There’s been a Batman-shaped hole in the Arrowverse for a while now. It’s completely understandable, of course, seeing as the Caped Crusader’s one of Warner Bros.’ most valuable IPs and they’re pretty protective of depictions of the character. Not to mention the fact that the studio’s worried that a live-action TV version of the Dark Knight would confuse audiences who are used to seeing him in cinemas.
Due to this, shows like Gotham have had to dance around depicting the hero in the cape and cowl, while the Arrowverse has only been able to subtly hint at his presence. But with Ruby Rose’s Batwoman set to make an appearance quite soon, The CW is going to be forced to tackle the question directly and finally pin down what exactly’s going on with Batman in the Arrowverse.
It doesn’t seem like that’ll be happening in the upcoming crossover, though. Producer Marc Guggenheim took to Twitter to confirm this week that unfortunately, the Dark Knight will not be showing up in “Elseworlds,” even despite the fact that part of it will be set in Gotham City.
He didn’t say much more than that, but for those holding out hope that Bruce Wayne might cameo, it seems now’s the time to give up on that happening. That’s not to say he’ll never appear in the Arrowverse, but it just won’t be in the crossover. Or anytime soon, for that matter. After all, having Bruce appear would mean leasing the character’s rights from Warner Bros., and given that the studio currently has all hands on deck for Matt Reeves’ standalone film, we can’t imagine them loaning him out in the near future.
The takeaway here? Don’t hold your breath for a Batman cameo in any of the Arrowverse shows for some time. But quite frankly, that’s alright. The franchise is in perfect health without him and with the upcoming introduction of Batwoman, it’s not like this shared universe is short on heroes to protect it, right?