The season 1 finale of Batwoman finally unveiled Bruce Wayne, or at least, his face, but the twist also creates a major plot hole for the Arrowverse.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down the entertainment industry and all studio productions for the foreseeable future, The CW’s multiverse of heroes was an inevitable victim. And so, a year that started out with a bang in the form of the biggest crossover event in the history of television had to wrap on an ambiguous and unsatisfying note. For Team Flash, this meant that fans have to wait a while before seeing the initial cliffhanger ending to season 6, where Eobard Thawne would supposedly make a comeback. In Batwoman, the substitute ending was lackluster as far as finales go, but it also featured a twist that can change everything in the Arrowverse from here on out.
Fans have been waiting for years to see the Caped Crusader in the Arrowverse. While last year’s crossover event, “Elseworlds,” briefly touched on the matter of Bruce Wayne and his legacy in Gotham, we’d hoped to see more. The Arrowverse officially depicted a version of Batman during this year’s “Crisis,” played by Kevin Conroy, but what about the Bruce Wayne from the original timeline, now known as Earth-Prime?
Well, on last night’s Batwoman finale “O Mouse!”, Alice created a new face for Tommy Elliot aka Hush, that of the World’s Greatest Detective, Bruce Wayne. This allowed Alice to access Wayne Tower so that she could steal a piece of Kryptonite which Lucius Fox kept there, but what’s interesting is that this revelation creates a major continuity error for the Arrowverse.
You see, on this version of the Earth, Bruce Wayne has the face of actor Warren Christie. If he looked familiar to you, it’s because you’ve already seen him as a guest star on Arrow. In an episode of the first season, “Legacies,” the Queens celebrate the miraculous return of Oliver with some of their close friends, including Dr. Carter Brown, played by Christie, and his mother. This is the only time that Carter makes an appearance on Arrow and while it’s been years since we saw him in the Arrowverse, it’s still strange to see the actor return to play such a crucial role in Batwoman.
Then again, we could probably blame this on the rebirth of the universe at the hands of Oliver Queen. The Green Arrow showed resentment towards Brown on Arrow, out of jealousy, so it’d only make sense for him to project his face on the one other person he’s envious of: the billionaire playboy-turned-vigilante, Bruce Wayne.