With the recent success of Gotham it is fair to wonder if we could see a Batman show hit prime time at some point in the future. While Gotham may feature a young Bruce Wayne and many of the characters that we both hate and love within the story, it is doubtful we will ever see much of Batman himself. CW’s The Flash and Arrow are both in the middle of successful runs, giving even more room to wonder if a Batman could make it into prime time?
Arrow begin its run in 2012 and has already been renewed for its fifth season. It has spawned two spin offs that have also found success thus far: The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. While Arrow’s stories take some liberties away from the original story that is also part of what has made it successful. As the series has continued fans continue to wonder what other heroes could find their way into this universe. Batman obviously exists in this universe and we know that from the latest season of Arrow. This season references a Batman character in one of the most recent episodes. After giving Felicity the sidekick name of over watch Arrow quips “I was going to go with Oracle but it was taken”. This suggests not only that Batman exists within this universe, but that perhaps some thought has been given to a possible future show. While that may be a bit of a stretch it is exciting to know that Batman characters do exist within this universe and that the door could eventually come open for his story to be told.
One of the biggest issue the show would face is what part of his story to tell that has yet to be told? The easiest answer to that question would be to skip the origin story that has been told hundreds of different ways and focus on his early years as Batman. Outside of Batman: The Animated Series we have never seen any substantial portion of Batman’s beginnings. Fast forward 15 years past Gotham and let’s see what a show could look like from there. Batman would not be aged and past his prime, like in so many of the recent films. He would be at his best with plenty of villains around to provide interest to the story line. Not only that, but if it was done in a matter of the next few years we could see Batman, Arrow, and The Flash all on the same screen, hypothetically of course. This would provide the CW franchise with their most recognizable name yet with plenty of story lines to explore.
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Another aspect of the series that could really put it over the top would be its originality. As I have said before Batman is one of the few characters within that DC universe without superhuman powers or abilities. This would make his story the most easy to comprehend of any of the super hero stories that are on TV as of now. While I am a huge fan of Arrow(Who is also free of powers) and The Flash there are honestly very few moments to empathize or full understand either character. Batman would offer the DC TV show universe someone who understands loss and because of it wants to protect others from it. That is something easy to identify with and would be at the core of any accurate Tv show. Loss and wanting to protect those we love is something that most all of us understand in one way or another. Pair that along with the super hero age we live in and Batman’s story may not only succeed in prime time but become the most successful we have seen since Smallville.
Flash has the Star Labs team, Arrow has Diggle, Speedy, Canary and a variety of other sidekicks. So who could pair up with Batman in prime time? As mentioned above Oracle was referenced within the TV show universe so with that in mind if it were to connect obviously Oracle would be one. As far as a sidekick who could fight alongside the Dark Knight? Robin has often been made fun of and gotten a bad reputation among casual DC fans. I still believe that we could see a version of Robin alongside Batman that will not be laughable (Although the suit will definitely need to be altered). Alfred could not be left out, he would have to be worked into the series in one way or another barring any monumental changes to the story itself. Batman lore offers no shortage of possible sidekicks and would be an exciting part of the story to explore.
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The biggest question of all about a possible tv series would be who would play Bruce Wayne/Batman? Hundreds of actors might jump at the chance. The difficult part would be finding someone who could do both sides of the character justice(No pun intended). Because of the seriousness of Batman and the flip side Wayne’s ability to come across as a spoiled billionaire it would be almost as if the actor was playing more than one role. There is also the problem of finding an actor with enough skill to pull off the part, who is unknown and will have dedication to stay beyond the hypothetical first season. With all of that in mind my pick for the part would be Haven’s Lucas
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Bryant. Bryant has the ability I believe to pull off a convincing Bruce Wayne as well as his alter ego. He is old enough to be an experienced actor while still being young enough to pull off playing Batman in his prime. He would also bring the experience to the show of having worked on a science fiction show for the past five years. Put all this together along with his acting ability and I believe he would make the perfect Batman within the DC show-verse.
Whether or not you think Bryant would make a good Batman the majority of us can all agree on the fact that a Batman show would be refreshing and exciting development. One that we have been waiting on since Smallville ended in 2011.