Arrow entered a new era with the Season 6 premiere as the show was finally able to (mostly) move past the flashback format, and viewers haven't known exactly what to expect out of new episodes. Now, a sneak peek at the next episode reveals Oliver doing something some of us probably never expected: dropping a reference to Batman stories. Take a look!
After more than five years of not even referring to one of the most famous cities in DC Comics lore, this sneak peek (as posted on the show's Twitter) just went right ahead and name-dropped both Gotham and Bruce Wayne while Oliver was trying to deny that he is the Green Arrow. The reference to Bruce Wayne was too quick to give much away, but he's clearly an important enough figure in Gotham for Oliver to mention him while trying to dodge probing questions from the press. In fact, if the Bruce Wayne of the Arrow-verse has a similar backstory to the Bruce Wayne of just about every Batman story in the history of the character, he and Oliver may have met. They would have both come of age among billionaires, and Wayne Enterprises may have even had dealings with Queen Consolidated.
Of course, we shouldn't take the mention of Bruce Wayne and Gotham City to mean that Batman will be joining the fray any time soon, especially since Arrow has been borrowing a lot from Batman stories over the years, ranging from the original premise showing an awful lot of similarities to Batman Begins to the Ra's al Ghul story of Season 3. Still, it would be fun to see the character make an appearance. Even if he doesn't drop in as Batman, surely Arrow could find a reason to squeeze Bruce Wayne in. I'd even settle for a background news alert from Channel 52 that Bruce Wayne denies Mayor Queen's implication that he's the Green Arrow, if only for the laugh. Arrow isn't exactly the funniest superhero series on The CW.
Interestingly, this sneak peek shows Oliver doing a pretty solid job as mayor. We've usually only seen him rushing in and out of events since becoming the mayor, and Thea really seemed responsible for a lot of his mayoral successes. In the sneak peek, we see a man who knows how to play the press to his advantage. He lays on the charm without channeling the old school Ollie we all know and mostly hate. If he'd been totally serious about denying that he's the Green Arrow, the press might have thought that he was hiding something. He seems not to be taking it seriously or showing any stress, which could throw the press somewhat off his scent.
We'll have to wait and see if Oliver manages to stay as cavalier in the rest of the episode. Fortunately, we won't have to wait too long. The episode featuring the crazy reference to Bruce Wayne will air on Thursday, October 19 at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.
