New Gameplay Footage Emerges from the Unreleased Nolanverse Batman Game

In early 2009, just before the release of Batman: Arkham Asylum and a year after Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, developers at Monolith were hard at work on a Batman game linked to Nolan’s cinematic universe. Fast forward to 2024, and gameplay footage from this project, dubbed Project Apollo, has leaked, revealing even more about what could have been.

On January 12, retro game archivist MrTalida shared previously deleted files from Project Apollo that were recovered from an old hard drive. These files, created between April 2009 and January 2010, include video clips showcasing early gameplay and in-engine tests, particularly focusing on sound and music integration in this third-person Batman action game. It’s fascinating to see the progress Monolith made over those ten months, and you can check out all the footage on the Internet Archive.

One of the most exciting discoveries from these leaked files is gameplay footage featuring the Tumbler, Batman’s tank-like Batmobile from the Dark Knight trilogy. In the clips, the Tumbler navigates a sprawling train yard, evading police while smashing through various objects and explosive barrels. It’s a classic 2010-era vehicle segment, reminiscent of what you’d find in many single-player AAA titles of that time.

Additionally, there’s a series of videos that track the development of the Tumbler sections from October 2009 to January 2010. This footage may be our first glimpse of the Tumbler, as previous leaks didn’t showcase it.

Enjoy exploring the files!

As previously noted, we caught a glimpse of a later build of this canceled Batman game in 2024, highlighting combat, traversal, and more. Back in 2019, Liam Robertson provided an in-depth look at this project, revealing that it had been in development for about 18 months before it was ultimately scrapped.

The game was designed to be open-world, allowing players to glide and use the grappling hook (a staple from the Arkham series) or drive the Tumbler/Batmobile.

It also featured a system where randomly generated Gotham City thugs would appear to challenge Batman, returning stronger and angrier later on. This concept would later evolve into the renowned Nemesis System seen in 2014’s Shadow of Mordor and its sequel, Shadow of War.

As for the cancellation, Robertson reported that WB Games made it clear to Monolith that the project could only proceed with Nolan’s approval, given that it was set in his version of the Batman universe. Unfortunately, Nolan showed little interest, leading Monolith to abandon the project and shift focus to creating Lord of the Rings games. More recently, the studio was developing a Wonder Woman project that would have incorporated the Nemesis System, but tragically, Monolith was closed by WB in February 2025.