of Arkham, with a Lovecraftian re-imagining of the world, Batman goes to the asylum to meet with Barbra Gordon andဣ ends up having a little chat with the spirit of Thomas Wayne.

All in all, this movie understands the importance of the setting to the atmosphere, and though it doesn't use Arkham for long, it does lean into an overtly supernatural aspect of the place that we don't often see.

11 Batman: The Daꦜrk Knight Returns

A two-part movie, and an adaptation of the 𓄧comic of the same name, this Batman story takes place in the same continuity as Batman: Year One. In it, we see an older Batman fight a number of opponents, including the Joker, who has been catatonic in🧸 Arkham.

Joker escapes from Arkham a lot. He seems to go there just for the joy of escaping it, but this movie spends more time on it than others. We see the iconic a𒁏sylum from the perspective of its most iconic inmate.

10 Batman: Un🦋der The Red Hood

This movie makes classic use of the Arkham setting. Batman travels to the asylum to interrogate someone. With how often he's visting for information, you'd think he'd install a direct line! In this movie it's the Joker, as the newest vigilante terrorizing Gotham has based his Red Hood persona on the Joker's old costume.

While this movie doesn't make the best use of this setting, it is still a fantastic 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:(and some might argue the best) addition to the DC animated canon. Besides, if you're a fan of Arkham, odds are you're a fan of the Joker and, while Arkham isn't heavily used, his character is.

9 🗹 ﷺ Batman: Gotham Knight

Intended to take plac꧑e between the live action movies Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, this anthology movie features six shorts created by Japanese animation studios. One of those shorts, Crossfire, gives us a glimpse into an expanded version of Arkham Asylum.

In this iteration, the escaped inmates have overflowed onto the entire island, taking over ﷽a part of it known as "the Narrows." Now, the entire island functions as a sort of Arkham City, which is a cool concept to see play out, even if only for a brief window.

8 Batman Beyo༒nd: Return Of The Joker 🉐

Batman Beyond did a lot of interesting things as a cyberpunk re-imagining of Gotham centered around Batman's protégé (who was, surprisingly, not one of his many Robins). This movie, based in the world of the TV show, likewise used Arkham in an interesting way (and explained why at least one of those Robins was not at all interested).

Instead of using the fully-functional Arkham that we're familiar with, this movie sets its most harrowing scene in an abandoned Arkham. Here, we see Batman and Batgirl take on the Joker and Harley in a very literal fight to the death.

7 Batman: Gotham🧸 By Gaslight

An Elseworlds movie that turns back the clock on Gotham to Victorian times, this movie uses Arkham as the stage for a grisly murder. Playing with the characters we know and love in a new setting, we're introduced to Hugo Strange, who any fans of Arkham Asylum will know.

However, shortly after he's introduced, he's killed by none other than Jack the Ripper, who lets the psychiatrist's patients do the dirty work for him. As a creepy setting, Arkham is a great place to set a murder, and it's interesting to see the way that alternate universes re-imagine it.

6 Justice League Vs. The Fatal Five ༒

What makes this movie's use of Arkham unique is that the imprisonment of Star Kid gives us a chance to see it outside its normal prisoners. As an important plot beat, this movie reminds us that Arkham is in fact meant to be an asylum and not a prison.

This raises some questions for the viewer about how much sympathy you're supposed to feel for those within. Nonetheless, we see Star Kid, as it goes with most of the inmates, eventually escaping.

5 🧸 Batman: The Long Hal🐈loween

In this two-part Tomorrowverse movie, Batman returns to Arkham time and time again, trying to figure out the identity of a new enemy known as Holiday. Throughout both parts, Batman confronts inmates, sees several of them escape, aജnd reꦫsponds to an attack on the building.

This mystery uses Arkham as a touchstone at the heart of this mystery, a🌠nd that means we get to revisit the setting in diffe🐭rent lights as the story plays out.

4 Batman Vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ꦜ

There have been Batman crossovers with a surprising number of other characters over the years (like Scooby-Doo and the Power Rangers), so it isn't too surprising to see the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Teenager Mutant Ninja Turtles show up here. It is still a little hard to imagine them in a setting like Arkham, but that's part of what makes this use of the asylum so fun.

Not only do the unlikely duo of Shredder and Ra's al Ghul break into Arkham, spreading murder and mayhem, they also proceed to mutate several iconic characters. This provides a fresh feeling to the following fight, leaning into the already novel and delightful absurdity of it all.