Arkham City sequel, what we should expect.

The ending to Arkham City left us all struck and wandering what would happen next. And with the Harley Quinn Revenge DLC discrediting the only hint at the next game, we are left with no hints to the sequel...or are we?

First, I'd like to take about the Joker. I don't think he should return for a few reasons, the main reason being that he is dead, and I think it might be cheap to have him being revived in the next game. He already headed the leading role of the Villain in the last two games, and I think with him gone, it leaves a hole in Batman's life, as well as a sense of guilt, seeing as he may blame himself heavily for Joker's death. Also, the voice actor for Joker said he wouldn't be returning.

So, with Joker dead, who can take the torch as the main villain, and all I can so right now is, I don't actually know. Two side missions and two easter eggs from Arkham City left us with three people/storylines that needed resolving.

First, let's talk about Hush. In Arkham City, the Identity Thief turned out to be Dr. Thomas Elliot, who had turned his face into a patchwork of flesh that had become a perfect replica of Bruce Wayne's face. Elliot was a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne, who killed his parents to obtain the family fortune. Unfortunately for him, Bruce's father discovered that Elliot was to blame for his parents' death. Elliot blames Bruce for his downfall, and has sworn to take revenge on him. So, in the next game we can expect Hush to return, and most likely start killing people(or something to soil Bruce's name) and publicly displaying that Bruce Wayne has gone to the dark side.

The two easter eggs I was referring to earlier were Scarecrow's lair(Hidden on a boat, next to the entrance to where Joker was keeping Freeze's wife), and Scarecrow's hidden radio messages(when you turned the radio to a certain frequency, you hear numbers being read off, which can translate into messages of revenge and terror). After seeing that, we can most defiantly expect Scarecrow to return, maybe not as the lead villain, but certainly returning. Although, I believe Scarecrow would be a good leading villain, or at least have a heavy effect on the story. I mean, think about it, Scarecrow could terror gas the city, or terror gas one or more of the villains, making them go on a psycho spree on top of how crazy the majority already are.

As for that other side mission I brought up, that would be The Watcher in the Wings(that might not be the exact title, but it's something like that). You meet a mysterious man named Azreal, who told Batman of a prophecy of how because of what Batman had to do at Arkham City, would lead to a greater destruction. How talked about Gotham burning as well as other end of the world mumbo jumbo. We can definitely expect Azreal to return, as well as his prophecy.

I would also like to see more of the Batfiends(tm); mostly Robin, Nightwing, and Catwoman. I would like to see more of Robin in the story, as well as introducing Nightwing to the story. As for the others(Creeper, Huntress, etc.), I honestly have no opinion on bringing them into the franchise.

And with bringing in the Batfriends(tm), I think bringing in the Justice League would be a horrible idea. For the most part, the Arkham games have retained realism, and bring in the JL would instantly shatter all realism.

Lastly, I'd like to touch on the setting. Regardless of what it is called, it will most likely span the majority of Gotham. Which will lead to cool new game play aspects, like a drivable Batmobile and Batwing.

Hush's patchwork Bruce Wayne face

Joker's dead, and probably won't be returning.

What does Scarecrow have in plan?