Gotham Knights Explains Mr. Freeze and His Techie, Organ-Trafficking Faction

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Gotham Knights‘ version of Mr. Freeze is highly futuristic, making the villain a natural collaborator with the Regulators, an original faction composed of hackers and other tech-orientated criminals.

“When we get a villain like Mr. Freeze, I mean the guy's got so much history, it's a challenge for our team when we get it,” WB Games Montréal's character art director, Jay Evans, told IGN. “It's, ‘Where do we go from here?' Because we look at all the past [versions of the character] that have been done really well. For us, the kind of jumping off point was where does he fit in our Gotham City, on a technological kind of level? So he is the most advanced technology piece in our Gotham.”

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Evans stressed that the game's design for Freeze was not purely science-fiction, however, and instead had a basis in real-world medical technology. These factors made the iconic ice-based villain a good pairing with the Regulators, one of the game's gangs intent on stealing technology, trafficking organs and dealing in similar black market activities.

“So the Regulators are grabbing technology from the most futuristic or the most advanced places in Gotham — maybe it's STAR Labs or something,” Evans said. “And then they're building their weapons and their equipment, and it's all visible on the outside of them. So on the base layer, we have this kind of contemporary, almost athletic wear with bright colors. But then on top, we have this tech layer. On the base units, it's smaller elements, [but] on some of the more advanced archetypes, it can be things like a completely augmented arm that has a upgraded weapon… We linked up the Regulators with Mr. Freeze. It seemed like a natural fit, based on their technology levels, where they fit artistically and in their writing, stuff like that.”

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While Freeze and the Regulators might be working together to advance shared interests, the Regulators will also be an entirely independent faction within the game with their own goals. This aligns with Mr. Freeze's most consistent comic book portrayal, which has shown him only allying with henchmen or other villains for the purpose of one day reviving his wife, Nora Fries. Meanwhile, the Regulators share similarities with the Unsanity Collective, a group of hackers and tech-savvy ne'er-do-wells who first debuted in James Tynion IV's “Fear State” story arc of 2021. The most prominent member of the Unsanity Collective thus far is Miracle Molly, who helped Batman reclaim Gotham City from the control of the tech company Magistrate.

Developed by WB Games Montréal and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Gotham Knights launches on Oct. 25 and for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.

Source: IGN