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Hello again and welcome back to The Batman Universe. Let’s jump in folks. As always, there are many SPOILERS AHEAD!
Episode 10: Quid Pro Quo
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- Felix Faust; a pre-New 52 villain of the Justice League that plagued them throughout the years at various power levels. He is essentially unchanged in this iteration.
- A sinew from Achilles’ actual heel is used in this episode. This essentially confirms that in this DC world, of the show, that Shazam may also exist, as one of the powers that Captain Marvel calls upon is from Achilles. Shazam is currently a member of the Justice League in the New 52 and a teammate of Batman.
- John mentions other immortals, and doesn’t specify how they gain their immortality. This implies that Ra’s al Ghul probably exists in this world. Interesting.
Episode 11: Midnight City
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- Arsenal and Black Canary are rolling on the streets together, which actually occurred in “The Tornado’s Path” when Roy and Dinah returned to the JLA in the wake of the events following Infinite Crisis and 52. Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman chose all of the candidates. Ollie was only a little hurt by the choice.
- Thea is reading a Brad Meltzer book. Brad Meltzer is the talented author of the graphic novel “Identity Crisis.” In the novel, Batman regains memories wiped from him by Zatanna, and also Tim Drake’s father is killed by Captain Boomerang, who also dies. This book, though not happy, was a game changer for the DC Universe when it was released.
- In flashback, Maseo uses a metal tray to block gunfire. Bruce Wayne used the same tactic in 1989 Batman. Go Michael Keaton.
- In true League of Assassins/League of Shadows form, Ra’s has an inside man keeping an eye on Thea and Malcolm Merlyn. It is most similar to Liam Neeson’s baddies in “Batman Begins.”
Episode 11: The Sound and the Fury
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- The gang that Barry takes down at the beginning of the episode all have different card faces on their motorcycle helmets. They’re definitely the Royal Flush Gang. The Royal Flush gang are recurring villains that change as a team, but the group name remains the same over time. They have appeared especially in Bruce Timm’s Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, and also in Batman Beyond well into the future.
- For those in doubt (several of my friends specifically), Harrison Wells proved he is the man in the yellow suit, Professor Zoom or better known as the Reverse Flash. The Reverse Flash is currently most well known in comics for engineering the events of the Flashpoint Crisis. Thanks to both Barry Allen and Thomas Wayne (that world’s Batman) events were returned to their normal occurrence.
Episode 13: Welcome Back, Jim Gordon
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- Flass. Arnold Flass. In Frank Miller’s “Batman: Year One,” Flass is one of many corrupt cops helping Commissioner Loeb run a dirty police department. He was unidentified in the last episode, when he scared off Edward Nygma.
- A very familiar game was played between Bruce and Selina. For now it seems that Selina will remain out of Bruce’s life, and for Alfred’s sake probably for the better. Bruce and Selina are forever destined to play the Cat and Bat love game that they constantly do. This particular time, Selina lied through her teeth to keep Bruce away, which is a very Catwoman thing to do.
- Some random guy who tortures people named, Bob. Only one other Bob really pops into my head, and he is of course from 1989’s “Batman.” It reads this in both the cast list, and the action figure that was sold way back when, but Bob the Goon was Joker’s #1 guy. He still shot him, after Bob handed him his own gun. Now that’s a henchman.
- It seems Penguin celebrated victory too early, and was nearly cut down for his troubles. This plot mirrors that of Danny DeVito’s own Oswald in “Batman Returns.”
That’s it for this week. That Felix Faust one was a nice surprise, for anyone who actually knows who he is. Cheers for now, see you next Bat-time.
