The Real-World Inspiration For Gotham Knights' Mr. Freeze
WB Games Montréal's upcoming "Gotham Knights" envisions a world where Batman's four most infamous proteges must struggle on without their mentor. Nightwing, Batgirl, Robin, and the Red Hood join together to keep Gotham safe from the forces that threaten it. There has been an abundance of information revealed about these heroes. The studio shared that it hopes to get Batgirl right by thoughtfully handling her recovery after being shot by The Joker, it released an entire cinematic character trailer about Red Hood and his motivations for joining the team, and key individuals have even spoken up about fan concerns regarding the somewhat diminished size of Nightwing's greatest asset.
Despite all of these details, little has been shown about this iteration of Gotham's villains. Fans learned early on that the Clown Prince of Crime would not make an appearance in the game, but the announcement trailer revealed that The Court of Owls instead takes on the primary antagonist role. A brief cameo also highlighted that there would be an appearance from the King of Cold himself, Mr. Freeze. Now, a developer has come forward to discuss the inspiration for Freeze's design.
Mr. Freeze suit inspired by medical equipment
Character art director Jay Evans recently gave an interview to IGN in which he talked about Mr. Freeze's design and the faction of Gotham's criminal underground that he commands. The article stated that Mr. Freeze has hired a group of technologically enhanced mercenaries called the Regulators. While the development team wanted to make it feel like Mr. Freeze and this group are compatible in terms of appearance, it also wanted to ensure that the Regulators weren't just Freeze-themed lackeys and that they have their own identity. The compromise was making the Regulators into a group that augments their equipment (like Freeze) but giving Freeze a unique design that pulled from his character's background.
"A lot of our reference was medical equipment," Evans stated in the interview. "Molded, cool, almost sci-fi shapes with part lines and product design influences. But then, he's still understandable. There's still mechanical connections. It's still relatable. It's not just sci-fi blobs where you have to use your imagination." Before becoming Mr. Freeze, Victor Fries was a cryogenicist and would likely have built the suit that keeps his body at subzero temperatures from the equipment on hand in the medical facility where he worked.
Fans will be able to see the suit in action when "Gotham Knights" releases on October 25, 2022.