Gotham: Azrael Easter Eggs And DC Comics References

Tonight’s episode of Gotham brought us a badass vision of Azrael, a villain/antihero/hero from the DC Universe who has a long history with Batman.

In the form of former Gotham City Mayor Theo Galavan, Azrael went on a bloody, roaring rampage of revenge and seemingly inspired a young Bruce Wayne along the way.

Of course, there was a lot going on, so we didn’t really spend too much time on the Easter eggs, winks, and nods to the audience…

…but that isn’t to say there weren’t at least a few.

AZRAEL

The mental programming that made — The Will and Order of St. Dumas — is directly from the comics.

As in the TV show, they give a short history of the Order of St. Dumas — but they ignore the fact that, in the comics at least, the Order is still active and have always had an Azrael. It’s a title passed through the generations.

This is important because many of the comic book fans who object to Azrael’s inclusion in Gotham do so becuase they don’t realize that having a version of the character around before Batman shows up isn’t exactly out of line.

His blade — which looks quite a lot here like it did in the comics — has flames surrounding it in the comics, a nod to his “angel of vengeance” persona, referenced here as an angel of death.

THE MAD HATTER

“Mad as a hatter,” Peabody says of Azrael.

Later, we get Through the Looking Glass in the hands of Professor Strange while he’s setting out to implant personalities on some of the patients.

Putting the two together, it certainly seems like they’re teasing (or at least acknowledging) the Batman villain The Mad Hatter.

VICTOR FRIES

Yes, we know, Fries has been such a big part of the story that his mere mention hardly rates a mention here…but since I haven’t done a lot of Gotham Easter egg posts this year, I’m gonna count it.

HELZINGER AND NYGMA

Heading to Arkham, we get reminded that there are plenty of old villains still hanging around, waiting for…whatever awaits them in Strange’s basement.

THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS?

Could this leaping, caped silhouette be an homage to The Dark Knight Returns‘s most iconic image of Batman?

Certainly, the swelling orchestral score combined with the way Bruce Wayne looks at the caped figure contributes to that feeling..but even the image has something very Frank Miller-inspired about it.

DUMAS

Dumas, interestingly, has a bit of a history in the DC Universe.

Besides the saint after which the Order is named, Dumas was an assassin and arch-nemesis of Mark Shaw, who is also the bounty hunter known as Manhunter. Shaw eventually killed Dumas…and then, after a psychotic break, eventually became Dumas and began hunting down other Manhunters. It was revealed that the government brainwashed him into thinking he was Dumas. This makes it unclear if Dumas was ever a real person, or he was just a brainwashed Mark Shaw.

Later, after having redeemed himself and worked with the Kate Spencer Manhunter and the DEO for a while, Mark Shaw would join the Order of St. Dumas. Writer Marc Andreyko later acknowledged he had meant for Shaw to become a new Azrael.

COMMISSIONER GORDON

“Maybe I will one day,” Gordon says when Barnes tells him that he should “run [The GCPD” yourself.”

…Clever boy!

I guess now that Eddie is in custody, somebody has to pick up the slack of his obvious teases about what the future will hold.