James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU may be a couple of years old now, but we still have yet to meet this universe’s version of what is undoubtedly DC’s biggest superhero. Where is the DCU version of Batman? Apart from a quick cameo silhouette seen in the animated series Creature Commandos, we’ve seen neither hide nor hair of the Caped Crusader in the DCU. And it doesn’t appear that’s going to change even with the release of the Clayface movie in October.
While it appears that we’ll have to wait until the long-gestating Batman: The Brave and the Bold comes to fruition to actually meet the DCU’s Batman, there is an interesting Batman universe Easter egg to be found in the HBO series Lanterns. Let’s break down this tease and why it could prove very significant for the DCU as a whole.
The show’s unexpected Batman connection centers around Kelly Macdonald’s character, Sheriff Kerry Kane. Kerry is introduced as a foil to Kyle Chandler’s Hal Jordan, a no-nonsense cop who butts heads with the veteran Green Lantern as he investigates an alien conspiracy in the midst of small-town America. However, it quickly becomes apparent that Sheriff Kane knows a lot more about said conspiracy than she initially lets on. She’s nothing if not a woman with secrets of her own.
One of those secrets seems to involve her previous life as a Gotham City native. Hal brings up the fact that she used to live in Gotham in Episode 2, but Kerry is clearly reluctant to talk about that period of her life. What transpired there and why she decided to relocate to a tiny town in rural Nebraska is something we assume the series will explore before the end of Season 1.
However, it’s not the mere fact that Kerry is a former Gothamite that creates a clear link to Batman; it’s her surname. We eventually learn that her full name is Kerry Kane. Not only is it an alliterative name in the way all superhero love interests seem to be, but the Kane family is one with deep significance in Gotham lore.
Along with the Waynes, the Cobblepots, the Elliots, the Arkhams, and a few others, the Kanes are one of the so-called “First Families of Gotham.” These wealthy families have helped shape Gotham over the centuries, and many retain their power, wealth, and influence even today. In the traditional DC Comics universe, Martha Wayne was originally Martha Kane, and her marriage to Thomas Wayne created a blood link between the Kanes and the Waynes.
Other significant Kane family members include Kathy Kane, who was the original Batwoman in DC’s Silver Age comics and founded the clandestine organization Spyral in the modern comics, and Kate Kane, the current holder of the Batwoman mantle. Kate is actually Bruce Wayne’s cousin, a plot point that factored heavily into The CW’s Batwoman series.
Mind you, Lanterns hasn’t directly confirmed that Kerry Kane is a member of that Kane family, but we find it hard to believe that the writers would just happen to choose that surname and birth city for her without intending it to tie back to the larger Kane family tree. Whatever skeletons Kerry is hiding in her closet, it must be somehow connected to the Kane family’s larger role within the borders of Gotham City. However indirectly, she’s a character with links to Bruce Wayne/Batman himself.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.ign.com/articles/dcu-lanterns-batman-connection-explained
