Crisis On Infinite Earths has begun in America and we can’t be more excited. The event is going to be the biggest crossover the Arrowverse has ever seen. With fan-favourite Batman actor, Kevin Conroy amongst the cast, we have evidence that he isn’t playing Earth-1 Batman.
Batman is a longtime staple to most DC Comics visual medium and among them is voice actor Kevin Conroy. The actor is well known for playing the Dark Knight in animation, but not live-action. In this year’s Arrowverse crossover, Crisis On Infinite Earths, Conroy will take on the role of Bruce Wayne. However, it’s unknown which Earth he’ll be from. Well, we have evidence that he’s not the Earth-1 Batman and it’s our random thoughts. Be sure to check out our list of Bruces throughout DC and Marvel. Also, the final trailer confirms a number of fan theories. Though, we won’t meet more of Luke Fox’s family, unfortunately.
Age Is Everything
From the moment Batwoman started, we’ve learned a few things about Earth-Batman that we hadn’t known before. We learn in the pilot that Bruce considered not being able to save his Aunt Gabi and his cousin, Beth as one of his greatest failures. Despite being able to rescue Kate, he lived with the guilt of not being able to save her sister and mother.
Gabi’s death and Beth’s alleged death took place in 2003. They and Kate were on their way home from the twins’ Bat Mitzvah when the Joker hijacked a bus that ploughed into their car, forcing it to dangle from a bridge. A Bat Mitzvah takes place when a girl turns twelve or thirteen.
Bruce is much older than his cousins and he would have been much older than eighteen to take over at Wayne Enterprises. If we had to guess, he would’ve been at least in his mid-twenties when he saved Kate on that bridge.
Lucius’s Death And Bruce’s Departure From Gotham
Asides from his age compared to Kate’s, we need to examine Bruce’s departure from Gotham and the death of Lucius Fox. From what we know, Lucius was one of the few people Bruce trusted outside of Alfred and the elder Fox was Earth-1 Batman’s go-to man for tech.
Lucius’s son, Luke serves the same purpose to Bruce’s cousin, Kate and serves as her tech guy. However, what don’t know is exactly when Lucius was murdered. All we know is that he died in 2015, the same year as Bruce left Gotham.
His father’s death hit Luke hard, given how different they were. Though, Kate had fond memories of him, saying he was ‘actually useful.’ Given how close Lucius and Bruce were, it was surprising to Kate that Fox had a son who would follow in his old man’s footsteps.
What isn’t clear is when Bruce left Gotham and when Lucius was murdered. We don’t know if Earth-1 Batman was still in Gotham when the crime happened. It’s likely he wasn’t as he would have hunted down his friend’s killer.
Now, what is this important? When you examine the timeframe between Bruce’s disappearance and Lucius is a little odd. Did Lucius’s killer know he worked for Batman and decided to kill him to get back at the Bat? These are questions that exactly answered. Also, we don’t know who Lucius’s killer is, though we don know he was caught. Perhaps it was Two-Face or Penguin. Also, if Bruce had been in Gotham at the time of Lucius’s murder, he would have gone looking for the killer himself and bought him to justice.
The Batsuit
Now, let’s go onto the stuff revealed in the Crisis On Infinite Earths promo material.
For anyone who has watched Batwoman, the suit Kate is seen wearing is Bruce’s batsuit altered to fit her. Now, what does this have to do with Bruce and the version in the crossover? When we look at the differences, we can assume Earth-1 Batman only had one suit made by Lucius and Luke altered it to fit Kate.
As for the version of Bruce in the crossover, we can see his Batsuit is NOT the same as Kate’s. It has a white looking logo on the front which Earth-1 Batman’s suit did not have. This makes us think that it is not Earth-1 Batman that Kate and Kara are talking to.
Martial Status
In DC Comics, Bruce Wayne is known as a playboy who has had women crawling over him. A couple of notable women include Talia Al Ghul who is the mother of Bruce’s son, Damian and Selina Kyle/Catwoman who in some stories in the mother of Helena, Bruce’s daughter.
It is not mentioned once by Kate or Luke in Batwoman that Bruce is married. In the final, FINAL trailer that was released just a couple of days ago, there’s a shot of Conroy’s Bruce talking to Kate and he has a wedding ring on. Hmmm…
Kevin Conroy did an interview with TVline where called his version of Bruce ‘a very bruised individual.’ He mentions the Mask of the Phantasm storyline where Bruce falls in love with Andrea Beaumont and learns what life is really about. This could be a small twist on that storyline and the Kingdom Come storyline. It may be explained, it might not be.
The comics have never depicted Bruce as the marrying type even if he has had flings that resulted in children. While we don’t know if Damian is born at this point to this version, but don’t expect him to be. It would be surprising if this Bruce is the father of Helena Kyle/Huntress. We doubt it though.
Recognising Kate
What was surprising about the later trailers was the Conroy Batman recognising Kate. We weren’t expecting this like at all. Also, Kate recognising him made us sit up straighter because it appears that the Earth-1 Batman looks like Conroy which would explain why Kate recognised him and vice versa.
Why This Isn’t Earth-1 Bruce
Many of the attributes that we’ve seen so far for the character, they don’t add up with what we know about the Earth-1 Batman. From his martial status to his costume to his age, there’s a load of things that don’t add up.
Also, we doubt he would take his Batsuit with him. From what we gather, Bruce just got up and left without so much as a goodbye to his uncle and favourite cousin.
What do you think? Is this Earth-1 Batman or another version entirely? We’ll find out when the second hour of the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover drops.
Want more Crisis on Infinite Earths or Arrowverse goodness? Be sure to subscribe to the blog and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @cjhawk93.
