Batman: Assault on Arkham

Get ready to root for the bad guys.

RELEASED 12 Aug 20141h 16m★ 7.3 TMDB

Batman works desperately to find a bomb planted by the Joker while Amanda Waller sends her newly-formed Suicide Squad to break into Arkham Asylum and recover vital information stolen by the Riddler.

Why it matters in DC

Amanda Waller's squad and Batman pursue different objectives inside the same Arkham crisis. That divided viewpoint makes the film useful for exploring DC antiheroes: the prison is not just somewhere Batman leaves villains, but a setting for their competing agendas.

Watch these first

4 titles to watch before Batman: Assault on Arkham — 4h 16m in total.

Justice League: The Flashpoint ParadoxOptional background1h 21m★ 7.9
A separate adaptation of Batman; useful for comparison, but unrelated to Batman: Assault on Arkham’s story continuity.
Justice League: WarOptional background1h 19m★ 7.4
A separate adaptation of Batman; useful for comparison, but unrelated to Batman: Assault on Arkham’s story continuity.
Robot Chicken DC Comics Special II: Villains in ParadiseOptional background0h 22m★ 6.8
A separate adaptation of The Joker; useful for comparison, but unrelated to Batman: Assault on Arkham’s story continuity.
Son of BatmanOptional background1h 14m★ 7.1
A separate adaptation of Batman and The Joker and Alfred Pennyworth; useful for comparison, but unrelated to Batman: Assault on Arkham’s story continuity.

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How these titles are selected

Story prerequisites are curated. Likely prerequisites are inferred from sequel numbering or explicit synopsis references. Recommendations are earlier stories in the same continuity; background picks are separate adaptations. Series lists cover whole shows, not an episode-by-episode watch order.

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Where it fits in the DC universe

Batman: Assault on Arkham is title 18 of 85 in our Animated Elseworlds viewing sequence. Standalone animated films and separate continuities. Titles here do not form one timeline. This is a collection of separate adaptations, rather than a single continuous story.

Explore this viewing sequence