Warning: possible spoilers ahead for Legends of Tomorrow! Read ahead at your own risk!
Legends of Tomorrow is different from other DC TV series because it's not limited to one city or locale week after week. The time travel series takes its ensemble all over the world to meet a wide variety of colorful personalities from the DC timeline, and last night's episode may have included a not-too-subtle nod to a fan-favorite element from the Batman mythos. No trip to the circus is complete without checking out the trapeze artists, and it looks like we may have received a good look at Robin's family, The Flying Graysons. Check out a quick shot of their ever-so-brief background cameo below.
Last night's episode of Legends of Tomorrow saw the team go back to 1870 and make a stop at P.T. Barnum's circus. While there were plenty of bizarre characters on full display, that brief shot of a group of acrobats practicing in the background likely got Batman fans unreasonably excited. The red tunic, green leggings, and gold belt seem like a dead giveaway that they're a nod to (if not a full-blown appearance by) the Grayson family as they practice for a routine. It'd have been a tad more questionable if acrobatics weren't involved, but come on!
In fact, you only need to look at how they compare to The Flying Graysons seen in Batman Forever to get the immediate similarities.
For those of you less familiar with Robin's backstory, Dick Grayson was a member of a family of acrobats known as The Flying Graysons in Haly's Circus until a mobster named Tony Zucco cut one of their lines and murdered his parents. The fact that this sequence takes place in 1870 means that none of those performers could be Dick or his immediate family, but it's entirely possible that we're looking at ancestors whose descendants will eventually make their way to Haly's Circus (a secret training ground for The Court of Owls assassins) and Gotham City.
The importance and relevance of The Flying Graysons has become increasingly apparent in recent years. The family has appeared on Gotham, and The LEGO Batman Movie director Chris McKay recently told CinemaBlend that he intends to reference the acrobat troupe (as well as Haly's Circus) in his upcoming Nightwing movie.
Of course, that nod to The Flying Graysons wasn't the only pop culture reference seen on last night's episode of Legends of Tomorrow. Specifically, right around that potential Graysons cameo, we get a moment in which Mick Rory talks about not liking clowns because of their faces, funny shoes, and...razor-sharp teeth. While Jax was a bit confused by that, it seemed to us like a somewhat on the (big red) nose reference to IT's Pennywise the Dancing Clown.
You have to admit: Legends of Tomorrow is one weird show. That said, it's out kind of weird show, and we can't get enough.
With Legends of Tomorrow now back in the swing of things for Season 3, DC's time-traveling series airs every Tuesday night on The CW at 9 p.m. ET. Outside of the world of small screen superhero series, make sure to check out CinemaBlend's fall TV premiere guide to keep yourself in-the-loop on rest of the shows set to debut within the next few months!
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