In the wake of “Crisis on Infinite Earths” Batwoman‘s Kate Kane (Ruby Rose) has found herself in an unexpected situation. Somehow, despite the Multiverse being destroyed by the Anti-Monitor’s anti-matter wave, a version of her twin Beth from a lost world has survived and ended up on the newly-created Earth-Prime. For Kate, this is something of a dream come true as she has her sister back as a healthy, whole, mentally stable person instead of the deranged and murderous version who calls herself Alice. Unfortunately, it’s a dream that is turning into a nightmare when it becomes clear that something isn’t right with Beth and brainstorming for a solution may have just led The CW series to offer a nod to a major Batman villain: Mr. Freeze.
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Spoilers for tonight’s episode of Batwoman, “Take Your Choice,” below.
Pretty quickly in the episode it becomes clear that the headaches that Beth began experiencing during her and Kate’s little birthday party are a sign of something much worse. It turns out that Earth-Prime can’t have two Beth Kanes and now they are literally stealing life from one another in order to exist, a situation that is unsustainable and will result in them both dying unless one dies first. This is not a situation that Kate, Luke, or Mary are particularly happy about as they do not want to lose “good” Beth so they try to figure out a way to stop things, something that is complicated by the fact that Beth is declining rapidly and has only a few hours left.
With no real solution readily available, Luke and Beth start trying to come up with ideas of how they can delay her demise to buy them time to find a solution. Luke suggests they cryogenically freeze Beth, noting that “Bruce knew a guy with a cryogenic tank”. It’s a suggestion that Beth dismisses, but for fans, that cryogenic tank line might be interpreted as a nod to a major character in the DC Universe who would have access to a cryogenic tank: Victor Fries, aka Mr. Freeze.
In comics, Dr. Victor Fries is a cryogenics expert in Gotham City who is caught in a laboratory accident trying to cure his terminally ill wife, the result being that he must wear a sub-zero cryo suit in order to survive. The character goes on to become one of Batman’s most recurring enemies but has never been directly referenced as a villain in the Arrowverse. Instead, he’s briefly mentioned by Caitlin Snow’s father Thomas on The Flash as being one of the scientists that he kept in contact with after faking his own death as Victor had expertise in cryogenics. His wife, Nora, also appears as an inmate in Arkham in “Elseworlds” and it’s implied that at some point, Victor became a villain as his cryogenic gun is seen briefly in Arkham as well.
While tonight’s Batwoman never specifically says that the person Bruce knew was Victor, it’s very possible that it was Batman who locked a now-villainous Victor in Arkham, prompting the brief reference in “Elseworlds” though it is also possible that, with “Crisis” having made some alterations to Arrowverse’s history with the creation of Earth-Prime that he’s still just a researcher, operating in a lab somewhere in Gotham City, his villain potential not yet realized. In either case, it’s an interesting suggestion and lays the groundwork for the cold villain to potentially pop up in the future.
Batwoman airs Sundays at 8/7c on The CW.
