Latest ‘Arrow’ Includes Name Drop Of Batman’s World

It’s interesting how we’re a few weeks away from the Elseworlds crossover that will introduce both Batwoman and Gotham City into the Arrowverse, and in this week alone, both Arrow and The Flash have given name drops to Batman’s world. Now to be clear, there have been name drops and allusions to Batman across the Arrowverse, not just with Flash and Arrow, but the mention of a Dark Knight on Legends of Tomorrow and the fact that Kara’s cousin has had run-ins with a vigilante over on Earth-38.

So at the very least, there’s a Bruce Wayne out there in the Arrowverse and possibly a Batman as well. And while chances are that Gotham over on Fox will get the first appearance of the Dark Knight before the Arrowverse does, that hasn’t stopped the DCCW shows from increasingly including nods to Batman’s world. At first, this seemed off-limits, but then things started to change, starting with Superman’s appearance in the second season of Supergirl. But this is about Arrow, so let’s get to that.

In the most recent episode, “The Demon,” while Oliver is in Level Two in prison, he has an unexpected run-in with Talia al Ghul, who survived the destruction of Lian Yu at the end of Season Five. As for what Talia has been up to since then, she briefly mentions to Oliver that she ran afoul of an “old foe” in Gotham. It’s not the focal point of the conversation, but like the Gotham City name drop on The Flash this week, it’s noteworthy and an indication that there is a Bat-vigilante out there on Earth-1.

It’s important to note that we still don’t know exactly where Ruby Rose’s Batwoman resides. Could she be on Earth-1? Supergirl’s world? A completely separate Earth altogether, like how Black Lightning is? There’s no telling just yet, but in anticipation of the Elseworlds event, it’s a nice way to remind viewers that the Arrowverse is finally heading to Gotham City soon. And like the Bruce Wayne name drop on last season of Arrow ahead of the release of Justice League, it works for promotional purposes.

At the same time, though, just who did Talia run afoul of over in Gotham? Could it have been Batman? Maybe Batwoman exists on this Earth and she crossed paths with Talia? We’ll hopefully find out all of this and more when the Elseworlds crossover begins in a few weeks. In the meantime, let us know your thoughts on the Gotham City name drop on Arrow in the comments below.

Arrow stars Stephen Amell, David Ramsey, Emily Bett Rickards, Echo Kellum, Rick Gonzalez, Juliana Harkavy, Katie Cassidy, Colton Haynes, Katrina Law, Ben Lewis, and Kirk Acevedo.

The series airs on Monday nights at 8 P.M. on the CW.