Allusions to Batman
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This article describes various allusions in the American television series Smallville to DC Comics character Batman, also known as Bruce Wayne. Although Batman has yet to appear on the series, there have been several references to the character and his universe.
The notes on this page are generated by viewers and comics fans, but not necessarily verified by the show's producers or writers.
Due to Batman's restarted film franchise, Bruce Wayne has not appeared on Smallville because the film division of Warner Bros. (DC's parent company) is working with the character. When planning for a hopeful appearance in the early seasons, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar saw Bruce as a rival for Lana's affections, but when they were disallowed the use of the character, Bruce was replaced with Adam Knight. The creators of Smallville were actually thinking of making a Bruce Wayne TV series before the idea of a Superman-oriented show ever came about, but it was never realized. Alfred Gough recently said that an appearance of Bruce Wayne on the show is unlikely. [1]
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[edit] Allusions
Bruce Wayne/Batman has yet to appear on Smallville, however the writers of the show have made many allusions to the Dark Knight on the show. These include:
[edit] Season 1
- Zero : Blüdhaven is mentioned in this episode which is the sister city to Gotham, and future home to Batman's first protege, Nightwing.
[edit] Season 2
- Insurgence : Maggie Sawyer A future Metropolis/Gotham City police officer is introduced.
- Witness : A group of teens used refined kryptonite as a super steroid enhancement drug to gain super strength . In Batman's Rogue Gallery of Villains, there is a super steroid enhanced genius villain known as Bane who uses the venom drug to vastly increases his physical strength, although he needs to take it every 12 hours (via a system of tubes pumped directly into his brain) or he would suffer debilitating side-effects. Bane is known as "The Man who Broke the Bat".
[edit] Season 3
- Asylum : The premise of the episode with the inmates working together to lure the Hero into a trap they've prepared mirrors the events of the recently released Successful video game Batman: Arkham Asylum
- When Adam Knight was first introduced, fans speculated that he might be a teenage Bruce Wayne, the alter-ego of Batman. As well as the obvious details of his status as an orphan and his skills in such diverse areas of martial arts and computer hacking, his first name Adam is the same as the actor Adam West, who portrayed Batman in the 1960s television show, and his last name Knight could have been a nod to Batman's nickname: The Dark Knight.
- Whisper : In this episode Clark experience temporary blindness while trying to stop a crime in progress. A similar situation occurred in Batman: The Animated Series episode "Blind as a Bat". Yet even with this temporary disability both heroes didn't let it prevent them from doing their Hero duties in their own way they both used it to their advantage to save the day and their sight was returned by the end of the episode .
- Resurrection : Lazarus Serum - which was used to resurrect Adam may also be a reference to Batman villain, Ra's Al Ghul, who uses alchemy and science in the form of Lazurus Pits, which can grant a person extended youth. However, it worthy of note that Adam is an evil maniac obsessed with Lana. Batman is not as crazy.
[edit] Season 4
- Run : Bart Allen is introduced , he is a close friend of Tim Drake, the third Robin, in the Teen Titans .
- Scare : This episode is very similar to the chemical specialties of a villain from DC Comics called The Scarecrow. In Batman Begins, The Scarecrow and The League of Shadow used a "fear toxin" to poison the city's water supply, resulting in everyone in Gotham City halucinating their worst fears.
[edit] Season 5
- Thirst : Clark attended a costume party disguised as Zorro. (In the Batman mythology Dr. Thomas Wayne and his wife Martha had taken their eight year old son Bruce to see the film "The Mark of Zorro" one night, on that same night on their way home from a movie theater. Bruce witnessed the murder of his beloved parents before his very eyes by Joe Chill.)
- Vengeance : Angel of Vengeance - She is a character who has the same view of crime and justice as Batman, and if you listen carefully, you can hear the first few notes of Danny Elfman's Batman theme.
[edit] Season 6
- Wither : Gloria was an alien woman who had control over plant life with the intention of taken over the planet earth with her plants. This character has a lot in common with Batman's Villainous vamp eco-terrorists Poison Ivy. Ivy is obsessed with plants, botany, and environmentalism. She uses toxins from plants and her female seduction techniques for her criminal activities,
- Arrow : Oliver Queen- Similar to Batman in the sense that he has no powers, future JLA member alongside the World's Finest as the Green Arrow. Oliver and Lois's relationship in Smallville resembles the relationship between Bruce and Lois in the Superman/Batman animated episode "World Finest". Also Green Arrow bore strong similarities to Batman in his early years and Batman has frequently appeared in Green Arrow monthly titles.
- Reunion: The first mention of Gotham City- Batman's hometown.
