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Batman Lee

Batman in the comics.

This article describes various allusions in the American television series Smallville to DC Comics character Batman, also known as Bruce Wayne. Although Batman never appeared on the television series, there were 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.

Batman is the superhero name given to Bruce Wayne, a billionaire who dedicates his life to avenge his parents' death and protect his home, Gotham City. In the future, he becomes one of the world's greatest heroes as well as (along with Superman and Wonder Woman) one of the founding members of the Justice League of America.

Due to Batman's rebooted film franchise, Bruce Wayne did not appear on Smallville because the film division of Warner Bros. (DC's parent company) is working with the character. 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 said that an appearance of Bruce Wayne on the show was unlikely.[1] The character ultimately was introduced in the Smallville Season 11 comic book series, which takes up six months after the events of the Season Ten finale.


Allusions[]

Season One[]

Hourglassvision

A skeleton in Batsuit.


  • Zero:
    • Blüdhaven is mentioned in this episode, which is the sister city to Gotham, as well as the future home to Batman's first protégé Dick Grayson, a.k.a. Robin/Nightwing.

Season Six[]

Season Seven[]

Season Eight[]

  • Hex
  • Eternal
    • Tess Mercer tells Davis Bloome that his choice of victims is like "keeping bats around to wipe out the parasites that prey on the city."
  • Stiletto
    • Chloe Sullivan makes a reference to Batman's Bat-Signal: "I seriously doubt we're going to be able to call her out by putting a spiked heel over a kleig light."
    • Lois Lane, as the vigilante "Stiletto", tells Clark Kent "I gotta get back to my cave", a nod to Batcave, Batman's secret headquarters.

Season Nine[]

  • Warrior:
    • While talking to Alec Abrams/Stephen Swift, Chloe Sullivan referred to the superhero community as "The World's Finest". World's Finest
      948363-p00010 super-1-

      Superman\Batman:World's Finest

      was the title name of a comic that featured DC Comics's two leading superheroes, Superman and Batman. It eventually became the title team nickname of Batman & Superman.
    • A poster of a character dressed similarly to Robin is in the background when Alec Abrams speaks with Harry.[citation needed]

Season Ten[]

  • Shield:
    • Deadshot, who is generally a part of Batman's Rogue Gallery of Villains, is introduced.
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Scarecrow mask

  • Masquerade:
    • Clark Kent's speech "It's not what I'm called that should define who I am. It's who I am that should define what I'm called." bares an unmistakable reference to Bruce Wayne's speech "It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me." from Batman Begins.
  • Fortune:
    • Chloe Sullivan mentions that, when she was away traveling the world and looking for more heroes, she encountered "A billionaire with high-tech toys".

Season Eleven[]

Lois-WayneTech

Lois's WayneTech laptop.

  • Guardian
    • Lois Lane can be seen using a WayneTech laptop. This is a direct reference to WayneTech, a subsidiary of Wayne Enterprise, the company founded by Thomas Wayne and currently run by Bruce Wayne.
    • At the 9th chapter of Guardian, Oliver Queen talks about crime and states to his wife Chloe Sullivan-Queen that Star City has the second-highest crime rate in America "if you count Gotham City".
  • Detective
    • Bruce Wayne/Batman finally appears in the Smallville continuity.
    • Barbara Gordon makes an appearance, but takes on the crime fighting identity of Nightwing rather than her official pseudonym name "Batgirl" from the comics and mythology as.
    • Batman's wears an armored Batsuit that bears a resemblance to Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy.
    • The voice of Batman is based off Christian Bale's interpretation to disguise Bruce's voice with a dark growl.
    • Nightwing mentions to Batman that the police officers "Montoya" and "Allen" came in running interference. She is referring to Detective Renee Montoya and Detective Crispus Allen .
    • Bruce Wayne's visit to Metropolis revolves around a meeting with Lex Luthor. In the comics, when Bruce would be coming to Metropolis to cover his true motives as Batman, he'd usually set up a business venture between Wayne Enterprise and LexCorp to explain his presence in Metropolis to the public eye.
    • Barbara Gordon alludes to the three various members from his Rogue Gallery of Villains: the Joker, Penguin and Killer Croc.
    • Batman and Superman's first encounter usually involves a physical altercation before they put aside their differences and come together as one to team-up.
    • The scene where Batman and Superman are in the Batmobile and is being chased by the police is very similar to the scene in Batman Begins with Batman and Rachel Dawes.
      Batman batmobile smallville 2012-smallville-s11-batmobile

      The Batmobile seen in Smallville.

    • Three of Batman's primary vehicles of transportation on "Land", "Sea" and "Air" have appeared (The Batmobile, The Batwing and The Batboat). The Batmobile here resembles both the Tumbler from Batman Begins and the Batmobile seen in the Tim Burton movies (and to an extant the Batmobile from the book Batman: Child of Dreams.)
    • Clark Kent fashions his own Bat-signal to summon Batman. The Bat-signal is a primary device uses by Police Commissioner James Gordon to contact Batman.
    • Joe Chill is the man responsible for the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne, which in turn caused the birth of Batman .
    • Victor Fries, also known as Mr. Freeze, is a cold-hearted villain of Batman.
    • Mr. Freeze alludes to his wife Nora during a conversation with The Prankster.
    • Bruce forges a thermally insulated Batsuit armor to battle Mr. Freeze and a lead-lined suit for Superman to combat The Prankster. Batman is known for having various armored Batsuits ready to combat any villain or situation he comes up against.
    • Batman and Green Arrow have a bit of a rivalry.
    • Crime Alley is the location in which the Wayne Murder occurred. Bruce Wayne constantly brings a pair of red roses to the landmark as a means to pay respects to his beloved late parents.
    • Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent come to an understanding and mutual respect for one another. In mythology, Batman and Superman are known as "The World's Finest".
  • Effigy
    • Alfred Pennyworth makes his debut.
    • A mutant thug from "The Dark Knight Returns" is featured.
    • Batman's primary base headquarters The Batcave is featured.
    • Alfred Pennyworth mentions Matt Hagen, also known as Clayface, a shape-shifting enemy of Batman.
      Batman SV Ch 32 1359770867857

      Tim Burton's Batman Batmobile sequence referenced in season eleven.

    • Commissioner James Gordon is introduced.
    • The sequence panel in which Batman emerges from the Gotham sewers and heads to an armored-plated Batmobile is very similar to Tim Burton's Batman film, in which Batman emerges from the museum building with Vicki Vale who he tells to get into the car.
    • Batman alerts Watchtower of a threat heading to Metropolis, a reference to Batman's affiliation with JLA before joining.

Smallville (comic book)[]

  • Chronicle
    • Carter Bickson from Deletion Force mentions that there were Level Three facilities in Gotham

Notes[]

References[]

  1. 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

See also[]

Links[]

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