Birds of Prey: What Batman’s absence means for Gotham

Credit DC Comics, Birds of Prey

A Batman-less Gotham opens up the door for new heroes to step up in Birds of Prey.

You can use a lot of adjectives to describe being a DCEU fan but boring isn’t one of them. There’s a lot of buzz surrounding Birds of Prey. DCEU-related news and rumors circle the internet daily. Most recently reports revealed what many perceived as inevitable — the setting of Birds of Prey is in a Batman-less Gotham. During the casting reveal for Black Canary and Huntress, Deadline first revealed Batman’s absence from Gotham City. 

"“Mary Elizabeth Winstead has won the role of Huntress while Jurnee Smollett-Bell will play Black Canary. They join Margot Robbie who reprises her role as Harley Quinn in a Gotham that isn’t protected by Batman.”"

There are a few stories where Bruce Wayne is absent from Gotham for an extended period of from Hush, to being kidnapped by The Court of Owls, or Knightfall to name a few. And yes he could be on a mission with the Justice League. However, there’s a story-arc in the pages of DC Comics that saw Batman leave Gotham for over six months. 

Cataclysm changed Gotham to No Man’s Land

The events of Cataclysm left Gotham in a State of Emergency. Everyone suffered including Bruce Wayne with Wayne Manor and the Batcave suffering damage. Thousands died in an earthquake that shook Gotham to its core — even Superman wasn’t able to help. Bruce left in hopes of swaying the government, who abandoned Gotham, to help fix it. His absence left Gotham without Batman for 100 days. 

During his absence, a couple of Birds of Prey members banned together, Huntress and Oracle. Huntress dawned a Batgirl suit, even tricking some criminals she plummeted into thinking she was Batman. Additionally, Cassandra Cain played a role in helping to reshape Gotham in the absence of Batman. Even Poison Ivy steps up to help protect a city void of its hero. Of course, for Cathy Yan’s Birds of Prey, some things would change.