A new Batman: Arkham video game is upon us, and once again, it is filled to the brim with action, punching, maniacal giggles and, of course, Easter Eggs! The game developers know that geeks like us love a good reference, and the Arkham games have been famous for all manner of hidden secrets and winks to the fans from Batman lore. Batman: Arkham Origins is no different. Along with hours upon hours of gameplay, the developers have hidden throughout the game small, easy-to-miss hints to the larger Batman world. These are Easter Eggs, and I spent my first weekend with Batman: Arkham Origins finding the best ones!

In the first two games in the series, Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, the developers included big scavenger hunts based around heroes and villains from DC Comics. They wanted you to find the Easter Eggs, which unlocked character bios, trophies and more. Those character-based scavenger hunts are gone from Arkham Origins, replaced with a hunt for famous Gotham City buildings and landmarks called ‘Gotham Intel’. But the developers still added some character-based Eggs, which are now harder – and more rewarding – to find.

So join me after the jump to see the best DC Universe Easter Eggs in Batman: Arkham Origins.

Of course, there will be some SPOILERS for the game, but I’ll try not to give away any of the plot or twists. And if you know of any Easter Eggs I missed, let me know in the comments!

Honorable Mention: A Rose in Crime Alley

Batman: Arkham Origins owes a lot to its predecessor, Batman: Arkham City, especially when it comes to the game world. Since the map in Arkham City covered a large section of Gotham City itself, the developers pretty much just copied and pasted the same map for Origins (with a few cosmetic tweaks). As such, the same Crime Alley Easter Egg from Arkham City is back in Arkham Origins. Once again, Batman can visit the alley where his parents were shot to find their chalk outlines on the pavement.

You’d think somebody would have cleaned those up by now

There isn’t a special cinematic camera view this time, just the chalk outlines and a single red rose. You can find them in the alley behind the Monarch Theater in Park Row. This scene was at the top of my list of Easter Eggs from Arkham City, but since it’s a repeat, it’s only an Honorable Mention this time.

6. The Rejected Assassins

The plot of Batman: Arkham Origins is that Black Mask has hired eight assassins to try and kill Batman on Christmas Eve, with a $50 mil price tag on the Dark Knight’s head. The eight assassins are Bane, Deathstroke, Firefly, Copperhead, Killer Croc, Deadshot, Shiva and Electrocutioner – though how a nobody like Electrocutioner got invited to the party is is beyond me. The story in Arkham Origins is one of its best qualities, and the developers didn’t just set up these eight like eight typical boss battles. They’re wonderfully woven into the game in many different ways.

But how did Black Mask settle on those eight? The DC Universe is filled with assassins and clandestine types. Were any more considered?

Apparently! Check out what I found on Black Mask’s desk in his office:

No, not the Cat…

Cheshire is a lethal assassin known for specializing in poisons – so she’s pretty much exactly like Copperhead. She frequently torments the Teen Titans and the Outsiders, and even had a kid once with Green Arrow’s sidekick. So see? Sometimes the ladies like sidekicks. But Cheshire isn’t the only assassin who didn’t get an invite to the big ‘Kill Batman Party’. These were also found on Black Masks’ desk:

So we’ve got guys like Deathstroke, Deadshot, Copperhead, Killer Croc…and then David

I hope the light isn’t too bright to make out the names ‘David Cain’ and ‘Black Spider’. Black Spider is your typical assassin in dark clothing, and isn’t nearly as funny or colorful as Spider-Man. But David Cain is a major player in Batman comics. He’s the father of Cassandra Cain, the second Batgirl. He’s also pretty much a lower rent Deathstroke, so no wonder he didn’t get picked. But considering Cassandra’s mother is Shiva, one of the eight in the game, we could have had a pretty awesome romantic subplot between two of the assassins. There wasn’t nearly enough romance in this game.

