9 Problems Nobody Wants To Admit About The Arrowverse

6. It Can't Escape Those Batman Comparisons

Arrow The Climb Oliver Ra's
The CW

For a show that doesn't have Batman, the Arrowverse sure is obsessed with Batman.

Right from the very get-go, where the decision was taken to root Oliver Queen in a quasi-realistic environment, complete with a corrupt police force and a villainous company board to take on, Arrow has walked in the shadow of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy. The comparisons are so obvious, so blatant, that - by the time season 3 rolled around - Green Arrow literally became Batman, echoing both the climax of Batman Begins and its preceding chapters by making Star City (Gotham) an obsession of the League of Assassins (Shadows).

Subsequent seasons have made an effort to tease and allude to various aspects of the Bat-mythos; Blüdhaven (Nightwing's home) has been a regular feature for a while, Oracle was name-dropped a while ago and indeed, even the Caped Crusader himself was acknowledged in the show's most recent episode.

But like, can they not just give it a rest? Not even for a moment? WB were understandably hesitant to let small-screen outlets play with their Bat-toys in the wake of Nolan's trilogy, but surely it's a better option than chopping and changing a mythos to retrofit a narrative clearly meant for something - or someone - else?

Advertisement
Content Producer/Presenter
Content Producer/Presenter

Resident movie guy at WhatCulture who used to be Comics Editor. Thinks John Carpenter is the best. Likes Hellboy a lot. Can usually be found talking about Dad Movies on his Twitter at @EwanRuinsThings.