Concept art for a cancelled Batman game has surfaced, showing the Caped Crusader with a somewhat unique look.
Players recently discovered a new ArtStation post from artist Goran Bukvic featuring five images that Bukvic states are concept art "done for a canceled game a long time ago," rather than being in any way attached to Robert Pattison's upcoming Batman movie.
Concept art "for a cancelled game" posted by Concept Artist Goran Bukvic.These could be early designs of Damian's and Bruce Wayne's Batman suits from WB Games Montreal's cancelled sequel to Arkham Knight.SOURCE: https://t.co/2PAQELoj7h (found by u/thebananapeeler2 on reddit) pic.twitter.com/Pn94c1u4cANovember 9, 2021
Bukvic doesn't make it clear what canceled game that might have been, but we can take a decent guess. The artist's LinkedIn page points to three relevant projects; the first, and least likely, was Pandemic's 2007 video game tie-in to The Dark Knight; the second and third, almost ten years later, were two stints at Warner Bros Montreal.
From April to September 2015, Bukvic worked as a concept artist for a project that would line up with the release of Batman: Arkham Knight. He returned to the studio between June and October 2016, working on character design for "an unannounced AAA title" that could have been a rumored canceled follow-up to Arkham Knight.
Previous leaks for that project implied that time would have moved on, which could explain not only Dick Grayson's new suit, but Batman's grizzled new look. Bukvic's concepts feature Bruce Wayne sporting a salt-and-pepper beard beneath his iconic cowl, which is an interesting twist on the traditional portrayal of the character.
The five-year-old project, already abandoned for several years, is unlikely to ever see the light of day, so don't expect to see Bukvic's designs in a game anytime soon. If you are desperate to see that game's story continue, however, the good news is that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is set to do just that when it releases next year.
Arkham Knight surfaces high on our list of the best superhero games of all time.
Sign up to the 12DOVE Newsletter
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more
I'm GamesRadar's news editor, working with the team to deliver breaking news from across the industry. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.