- Rage: Oliver takes a enhancement drug that has cause the side effects of vastly increased aggression. After the death of Jason Todd (the second Robin) at the hands of the Joker, Batman takes doses of an experimental super enhancement drug (revealed to be Venom) that increased his strength and speed but also cause him great rage & fatigue which the super steroid-enhanced villain Bane capitalized on in the Batman story arc Batman:Knightfall.
- Hydro: Daily Planet columnist Linda Lake says that she can see Gotham City from her office.
- To protect Oliver's Identity as Green Arrow from being discovered by Lois, Clark dressed up like Green Arrow. In the comics Both Batman & Superman would dress up as each other in both of their identities on occasions when a situation required such a course of action to be taken .
- Justice: The birth of the Justice League: the team that Batman, along with Superman and Wonder Woman, would help form.
[edit] Season 7
- Veritas : Lionel Luthor refers to Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen as the "Dynamic Duo", one Of the common nicknames of Batman & Robin.
- Siren : Super heroine Black Canary is Introduced, In the comics Black Canary has lived in Gotham for many years and has partnered with him before. The two of them have kissed more than once. Dinah also has connection to another member of the Bat-family the former and original Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) who became Oracle the leader of The Birds Of Prey team of which Dinah is apart.
[edit] Season 8
- Hex : Zatanna Zatara- is a powerful sorceress, stage magician, and member of the Justice League of America. She is also a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne in the DC comics. Her father John Zatara taught Bruce how to become greatest escape artist during the years in which Bruce was traveling the globe before he became Batman . Zatanna and Bruce have a working friendship in the comics, with Bruce calling her for assistance from time to time. Zatanna's standing with Batman seems positive, even proposing that they start a relationship before Bruce tells her he cares too much about her to bring her into his world.
- Stiletto : Lois Lane's super heroine alter-ego Identity, Had quite a bit of reference to character of Batman.
- Chloe Sullivan Saying that they can't just call Stiletto by putting a spiked heel over a spotlight, homage to the BatSignal
- Eternal : Tess Mercer-"It's like keeping bats around to wipe out the parasites that prey on the city." is a homage to Bruce Wayne's alter ego Batman.
- Injustice : Green Arrow uses Lex Luthor's Kryptonite ring on The Parasite. In the comics, Superman entrusted the ring into the care of Batman believing that if ever loses control of his powers or if he falls under the control of an evil influence. That at least he knew Batman would use the ring against him if necessary. Batman usually keeps the Kryptonite Ring in his utility Belt in a lead-lined Case.
[edit] Season 9
- Savior : Clark as the Blur is now dressed in a black outfit, and he watches over the city of Metropolis high above the city tower. This is a very common attribute of Batman more so than of Superman (whose colours are red and blue). Batman is known for using the darkness as a means to conceal himself while being a silent guardian, the watchful protector of Gotham City .
- The Watchtower, Chloe new H.Q., shares a striking resemblance to Oracle's Clock tower headquarters in Gotham City and Metropolis in the comics. Chloe's role as watchtower is Identical to that of Barbara Gordon aka: Oracle, The leader of The Birds of Prey of which Black Canary is a member.
- Roulette : The last scene between Clark and Oliver watching over Metropolis is very similar to the countless Superman & Batman moments with the two of them watching over Metropolis .
- Crossfire : Oliver takes on a protege named Mia Dearden . In the comics, she is the second one to bear the name of Speedy, the sidekick of Green Arrow. That's a well known fact that Green Arrrow was originally based on Batman, so, Speedy is on her turn based on the the team of sidekicks Robin, Batgirl, and Nightwing assisting Batman on his war on crime in Gotham .
- Chloe refers to the hacker Stuart Campbell as a "Boy Wonder" this is the nickname of Robin.
- Idol : This episode introduces The Wonder Twins, they were a part of the Super Friends.
- This episode also features some references to The Dark Knight film (The District Attorney, demands that the blur reveal his secret Identity to the public, and the D.A. turns out to be crooked).
- The issue of Chloe slightly violating privacy has been associated with Batman himself in comics and in The Dark Knight film. In the comics series Superman has confronted Batman on the issue.
[edit] References
- ↑ Appearing at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention at the Shrine Auditorium on Sunday [February 10, 2007] afternoon, the show's creators said they have tried several times to get Bruce Wayne, but they've moved on from that pursuit. "Sadly, no," Gough said with a smile after the first of several Batman/Bruce Wayne questions during the panel. "It's not our fault. We've tried and tried, but because of the feature-film franchise, they've made that kind of off limits. Unfortunately." "It's a very clear statement: You can't use Bruce Wayne," Millar said. "We've got over it and we're moving on. There are plenty of other characters we can exploit." http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0702/12/smallvillela.htm