5. Ferris Air and Friends

Gotham City is just filled with billboards! There are advertisements for Big Belly Burger and Soder Cola, both staples of the DC Universe. And there is one for Gotham City’s famous zeppelins – a fond tribute to Batman: The Animated Series. But hidden among the various billboards are some for the biggest fictional companies at DC, the most famous of which is the ad for Ferris Air.

Orange is the new green

Ferris Air is owned by Carol Ferris, girlfriend of Green Lantern Hal Jordan. But Ferris Air is all the way out in Coast City, so it’s not actually in the game world.

The same can’t be said for AmerTek Industries and Cale-Anderson Pharmaceutical. AmerTek is the weapons manufacturer that employed John Henry Irons, the hero known as Steel. You can find several billboards around the city for AmerTek, and the actual AmerTek plant in the Industrial District.

I bet they make all the weapons for Team America

Cale-Anderson Pharmaceutical is owned by Veronica Cale, one of Wonder Woman’s villains. She’s got several billboards around the city, and her plant is in Coventry.

There must have been a sale on blue neon signs

Of course, there are also several billboards for Wayne Enterprises throughout Gotham City, but I expected to see those. Bruce Wayne has got to get his billions from somewhere. AmerTek, Cale-Anderson and Wayne Enterprises are also all part of the new ‘Gotham Intel’ scavenger hunt game, so they’re not really hidden in Arkham Origins, but they’re still neat to find.

4. Boy Wonder Begins

I’m a huge Robin fan, and am thrilled that he’s in the multiplayer section of Batman: Arkham Origins. The Arkham people have mostly been great at using Robin. But, of course, considering the timeline, Robin doesn’t appear in the single player game. He simply isn’t around yet – but that doesn’t mean he isn’t on his way. There are at least two references to Dick Grayson’s upcoming origin in the game world.

First is a poster for The Flying Graysons and Haley’s Circus. Dick and his parents are busy touring the country as a high-wire act, unaware that Gotham City will be their last stop. I found this poster outside the Gotham Cinema in Jezebel Center in The Bowery.

It’s like looking into the future

There was a Flying Graysons poster in Arkham City too, but that one had a big ‘Cancelled’ sticker over the front of it. Tragedy awaits.

The second reference is to the man responsible for the death of the Graysons: mobster Tony Zucco. He tried to pull a protection racket on Haley’s Circus, but when the owner refused, Zucco sabotaged the trapeze. In Arkham Origins, Zucco’s name is on a chalkboard at the Gotham City Police Department, listed as a member of The Maroni Crime Family.

Alongside the Gordon hangman

Of course, Sal Maroni himself is an Easter Egg, as is the name Rupert Thorne, right above Zucco’s. Both Maroni and Thorne are big time crime bosses from Batman’s world. But Zucco takes the cake as one of the worst.

3. Villains in the Wings

What would a Batman game be without his famous super-villains? Arkham Origins has got a ton of them, from big time baddies like Black Mask, Bane and the Joker, to smaller hoods like Mad Hatter, Anarky and Killer Croc. But once again, if we consider the time line, some of the best rogues just aren’t around yet – unless you know where to look.

In the same GCPD room with the Maroni/Zucco chalkboard, there’s also one showing off the Falcone Crime family. Not only are most of them in The Long Halloween, but one of them in particular is destined to have a long history with the Dark Knight. Can you spot Catwoman?

Maybe dangle some string over the chalkboard

Selina Kyle was always rumored to be the long-lost daughter of Carmine Falcone. Good to know the cops have already got an eye on her.

Speaking of cat-themed villains, how about Catman? It seems that Thomas Blake has put together a special exhibit of rare jungle cats at the Gotham City Zoo. I found this poster in Jezebel Center.

Catman would be great for the fourth Arkham game – hint, hint

Any other good posters? Of course! How about one for Basil Karlo, the famous impressionist. He’ll eventually become the best impressionist in the world when he’s later transformed into Clayface.

