Titans season 2: Iain Glen channels Adam West’s Bruce Wayne

Iain Glen’s Bruce Wayne gets plenty of screen time in episode seven of Titans season 2, and the showrunners even snuck in an homage to Adam West’s Batman.

The seventh episode of Titans season 2 may be titled “Bruce Wayne,” but we don’t really get to meet the character. Instead, the Bruce that Iain Glen plays is little more than a figment of Dick Grayson’s imagination – the aftermath of a psychotic break caused by a secret that Dick has been harbouring. Because Bruce is such an ephemeral figure, viewers are left with more questions than answers after watching the episode. One particular scene made us wonder, “Is Iain Glen’s Bruce Wayne an older version of the 1960s character played by Adam West?”

Glen’s Bruce Wayne debuted in the season two premiere of Titans, and he immediately gave off a venerable James Bond vibe. Bruce’s affection for Dick was also obvious, despite the latter’s rebellious nature.

However, very little of that characterization is apparent in episode seven. In Dick’s imagination, Bruce relentlessly taunts his incompetence as a leader, needles him about his jealousy of Jason Todd/ Robin 2.0, and is a general nuisance while Dick attempts to chase Deathstroke down. In other words, Bruce is a real nightmare!

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Despite the underlying gloom and brutality on display in this episode, one scene was tonally different because of its hilarity.

As Dick tries to locate Deathstroke’s handler Wintergreen, he ends up at a burlesque bar (because even Titans isn’t above a gratuitous strip club scene apparently). While interrogating a lead, Dick sees Bruce, on stage in the midst of two chorus girls.

As Bruce harangues Dick, he begins to dance – all Batman fans will recognize Glen’s moves. He perfectly emulates Adam West’s comical, though iconic, performance from the 1960s Batman television show.

The entire sequence is so unexpected that it will take most viewers by surprise. But Glen plays it with unabashed self-awareness, which works because the real Bruce of Titans would probably never be seen dead dancing, forget dancing like that! Unless Dick’s real secret is that he was the first Robin to witness Batman’s classic Bat-dance, of course.

So could the Titans’ Bruce have been Adam West’s Bruce in a past life? What did you think about his performance?