It’s a question that has existed at the forefront of fans’ minds ever since we found out that The CW would create a shared universe based off of the seeds planted in Arrow: will we ever see a small screen version of Bruce Wayne? During a recent Q&A session at Wizard World Chicago, Amell spoke out on the issue when the question once again came up.
According to Comic Book, Amell explained that while he certainly would love to see The Dark Knight of Gotham make an appearance on Arrow at some point the creative forces at DC Entertainment do not see it happening in the near future:
I had a conversation with Diane Nelson who runs DC and we spoke a lot about them wanting exclusivity in the universes and them wanting separation in the universes and her explanation … essentially revolved around making the best version of each thing and not forcing crossovers for the sake of forcing them.
DC rationalizes this decision based on a desire to focus on quality, rather than constantly having to worry about maneuvering a complex universe for these characters to inhabit. With such positive buzz already surrounding Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, it would seem that they have a vested interest in establishing Ben Affleck as the definitive Batman of our generation – at least for the time being.
That said, with the DC live-action universe still in its infancy we cannot completely rule out the possibility that Bruce Wayne – or Batman for that matter – will one day make an appearance on The CW. His company – Wayne Tech – has already received mention on The Flash, and the appearance of Harley Quinn on the second season of Arrow very obviously alludes at least to his potential existence within the universe. At the moment it seems that DC would rather just leave his existence as a generally agreed upon fan assumption, rather than a confirmed fact. Considering that DC has already cast two actors to play the Flash – Grant Gustin and Ezra Miller – it leaves the door open that Ben Affleck could one day share the cowl with a small screen actor, through the multiverse, or other means.
It’s not as if The CW’s DC universe really needs a Bruce Wayne to function properly – they’ve done just fine without him thus far. With existence of Oliver Queen (Amell) and Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh), there’s only so many heroic billionaires one universe can focus on. Also, the last three seasons of Arrow have told an incredibly faithful Oliver Queen story, several of the story beats touched upon feel almost identical to those of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. Retreading familiar territory by introducing either Bruce Wayne or Batman could end up feeling incredibly redundant when there are already so many more obscure and eclectic characters to draw from within the DC mythos.
Arrow will return to The CW – with no Bruce Wayne in sight – on Wednesday, October 7.
