After years of waiting, fans will finally get their Batman moment in tonight’s Arrow episode ‘Tribute’ when Oliver Queen name-drops Bruce Wayne himself. And while for many this mention of the Dark Knight’s alter ego is signals that Batman is coming, the reality is that the Caped Crusader — or significant references to him — has never been absent from the Arrowverse.
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Elements of Batman and his world have been staple references in the Arrowverse since Arrow first premiered back in 2012, and we’re not just talking about the heavy borrowing that Arrow has done from the Batman mythos. Each and every one of The CW‘s DC shows have contained references to the Dark Knight, all leading up to Oliver’s epic name-drop moment tonight.
From locations to characters to even hints at the future, Batman has been mentioned multiple times over the years. Read on for 11 references to Batman in the Arrowverse.
Back to Gotham
Supergirl‘s second season not only saw the introduction of Kara’s cousin Clark Kent, aka Superman, but it also packed in the Batman references as well. Considering that Bruce and Clark are often portrayed as best friends in comics it makes natural sense that when the door opens for one the other would follow and we see that right off the bat in the show’s second season premiere ‘The Adventures of Supergirl.’ In the episode, Superman comes to lend a hand when a terrorist attacks Lena Luthor as she’s rebranding Luthor Corp into L-Corp, endangering National City in the process. As superman protects a family from a drone strike, the father declares that they’re leaving National City to move back to Gotham.
This mention of Batman’s hometown marks the first official mention of Gotham in the Arrowverse, but it’s not the last Batman nod in Supergirl‘s second season.
Vigilantes
(Photo: The CW)
When James decides to suit up as Guardian he doesn’t let his friends in on his crime-fighting secret right away. So, when news of this new vigilante breaks, Kara has her own opinions about him — and vigilantes in general — thanks to Clark’s experiences. In ‘The Darkest Place,’ Kara slams vigilantes by talking about the crazy one her cousin worked with.
“My cousin worked with a vigilante once,” Kara said. “Tons of gadgets, lots of demons. Vigilantes are nuts.”
As Batman fans know, the Dark Knight happens to have lots of gadgets and some pretty serious personal demons. We’re not sure we’d call him crazy, though, but he’s definitely a little frightening.
Clark’s scary friend
(Photo: The CW)
Kara wasn’t the only person who had a negative reaction to Guardian at first. Turns out, the public at large was also a little off-put by James’ alter ego. James eventually figured out that people were actually scared of Guardian, just like they were of “Clark’s friend.” And if the reference was too vague, Winn sharpened the focus by imitating the ears on Batman’s cowl and declared that Clark and this “friend” were probably more like “frenemies.” Yikes!
Earth-2 Speed Dial
(Photo: The CW)
While Supergirl makes references to Batman as an accepted part of their world over on Earth-38, The Flash‘s references lean more towards the existence of Bruce Wayne the man, not the superhero. As we’ve noted before, Bruce Wayne definitely exists in the world of the Flash, especially on Earth-2 where, in the episode ‘Welcome to Earth-2’ the phone in Earth-2 Barry’s house is set up with the six most important numbers on speed dial. Outside of family and Eddie, the non-powered Barry Allen also has “Bruce,” “Hal,” and “Diana” programmed on his phone. Since Barry’s not a hero here, it seems to hint that Bruce might not be Batman, but simply just Bruce Wayne.
The Central City Citizen 2024
Bruce Wayne is also mentioned, at least in print, during The Flash‘s pilot episode. When Harrison Wells (Eobard Thawne in disguise) went into his secret room at STAR Labs and pulled up the future edition of The Central City Citizen, sharp-eyed fans noticed the headline in the lower left corner: “Wayne Tech/Queen Inc Merger Complete.”
A lot of things have changed in the Arrowverse since that headline first appeared, namely Queen Consolidated being taken over by Palmer Technologies, so the future may have changed, but that headline alone indicates that Bruce Wayne exists.
The Flash Signal
(Photo: The CW)
While Bruce Wayne the man exists on Earth-1, his heroic counterpart might just be the stuff of comic books. In ‘The Man Who Saved Central City,’ Cisco has the idea to use something he called “the Flash Signal” to shine into the sky and lure Atom Smasher out. The signal literally looks just like the familiar Bat Signal, only with The Flash’s trademark lightning bolt instead of a bat. When asked where the idea came from, Cisco said he’d gotten it from a comic book, perhaps a hint that a Batman-like character is the stuff of fiction on Earth-1.
Legend of The Dark Knight
(Photo: The CW)
It’s not just Supergirl and The Flash that have referenced Batman, or even Superman for that matter. The time hopping heroes on Legends of Tomorrow have also made reference to the character. In the show’s third episode, Rip Hunter tells the fledgling team that he has seen some very awful things in the timeline he’s from. How dark?
“I’ve seen darker days,” Rip says. “I’ve seen men of steel die, and dark knights fall.”
DC Comics fans no doubt recognize that as a reference to both Superman and Batman, though with time being very flexible as we’ve seen on the show, those references may not have meant much more to the team than the gravity of the situation if great men like that could fall.
Bludhaven by way of ‘Arrow’
(Photo: The CW)
Viewers already recognize that Arrow is heavy on the Batman mythos references, but there are some smaller detail nods as well and one of those is Bludhaven. While Gotham has never been mentioned on the show (at least until this season,) Bludhaven has been a setting for Arrow in the past. The city appears to be fairly close to Star City, as it’s depicted as being on a direct train line. The show has also visually made reference to the city that is Dick Grayson’s territory, with Deadshot staying at The Bludhaven Apt. when hired by China White to kill Malcolm Merlyn.
Suicide Squad
(Photo: The CW)
Another reference to the world of Batman on Arrow pops up via ARGUS and their Suicide Squad. While her face is never shown and we also don’t actually get her name, one of the prisoners that make up the team is a disturbed young woman who even identifies herself as being a trained therapist. That description matches the one and only Dr. Harleen Quinzel, perhaps best known to Batman fans as the Joker’s main squeeze, Harley Quinn.
Oracle/Overwatch
(Photo: The CW)
From the moment she took up the role as Oliver’s tech master, fans suspected that Felicity might turn into Arrow‘s version of Barbara Gordon, aka Oracle. These suspicions only intensified when Felicity was paralyzed and briefly spent time in a wheelchair.
The show played this fan theory up a bit in season 4’s “A.W.O.L.” episode when Oliver gave Felicity the codename Overwatch — and noted that the codename Oracle was already taken.
Bruce Wayne of Gotham
And, of course, the most direct reference to Batman/Bruce Wayne in all of the Arrowverse comes tonight on the second episode of Arrow‘s sixth season, ‘Tribute.’ At the end of the season premier it’s revealed that a photo of Oliver as the Green Arrow has been leaked to the police. Clearly not good for Star City’s Mayor. Oliver tries to damage control with the press the next day and says that the photo must have been photoshopped. To make his point? He says that it could just as easily have been Bruce Wayne’s face placed on the Green Arrow’s body.
And it’s not just a direct mention of Bruce Wayne that’s worth noting. Oliver clearly notes that Bruce Wayne lives in Gotham, marking the first official time that Bruce Wayne and Gotham both have been mentioned on Earth-1.
Arrow airs Thursdays at 9/8c on The CW.
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