Ever since Batwoman was introduced into the Arrowverse, fans have been left to wonder whatever happened to the Caped Crusader. In the lore of the show, Bruce Wayne is said to have disappeared from Gotham City five years ago, with even his cousin Kate Kane not having any idea what happened to him. But the latest episode of Batwoman may have given us a clue as to the truth: he was killed by a classic Batman villain.
In episode 1×07, “Tell Me The Truth,” we learned that Lucius Fox, Luke’s father and Batman’s old ally, was murdered. The culprit was not caught, as originally thought, but was actually wrongfully convicted by a corrupt cabal. We may know who’s behind this conspiracy, too, as the episode also name-dropped a minor character from the comics with ties to the biggest crime boss in Gotham City. None other than Carmine “The Roman” Falcone.
In the Arrowverse, Gotham’s chief of police is Commissioner Forbes. In the comics, Forbes was a puppet of Falcone’s who took over when the gangster framed Jim Gordon for causing a disaster. Given this, ScreenRant has put forward the idea that perhaps Lucius’s murder wasn’t an isolated case and Falcone is actually behind the disappearance of Batman as well as the rest of the Bat-family.
If Falcone targeted Fox, then he must’ve known that Wayne Enterprises was funding the Batman. Which means he’d probably worked out his secret identity. So, what if he succeeded in murdering Bruce five years ago? What’s more, we know that Robin and Oracle also exist(ed) in the Arrowverse, yet they aren’t operating in Gotham anymore, either. So, maybe Falcone killed Batman’s sidekicks, too.
In the comics, Batman managed to get the better of Falcone, but Batwoman clearly takes place in a much darker version of Gotham. As such, this is definitely a solid working theory.
