Network President Confirms Batman Not Coming to The CW

Batwoman may be coming to The CW, but Batman won’t be joining her.

Network president Mark Pedowitz confirmed at the Television Critics Association press tour (via Entertainment Weekly) that the Caped Crusader would not be showing up on the small screen anytime soon, though he does exist within greater Arrowverse.

“There’s no discussion about a series,” Pedowitz said. “Batman already exists in the Arrowverse because last season Oliver Queen mentioned his name at one point, And Batwoman, if the series goes forward, lives in Gotham. There’s no plan at this time to have Batman appear.”

The news will likely be disappointing for fans who have been hopeful that Batman might appear in the Arrowverse even briefly, ever since that reference early in Arrow‘s sixth season. In the reference, Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) addresses the press after a photo had revealed him to be Green Arrow. Defending himself, Oliver suggests that Photoshop could be used to put anyone in the costume, including Bruce Wayne.

Hopes for Batman were reignited when it was announced that Batwoman would make her Arrowverse debut during the annual crossover event, with many fans hoping that the character’s introduction would lead to the larger Batfamily being explored. While that might make for an interesting element to the in-development Batwoman series, fans shouldn’t count on that, either. The network would have to get permission from Warner Brothers to use Batman and, for the most part, the character has been kept exclusive to movies, with most references to the character on the small screen kept to his non-heroic identity as Bruce Wayne.

As for the Batwoman series, Pedowitz also offered an update during his presentation, noting that the series will get a pilot, but a full series order is not guaranteed.

“We’ll do a pilot for mid-season, whether it goes to series, I cannot tell you,” Pedowitz said. “We have five [DC shows] on the air and just added a sixth night.”

Are you disappointed Batman will not be making an appearance in the Arrowverse? Let us know in the comments below.