Batwoman wasn’t supposed to wrap up its first season with episode 20, but it turned out to be a suitably shocking and headline-grabbing finale all the same. “O, Mouse” saw Alice giving Tommy Elliot AKA Hush a new face – the face of billionaire Bruce Wayne himself. Actor Warren Christie is obviously primarily playing Hush on the show, then, but he’s also now the face of the Arrowverse’s Batman, too.
This is a big deal, as it’s the first time that Earth-Prime’s Bruce has been revealed, though we previously met the corrupt Bruce of Earth-99 in “Crisis on Infinite Earths.” That version was portrayed by legendary Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy. Perhaps inspired by that, Batwoman showrunner Caroline Dries has revealed that she originally envisioned Earth-Prime’s Dark Knight being played by another iconic Batman star – Christian Bale.
“When I’m picturing Batman on our show, I kind of just picture Christian Bale because I’m obsessed with the Christopher Nolan movies,” Dries admitted in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “When I got the show, I inherited this rule of no Batman, no Bruce Wayne, so it never occurred to me to start daydreaming.”
When the opportunity to cast Christie in the role presented itself, though, Dries thought he was the perfect person for the part. Thankfully, the actor – who has previously appeared on Arrow in a different role – was keen to take it.
“His jawline is perfect. [Laughs] No, he’s such a good actor and when I saw he was available, I was like, ‘Hello, yes, Warren Christie, please!’ So I called him and told him what would be happening and was like, ‘Please, please, please do this.’ And he loved the idea because he’s a Batman fan and he has a kid and he thought it would be cool to tell his kid he’s playing Bruce Wayne. It kind of just worked out great.”
Having “Bruce” back in Gotham City will obviously be a big deal for his cousin Kate Kane and her friends as the Caped Crusader has been MIA for five years. They’ll be casting their usual cynicism aside, at least at first, then, as they’ll be so ecstatic to have the city’s greatest hero miraculously return.
“That’s ultimately the drama of the story when we come back. Of course, they want Bruce to be back in their lives and so you kind of look past any kind of logic and it’s all replaced by hopefulness and happiness. It’s gonna take a minute for them to realize something is amiss.”
It’s kind of ironic that just as Hush has changed his face, Kate is about to do the same, though likely without an in-universe reason. Ruby Rose has announced she’s stepping down from the series with immediate effect, so expect a new lead actress when Batwoman returns for its second season in January 2021.
