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 — 5h 12m in total.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2Optional background1h 18m★ 7.9+1 before this
Justice League: The Flashpoint ParadoxOptional background1h 21m★ 7.9
Justice League: WarOptional background1h 19m★ 7.4
Son of BatmanOptional background1h 14m★ 7.1

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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 40 in our Animated Elseworlds viewing sequence. Assault on Arkham follows a Task Force X mission intersecting with Batman's activities, giving the villains a central viewpoint. It belongs outside the main connected animated movie-universe sequence in this catalogue. The live-action Suicide Squad films and animated Hell to Pay are separate missions in other settings, not required earlier episodes.

Explore this viewing sequence