LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight Launch Trailer Features Seal’s Iconic Batman Forever Song, Kiss from a Rose

LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight has received its launch trailer, and it features an iconic song from Batman’s history. The new trailer highlights some of the action-packed gameplay, story beats, and many villains from the film, all while a very cinematic version of Seal’s Kiss from a Rose plays in the background.

For those who don’t know, Kiss from a Rose was released as a single during the early days of Seal’s career. It was by no means a hit; in fact, Seal even felt embarrassed by it, but it caught the eye of Batman Forever director Joel Schumacher.

Schumacher requested the song to be used during a love scene between Batman and Nicole Kidman, but ultimately, it wasn’t featured in the film itself. However, Schumacher did manage to keep Kiss from a Rose in the credits of Batman Forever and directed a music video for the song to help promote the film. It was also included on the film’s soundtrack, which helped it skyrocket in popularity.

As its name implies, LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is sort of a love letter to the Caped Crusader. Although it didn’t directly adapt any of Batman’s films, it does lift scenes, character designs, and some aesthetics from Batman’s cinematic history to tell an original story. That even includes paying homage to Batman’s more unsavory moments. One moment from the trailer confirms that the game will lift from the finale of Batman & Robin, which is widely regarded as one of the worst superhero movies ever made, and almost killed Batman’s future in Hollywood.

We recently went hands-on with LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight and gave it a glowing preview. “TT Games has created what appears to be a wonderful, joyful, and significant evolution of what Lego IP games have always been – movie tie-ins that let our inner seven-year-olds (or, indeed, our actual seven-year-olds) re-live the cinematic magic,” reads an excerpt from the preview. However, critics have noted that the game’s performance on PC is subpar at the moment and there are concerns the final version may not be up to snuff.

LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight fans have drawn comparisons to the Arkham series, which hasn’t had a new mainline entry in a decade. TT Games appears to be leaning on the punchy, rhythmic combat of those games and applying it to the world of LEGO bricks.

LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight arrives on Xbox Series X|S, PS5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC on May 22nd.

Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN’s news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.