Lanterns Just Reminded Viewers That A New Batman Is On The Way
Episode 6 of Lanterns just reminded everyone that there is a Batman prowling the streets of Gotham.
Five years after Zack Snyder’s vision of the DCEU came to a close with the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, James Gunn’s new vision of the DCU is finally coming together. Although its existence will forever be linked to the previous universe (both Season 1 of Peacemaker and The Suicide Squad were tenuously linked to the old canon by cameos and implication), it’s also actively making strides to establish its own sprawling universe. David Corenswet’s new Superman was introduced in last year’s reboot, the Green Lanterns have finally made another live-action appearance for the first time in 15 years with Lanterns, and Gunn has promised fans that he and Supergirl screenwriter Ana Nogueira are hard at work on the upcoming Wonder Woman reboot.
However, at DC Comics, the golden goose is, of course, Batman. And the DCU has plans to introduce a new Dark Knight running concurrently and separately from Matt Reeves’ The Batman franchise. This alternate Caped Crusader will make his official live-action debut in Batman: The Brave and the Bold (along with the first live-action appearance of Damian Wayne), but without an official release date, the film is presumably still a ways away. However, that doesn’t mean that Batman’s presence hasn’t been referenced by other projects in the DCU, most notably the most recent episode of Lanterns.
Warning! Spoilers ahead for Lanterns Episode 6.
According to Episode 6, Guy Gardner might be on the receiving end of a copyright strike from the same hero who once knocked him out in a single punch.
Lanterns Just Referenced Our New Dark Knight
Last night’s episode of Lanterns was a quieter one after the mass destruction unleashed on Rushville in Episode 5, but that doesn’t mean it was uneventful. Alongside catching up on the present day narrative and sending Hal Jordan to (what seems like) his final resting place, we also get the first and only 10-year reunion between Hal and John before Hal’s mysterious demise. The meeting goes about as well as could be expected (minus a swift punch to the face on John’s part), but before they go their separate ways, Hal gives us a new mention of the DCU’s Batman.
In the episode, it’s revealed that in the present day, Rushville is equipped with a beacon allowing citizens to call the current active-duty Green Lantern, Guy Gardner. It’s very obviously the same idea as the iconic Bat-symbol in Gotham City, and that’s not by accident, as Hal Jordan straight up explains that Gardner stole the idea “from that bat guy in Gotham.” Although it sounds like the kind of minute breadcrumb reference you’d find in something like Smallville, it’s nevertheless a fun way to remind audiences that we will be meeting this version of the character sometime soon, and fans who have watched each of the DCU’s other shows will know that this isn’t the first time Batman has been teased in the new canon’s television shows.
John and Hal’s diner date gave fans yet another tantalizing reference to the DCU’s as-of-yet uncast Dark Knight.
The DCU’s Batman Has Technically Appeared Already
As surprising as it is, Lanterns is actually much less substantial of a reference than the ones found in another DCU television show: Creature Commandos. That series, which follows the exploits of the titular group of monsters under the employ of Rick Flag Sr., has referenced Batman twice so far, with both actually showing the Dark Knight on-screen. The first was in Episode 4, in which the sorceress Circe shows Amanda Waller an apocalyptic vision of a future in which Princess Ilana and Gorilla Grodd conquer the world — a vision that also explicitly shows a massacred Justice League, with Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman brutally impaled on pikes.
The second reference isn’t a possible future vision and is instead fully canon: In Episode 6 we get the backstory of Doctor Alex Sartorius, aka Doctor Phosphorus, a former nuclear scientist who gained radioactive powers and translucent skin after crime lord Rupert Thorne tossed him into the experimental radiation treatment machine he was working on. Sartorius lost his mind and murdered Thorne before taking over his criminal empire, a brief period of power that was cut short by the appearance of Batman. We only see Gotham’s protector briefly, in a flash of lightning right before the end of Doctor Phosphorus’ origin flashback, but the fact that Phosphorus is arrested and handed over to Belle Reeve Correctional Center means that Batman has been bringing Gotham’s supercriminals to justice for quite a while now.
The fact that Batman is shrouded in shadow doesn’t exactly help to disprove rumors that Robert Pattinson’s Batman might end up folded into the larger DCU instead.
While Batman: The Brave and the Bold still doesn’t have a release date (nor is there even official casting for the character), there’s a small chance that he could appear in the DCU earlier than his solo film. The upcoming horror movie Clayface, originally announced as a standalone project, has now been officially folded into DCU canon (with the explanation being that it’s the same version of Clayface who appeared in Creature Commandos) — that means that, unlike the Joker movies which take place in their own private universe, Clayface is a villain solo film in a universe that does have a Batman. And depending on the timeline of the film, he might even be active in Gotham at the same time Matt Hagen becomes the monstrous villain.
It’s going to be a while before Batman and Robin get their own DCU adventure on the big screen, but the fact that his exploits keep getting mentioned outside of Gotham City means it’s possible that we might see a glimpse of him again before his solo film is released — maybe even in live-action next time if we’re lucky.
