Five Ways Batman Can Appear On Legends Of Tomorrow
Legends of Tomorrow debuted this past Thursday on the CW, and I thought it was great. And while shows like the Flash play some with time travel and possible alternate realities, Legends of Tomorrow is a show that will fully dive into those concepts, they are at the very core of this show. So of course that means we may see past, present and future versions of many DC superheroes. And While Legends of Tomorrow will certainly give some much needed love to more niche heroes, this being a Batman site, we can’t help but ponder the possibilities of how Batman could show up!
Of course, there’s been no announcement that Batman will show up on any DC TV show. If they are even pondering putting Batman on a DC (besides Gotham of course, but even there he’ll only show up at the end of the show), they have been very secretive about it. But there have been little hints that Bruce Wayne exists in this TV universe in some form. Rip Hunter mentioned Batman in a roundabout way in the Legends Of Tomorrow trailer. Though never talked about, Wayne Enterprises clearly exists in some form in this universe, as newspaper headlines of the future showed it as Wayne Tech on The Flash.
Now Ben Affleck will never show up on some CW TV show, that’s just not going to happen. But Legends of Tomorrow presents the best opportunity yet to have Batman appear on a DC TV show in some form with all their potential travels through time and space. And here’s 5 ways Batman could show up on Legends Of Tomorrow.
Next: #5:....The Extended Bat-family
#5. The Extended Bat-Family
For all the talk of Batman being a crazy loner, not even counting the Justice League, he’s got like 80 partners in crime fighting. Various Robins through the years, Batwing, Batwoman, Batgirl, Catwoman and even extending to characters like Huntress (who has appeared on Arrow). It would be the most roundabout way of doing it, but any character of the extended Bat-family could easily appear on Legends of Tomorrow as a way of saying Batman is in this universe without actually using Batman.
Especially if it’s an episode taking place in the past, which seems to be the primary place the team will be traveling to. You could easily have them encounter a young Dick Grayson out on his own, or Batgirl before she became Oracle. You could also just as easily have a present day episode (might happen occasionally) where any of the other members show up. This would be mildly disappointing, but might at least keep hope alive that Batman could show up on one of these shows someday if one of his many close allies makes an appearance on Legends of Tomorrow.
Next: #4:....Young Batman/Bruce Wayne
#4. Young Batman/Bruce Wayne
Granted, ever since Arrow started and has borrowed many elements of Batman, people have been clamoring for Batman to show up on a CW show. And really, it makes little sense that they wouldn’t have him show up at some point. Even if the TV/movie universes weren’t separate, the Batman of the upcoming movies is an older Batman, you could just have young Batman in the TV show. And with Legends of Tomorrow being a show that primarily deals in traveling to the past, this seems like more of a no-brainer than ever.
Now, I posted a picture of young Bruce Wayne from Gotham. And the really obvious ultimate version of this would be a crossover between Gotham and Legends of Tomorrow. But given that Gotham is on Fox and while that show is pretty crazy, they probably don’t want to add time travel to the mix, that’s the least likely possibility. But the basic idea could still be the same, the team runs into a young Bruce Wayne or even possibly a rookie Batman. Again this seems like the easiest way to do it, but given DC’s apparent reluctance to put Bruce Wayne and/or Batman into any of the CW shows, it seems the least likely to happen.
Next: #3:....Multiverse Batman
#3.Multiverse Batman
So if Warner Bros. and DC are reluctant to pull the trigger on Batman on TV, the simplest solution seems to be a Batman that isn’t Batman. This becomes an even more obvious idea with The Flash introducing the idea of alternate timelines and alternate universes. Since Legends of Tomorrow mainly deals in traveling to the past (at least for now), them traveling to another universe might be a little too far out there. But they could also do something that drastically alters the timeline so that say, “Batmankoff” shows up, and they have to go back and fix things. Hell, have Owlman show up as a big primary antagonist (they can’t always be fighting Vandal Savage). Again, easy way to have Batman on without it being Batman.
Next: #2:....Batman Beyond
#2.Batman Beyond
If I had my choice of how Batman was represented in Legends of Tomorrow, this would be it. Granted, Legends of Tomorrow is a show where the team travels to the past to fix the future, but you would imagine that they actually visit this future at some point in the show. And what better time to interact in some way with Terry McGinnis? It certainly fits the Batman but not Batman idea, and especially since it takes place in the future, wouldn’t affect any possible continuity issues. And honestly, a futuristic (and lighter) Batman seems a little more fitting for this type of show. Especially if it could lead to multiple appearances and eventually a live action Batman Beyond show.
But I’m getting way ahead of myself there. I just think Batman Beyond on Legends of Tomorrow makes too much sense, so hopefully some of the higher ups that actually make these decisions think so too.
Next: #1:....Batman of The Past
#1. Batman Of The Past
Say Legends of Tomorrow never goes into the future, never visits an alternate dimension, and goes too far back in time for Bruce Wayne to be born yet. Does that mean Batman could never show up? Of course not. Following the Batman, but not Batman thread, this is actually the most likely way for Batman to appear on Legends of Tomorrow in my opinion. The character wouldn’t even have to be Batman in name, just show up in costume. Granted, many of the Batmans of the past shown in comics are considered “Elseworld” versions, but that fact could easily be ignored. Seeing a late 19th century version of Batman or for that matter any of the versions of Batman seen in the “Return of Bruce Wayne” storyline make an appearance on Legends of Tomorrow would be incredibly cool. Again, given the premise of the show, this option seems like the most likely and the one that makes the most sense, so hopefully we might at some point see some past version of the Caped Crusader on Legends of Tomorrow.
Batman may never show up on any TV show ever. He’s theoretically got a huge movie future in front of him for the next several years if not much longer. And the TV shows certainly don’t need Batman, they are awesome and have gotten along fine without him. But the DC universe is such a huge playground, and it seems a shame that this large connected universe of CW (and by extension other DC shows like Supergirl, which may also be part of this universe) is denied access to one of the best toys in any way, shape or form. Legends of Tomorrow seems like the best opportunity yet to rectify that be it past, present, future or an alternate dimension, so somebody make it happen!