For now he’s just Groucho Marx

The Batcave is full of Easter Eggs in Arkham Origins, but most of them are so obvious that I didn’t feel like including them. One of them, however, is neat enough to show: it’s the Red Hood!. Right next to the clippings about the Calender Man is a whole investigative line looking into this red-helmeted menace. As we all know from the comics, the Red Hood was the identity Joker used to commit crimes before he fell into that vat of chemicals. So it’s too bad Batman is never going to be able to solve this line of investigation.

Never quite sure what Joker saw in big red helmets

Lastly, in one of the hardest to find Easter Eggs, check out the headline from a newspaper I found at the GCPD building.

I believe in Harvey Dent

Harvey Dent elected DA? Too bad his tenure as the city’s top prosecutor isn’t going to last too long. He’s going to be too busy; they should have elected two DAs. Amiright, folks? I’ll be here all week. Tip your waitress, but not too much.

2. A Justice League of Their Own

Super-villains aren’t the only characters in Batman’s world. What about his fellow superheroes? Unfortunately, Superman and the rest of the Justice League don’t make any actual appearances in Batman: Arkham Origins, but there are more than a few fun hints hidden throughout the game. I kept searching for a newspaper clipping from The Daily Planet, but no luck yet. However, there is a nice billboard for Metropolis in the Diamond District.

It’s not as dark, dank or murderous as Gotham City!

And when sneaking around the Penguin’s freighter out in the Dickson Docks, be on the lookout for a shipping container from Queen Industries, owned by Oliver Queen, otherwise known as the Green Arrow (or ‘The Hood’, as he’s known on TV).

A target motif? Real subtle, Oliver

Signs for Metropolis and Queen Industries are all well and good, but how about an appearance from an actual hero? The game kind of comes close with this poster outside the Monarch Theater in Park Row.

Playing the theater where Batman’s parents were killed, real classy Zatanna

Every little thing this game does is magic! I would love a real Zatanna cameo in one of those games. She’s one of my favorite love interests for the Dark Knight. There are also a few mentions of various other DC cities, like Central City, home of the Flash, and Coast City, home of Green Lantern, but nothing as good as that Zatanna poster. Though would it really be too bad to put in a billboard for ‘Flash’ brand running shoes?

1. Task Force X

Turn back now if you don’t want any spoilers whatsoever. Everything else on this list has been a collection of hidden tidbits that don’t effect the plot in any way, but the best Easter Egg of them all comes in the form of a brief, 30-second scene after the credits have rolled. So like all the best superhero movies, make sure you stay put until the very end. In the scene, we see Deathstroke the Terminator doing push-ups in his cell, and he’s visited by Amanda Waller! She’s got a certain proposition for Slade Wilson.

If you can’t watch the video, Waller comes up to Deathstroke’s cell and tosses a clipboard in with him to sign. He asks, as curtly as possible, what happens if he doesn’t sign? Waller tells him that he can either rot in this cell or work for her.

Hello Suicide Squad! In the comics, Waller runs Task Force X (nicknamed the ‘Suicide Squad’), a team of super-villains doing black-ops jobs for the government in exchange for lighter prison sentences. Deathstroke would make a fine addition to such a team.

But what could this scene possibly mean? Why put something like that at the end of a Batman game? Deathstroke and Waller aren’t typical Batman characters. And it’s probably not hinting towards a sequel, because Arkham Origins is already a prequel. Could this be a hint towards a new game? Could somebody – maybe original Arkham developer Rocksteady – be working on a Suicide Squad game? How cool would that be? Deathstroke is already a playable character in the Arkham Origins challenge maps, so why not give him his own video game? Take the already successful gameplay of the Arkham games and rework them for a few new characters, and DC would easily have another hit franchise on their hands!

I guess for now we can only hope.

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What are some of the best Eager Eggs you’ve found? I didn’t even mention the Batmobile under construction in the Batcave. Or what about the brief appearance by Harvey Bullock in the prologue, complete with the same voice actor from Batman: The Animated Series. No doubt this game still has a few hidden secrets I’ve yet to find. If you spot any, let me know in the comments!