One of the biggest mysteries in the Arrow-verse over the years has been the question of whether Batman exists in the same world as The Flash and Green Arrow.
We've seen some of his iconic villains show up (Ra's al Ghul and Harley Quinn, sort of), and even heard Vandal Savage make a reference to "Dark Knights" falling, but there's never been direct confirmation that the Arrow-verse has a Batman. But now we seem to have our answer. There may not be a Batman on Barry Allen and Oliver Queen's world, but there is one in the Supergirl universe.
That confirmation came in last night's episode, "City of Lost Children," as Winn and James made a joking reference to "Clark's friend," a dark vigilante with a habit of frightening the very people he's trying to protect. The name "Batman" was never actually uttered, but it's clear from the context of that scene (and Winn miming a pair of bat ears) that they were referring to the Caped Crusader. This is more than a simple, fun cameo. This twist could have major ramifications for the Arrow-verse as a whole.
This is a significant development for the Arrow-verse. We've seen the CW's DC Universe steadily grow over the years, expanding from an intimate story about a lone vigilante trying to save his city to a massive superhero tapestry involving dozens of heroes and everything from metahuman powers to time travel to alternate universes. Adding Batman into the mix opens the door even wider, proving once again that there's no corner of the DCU Greg Berlanti and company won't explore if given the opportunity.
Granted, Berlanti confirmed as recently as last August that there are no plans to use Batman characters in the Arrow-verse shows, but who's to say he hasn't changed his mind over the past half year? "No plans" isn't the same as "never going to happen."
It also serves as further evidence that Warner Bros. is loosening up when it comes to allowing multiple versions of the same characters to co-exist in TV and film. In the old days, the fact that Fox is airing its own Batman-themed TV series would prevent The CW from ever acknowledging that franchise. But with different versions of Barry Allen being featured prominently in the Arrow-verse and the DC Extended Universe, what's the harm in giving fans more than one live-action Batman? Impatient though Gotham may be, it's not as if that series can feature an adult Bruce Wayne as Batman for the foreseeable future.
Granted, just because Supergirl acknowledged the existence of the Caped Crusader doesn't mean we'll ever actually see him appear on the show. The series has always been careful to limit Superman's guest appearances, lest his presence distract from Kara's own adventures. We imagine there would be a similar concern about Batman stealing the spotlight. Still, it seems hard to believe the writers don't have some sort of plan in mind for Batman. Consider the debut of Ra's al Ghul on Arrow. The character was name-dropped early in Season 2 and wound up becoming the main villain in Season 3. These things can happen pretty fast.
One interesting possibility is that Supergirl won't introduce Batman, but rather Batwoman instead. After all, it's not like Winn specified a gender when he mentioned "Clark's friend." Batwoman brings all sorts of advantages to the table. She's not as directly tied to the rest of the Batman family and brings less baggage with her. As far as we know, she's not making her DCEU debut anytime soon, possibly leaving more room for the Arrow-verse to explore the character and make her a critical player on Supergirl. There's also the simple fact that Supergirl is a show that emphasizes the women of the DCU, so including Batwoman rather than Batman would be in keeping with that trend.
There's also the fact that Batwoman's story is so closely intertwined with that of Maggie Sawyer. It would be fun to watch Kate Kane move from Gotham City to National City and become both an ally to Kara and a source of romantic tension for Maggie and Alex as their romance continues to unfold.
The Batman reference comes at an interesting time for DC's television lineup. We recently learned that DC's new streaming video service will feature a live-action Titans series with Dick Grayson as its central protagonist. At the time, we speculated that there's little likelihood of Titans actually taking place on either The Flash and Arrow's Earth-1 or Supergirl's Earth-38. At best, it seemed a likely candidate to become another alternate world in The CW's increasingly complex DC multiverse.
Now we're not so sure. Is it just coincidence that Supergirl is acknowledging the existence of Batman even as a Dick Grayson-centric series takes shape? Or is this a sign that Titans and Supergirl will be taking place on the same world?
Flash and Martian Manhunter notwithstanding, the various Arrow-verse shows have tended to downplay the iconic heroes that make up DC's traditional Justice League roster in favor of relatively lesser-known heroes. Even in the case of Superman, he's very much a supporting player in his cousin's show. However, we can't help but notice that Batman is just the latest of the Justice League's "Big Seven" lineup to be teased in the Arrow-verse.
Arrow delivered a big cameo of its own back in 2015 when it featured Hal Jordan's jacket in a Coast City bar, opening the door for the Green Lantern Corps. On The Flash, it's been revealed that the underwater kingdom of Atlantis exists on Earth-2. Presumably, that means Aquaman is an Earth-2 resident. The Flash also teased Wonder Woman, along with potential other versions of Batman and Green Lantern, when it offered this glimpse of Earth-2 Barry Allen's speed dial:
That cameo was a little more vague since it merely involved first names. Plus, if Earth-2's version of Barry is an ordinary, non-costumed civilian, it's very possible the same is true for Diana Prince, Bruce Wayne and Hal Jordan, too. Still, it's entirely possible we'll see Wonder Woman make her debut on Earth-2 at some point down the line.
As with Batman, there's no guarantee that we'll ever actually see these characters in the flesh. Green Lantern in particular seems like a bit of a stretch considering the special effects hurdles involved. Not to mention that these Justice League members are currently divided across at least three different universes. But even if we only see a full-fledged Justice League team-up once every year or two, it seems well worth the effort of introducing these characters. As cool as it was seeing Team Arrow, Team Flash, the Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl fighting alongside each other in the "Invasion" crossover, imagine how much better these team-ups would be with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter thrown into the mix.
As cool as it was seeing Team Arrow, Team Flash, the Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl fighting alongside each other in the "Invasion" crossover, imagine how much better these team-ups would be with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter thrown into the mix.
Jesse is a mild-mannered writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.
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