Only 7 Heroes in Lego Batman, and That's the Point

Seven. That's the total number of playable characters in Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight when it launches on May 22. For a franchise that used to let you unlock dozens, sometimes hundreds of minifigures, that number feels almost confrontational. But after multiple outlets spent two to three hours with the game last week, the reasoning is clear: TT Games gutted the roster so every character on it would actually matter.

The full lineup is Batman, Commissioner Jim Gordon, Catwoman, Robin, Batgirl, Nightwing, and Talia al Ghul, unlocked in roughly that order through story progression. According to previews, each one gets a unique set of abilities and their own skill tree. Batman has his Batarang and Batclaw. Catwoman can whip enemies and summon controllable cats that squeeze through vents. Robin fires a Birdarang that bounces between multiple targets and can launch cables between tether points for traversal. Even Gordon, the most surprising inclusion, carries a Foam Sprayer that gums up enemies and mechanisms and a Rebound Launcher whose projectiles ricochet between targets. Every character also shares baseline tools like a Grapnel Hook, gliding, and vehicle summoning, so nobody feels locked out of exploration.

Fewer Figures, Deeper Systems

This is a direct pivot away from how Lego games have worked for over a decade. Previous entries treated their massive character lists as collectibles; you'd unlock someone, mess around for thirty seconds, then swap back to whoever had the ability you needed. It was wide but shallow. TT Games assistant design director Jimmy Sedota told press that the studio wanted to focus on "not only Batman, but the Bat family," and the Arkham series was the primary gameplay inspiration. Counter-based melee combat, detective mode, open-world Gotham with Riddler puzzles, stealth takedowns, Batmobile driving: it's all here, rebuilt in brick form.

I think this is the smartest creative call TT Games has made in years. The old Lego formula was starting to buckle under its own weight. Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga had hundreds of characters and most of them were cosmetic noise. Cutting to seven and giving each one a real mechanical identity is exactly how you make a character roster feel like a design choice instead of a checklist. It also means co-op partners aren't just picking a skin; they're picking a playstyle.

Previews weren't universally glowing on execution. Multiple hands-on reports flagged traversal as sticky, with the grapnel gun targeting the wrong ledges, and stealth was described as extremely basic with no crouch button. Combat animations don't always flow together the way Arkham's did, which is probably an inevitable consequence of animating plastic minifigures. But the puzzle design drew consistent praise, and the difficulty options sound surprisingly aggressive for a Lego game: higher settings add tougher enemies, cut your health to three hearts, and send you back to a checkpoint on death instead of letting you respawn on the spot.

TT Games also confirmed that The Joker and Harley Quinn will be playable post-launch, so the roster will grow. Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight releases May 22 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, with a Switch 2 version confirmed for later in 2026.