Arkham Asylum lies in ruins and every cell in it stands empty. Batman works the fallout like a checklist, running down his oldest enemies across Gotham one at a time, and each name costs him more than the last. A stranger called Bane watches him do it.

This is an animated film, not the comic collection that shares its title. Jeff Wamester directs from a script by Jeremy Adams, adapting the DC Comics arc [[work:batman-knightfall]] of 1993 and 1994 as the first of three features in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line. The trilogy is made for adults, which leaves room for the physical and mental attrition the original story built its reputation on.

Anson Mount, Michael Mando and Pablo Schreiber lead the voice cast, with Bruce Boxleitner and Jeff Bennett among the Gotham regulars. Part 1 handles the setup: the asylum breaking open, the long grind of recapture, and the first meeting with the man who arranged all of it. Readers who know the arc will recognise the shape of what is coming and watch it arrive anyway. Newcomers get a Batman story about endurance rather than detection, closer to a siege than a case. It suits anyone who likes their Gotham grim, their action animated with weight, and their hero running on nothing.