The Batman returns. This new chapter in TT Games’ history sees implementation of one of the most comprehensive Lego Batman game titles to date in Legacy of the Dark Knight.

The fourth game in the Lego Batman franchise, which started back in 2008 with Lego Batman: The Videogame, is Batcave packed to the brim with canonical weapons, vehicles and costume easter eggs from the films featuring Michael Keaton Douglas, Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, Robert Pattinson and more, along with TV references from Adam West’s 1960s run and even Batman: The Animated Series. Most notably the game also pulls from Rocksteady Studios’ Batman: Arkham series, while still managing to balance that classic Lego game family friendly nature with the darker crime escapades with ease.  

After experiencing two hours of hands-on gameplay, Deadline spoke to TT Games’ strategic director and head of development Jonathan Smith about adapting this new era of Batman.

DEADLINE: There are so many references pulled from Batman canon throughout comics, animation and film. How did you parse through what to choose from for the game? 

JONATHAN SMITH: The history is iconic with such richness and history of fantastic creators who have seared Batman into our imaginations. It is unbelievable that we get to play with that character, to spend weeks and months rewatching those films and series and replaying those games and rereading those comic books and then talking with each other. It’s been such a pleasure to be able to talk with other people who care as deeply about all these little details  and then try to shape that into an experience that will reach a new, wide audience. Lego gives us such a unique lens through which some of those disparate elements can coalesce and then come into focus.

DEADLINE: Was there anything off limits? 

SMITH: We were incredibly well-supported by the team at DC Comics. They have such reservoirs of knowledge and they’re always able to come up with really resonant suggestions as we start exploring areas and story moments. So, no, we weren’t restricted. That generous partnership is a unique sort of position that a Lego game can take. We can bring anything together and some of the juxtapositions and the unexpected beats across the decades of material and that gives us the ability to have the most fun. DC Comics really appreciate that as well. 

DEADLINE: What was the most challenging thing about creating this game? 

SMITH: As with most creative endeavors, the challenge is in pulling everything together in a shape that people can recognize. We get drawn into every rabbit hole. We go to every far corner of the stories and we come back to the game with too much. We have to then select and focus and make sure that there’s a recipe that we’re cooking up. Whatever it is has to be delicious, but not too oversimplified to lose shape. So, that process of refinement and focus is where we have to let some things go, is always the creative challenge.

DEADLINE: Is there anything new to this Lego game that hasn’t been available in other games? 

SMITH: We’ve set out here to create dramatically new gameplay for a Lego game. It’s similar to the other Lego games that you know and love, but we’ve brought every aspect of that up to date and modernized it. And we’ve innovated in all areas. Mechanically now with Batman, we’ve got a combat experience and combat system. Batman and his partner allies have different gadgets they can use, the different enemy types and the weapons they’ll use against you are much more rich than anything we’ve delivered before. The city, technically, is aesthetically much deeper and immersive and more full of things to play with and more rewarding of exploratory traversal and just fooling around than we’ve ever been able to create before. 

So while we’ve maintained our commitments to accessibility and fun for all ages, there are so many new dimensions of depth and upgrade to this new game. And, I would particularly say that by comparison with anything in the past, the traversal in the city, both grappling and gliding, but also the use of new vehicles are leaps ahead of anything we’ve done. 

DEADLINE: What was your favorite level or scene to bring to life? 

SMITH: We’ve drawn upon so much, and we honor it all so there’s nothing that’s made it into this game that we don’t love. There are some moments that we probably weren’t expecting to come to life in the way that they do. Later on in the game, there’s an interrogation between Batman and the Joker that hurts, but we are still sweet. It was a complete surprise how the [development] team and the animation team chose to bring that sequence to life both interactively and with such humor. It was a real treat. 

DEADLINE: All Lego games have a good sense of humor about themselves. But during my playthrough I noted some really funny quirks that happen. At one point Batman pulls out a pie, he has a guitar and a frying pan. There’s a fun dance sequence with him and Gordon. Can you talk about developing these quirks for the story? 

SMITH: We played the game a lot over the years in development and yet I would still often discover something in the city that I wasn’t expecting that a technical designer or an artist had put in. I vividly remember first discovering that not only when you smashed a fire hydrant, there would be a jet of water that you could jump up onto which as you lie back onto supports your weight enough to float you on the water, which is already intrinsically funny enough. But if you left Batman in that pose for more than a few seconds, he whips out a surfboard and starts to surf on the water coming out of the busted hydrant. Also, the surfboard is authentically modeled on and designed based on the reference from the 1966 TV show where there is an episode where Batman and Joker have a surfing competition. 

DEADLINE: What are you most excited for players to experience? 
SMITH: No one’s had the full journey of going from origin to legend while training in the shoes of Bruce Wayne and becoming Batman and going through all those adventures in one experience. I think the impact of that is really going to blow people away. Also, the vividness with which Lego Gotham City comes to life, I don’t think people are prepared [for the epic-ness]. So, I’m really excited to see fan reaction because there’s so much to see.

Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is out now on Playstation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC, with it coming to Nintendo Switch 2 at a later date.