How The CW’s Elseworlds crossover will address the absence of Batman

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

The CW's Arrowverse has been adding more and more DC Comics heroes (and villains) to their television series over the years, but one of the major ones hasn't yet made an appearance: Batman. The upcoming Elseworlds crossover, which will span through Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl next month, won't break that tradition, but it will be serving as the introduction to both Gotham City and Batwoman (Ruby Rose). So, just where is Batman? While speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Caroline Dries, who will executive producer the potential Batwoman series, said that Batman has been missing for several years, which has allowed crime to flourish in Gotham City.

Our approach is: What does Gotham look like after the Batman has been gone for three years? So if you have the law and order, protector, and hope gone, what happens as a result? Some people are thriving in his absence because now they can start to do their own thing without the oversight. A lot of other people are suffering and they’re losing hope, and the city itself and infrastructure is falling apart. So it’s not a happy place. Our guys walk into a grimy, scary Gotham.

Consulting producer Marc Guggenheim added that Gotham is "a dead city. The way I sort of described it to Stephen [Amell] is, it’s there but for the grace of God goes Star City. It’s the worst case scenario. The reason no one talks about Gotham is the city might as well be dead. It’s practically a ghost town." The crossover will find Green Arrow (Stephen Amell), The Flash (Grant Gustin) and Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) traveling to Gotham City in order to confront John Deegan (Jeremy Davies), a doctor at the Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane who might just be crazier than the inmates he treats. Despite the unpleasant nature of Gotham City, there's still one person excited by the possibility of just maybe meeting Batman. Grant Gustin told EW that Barry and Oliver will be arguing about whether or not Batman is even real. "Oliver is like, ‘He’s not real! They’ve made him up! It’s a hoax just to scare the citizens,'" Gustin said. "Barry is flabbergasted by that and all he wants to do in Gotham is meet Batman. It’s a pretty funny scene."

While Barry may not get to meet Batman, it's a good bet that he'll cross paths with Batwoman. Played by Ruby Rose (THE MEG), Batwoman/Kate Kane patrols the streets of Gotham as "a highly trained street fighter primed to snuff out the failing city's criminal resurgence. But don't call her a hero yet — in a city desperate for a savior, Kate must overcome her own demons before embracing the call to be Gotham's symbol of hope." Following Batwoman's introduction in Elseworlds, it's expected that Rose will take the lead in a Batwoman series of her own.

The Elseworlds crossover will begin on The Flash on December 9th, followed by Arrow on December 10th, and concluding on Supergirl on December 11th. Will you be watching?