This article includes spoilers for Lanterns Episode 3.
Fans are always asking James Gunn when Batman is coming to the DCU, even if the answer is that he already technically has. The Dark Knight made a silent animated cameo in Creatures Commandos Season 1, don't forget, and the Bat-verse will continue to be threaded into the franchise with Clayface. In fact, even Lanterns is doing its bit to tease the coming of the Caped Crusader, as well.
Episode 2 saw Kelly Macdonald's Kerry Kane confirm that she used to live in Gotham City before she became sheriff of Rushville, which creates an interesting potential connection to Kate Kane AKA Batwoman. Episode 3 goes even further, however, by seemingly confirming that a familiar Batman villain exists in the DCU. And fans will now be hoping they can take this as a promise that there are plans to introduce this particular costumed crime boss down the line.
As per DC lore, Janus Cosmetics happens to be owned by Roman Sionis, the crooked C-suiter otherwise known as Black Mask. In the comics, Sionis murdered his parents so he could inherit their company. However, he quickly ran Janus into the ground when he invested all the company's capital into a failed new line of make-up that turned out to include toxic chemicals, disfiguring hundreds of customers. With his reputation ruined, Sionis grew even more evil. He destroyed his father's casket in a fit of rage, fashioned a mask for himself out of the wood, and started his life of crime as Black Mask.
While this Lanterns Easter egg is obviously a background detail, the context of its appearance indicates that it may be saying more than it looks. It's worth noting that this Janus Cosmetics poster is glimpsed in an old abandoned mall, which suggests the company's downfall may have already happened in the DCU. If that is the case, then Sionis may have already become Black Mask. This does line up with Batman's depiction in Creature Commandos, in which many of his second-tier enemies — including Rupert Thorne, Dr. Phosphorous, and Clayface — already exist.
That said, Black Mask did get a major adaptation fairly recently in 2020's Birds of Prey, where he was played by Ewan McGregor. That movie, of course, starred Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn, a character who has potential DCU canonicity considering her role in Gunn's The Suicide Squad, which is at least partially confirmed to be canon thanks to Peacemaker Season 2. The same goes for its precursor, 2016's Suicide Squad. Given that two out of Robbie's three DCEU appearances might be canon, the same can probably be said for Birds of Prey. In other words, it's feasible that the Roman Sionis who owns the Janus Cosmetics referenced in Lanterns Episode 3 is Ewan McGregor.
Whether played by McGregor or not, Black Mask would certainly slide neatly into James Gunn's DCU plans. For starters, the fact that a Janus Cosmetics Easter egg landed just a few weeks before the release of Clayface could be telling. After all, it's not hard to imagine Janus — a company known to produce toxic cosmetics that result in disfigurements — having something to do with the process that turns Matt Hagen into a monster.
Even if this turns out to be a case of coincidental timing, though, Sionis would still be a natural fit for the DCU in general, due to the franchise's focus on big business and crooked CEOs. Gunn has previously revealed in an interview that he plans to explore three competing power structures in the DCU — those with superpowers, those with powers of state, and those with corporate power:
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