HBO Max officially addressed Lanterns' Batgirl Easter egg in a new video, confirming that it is exactly what diehards had been theorizing. Lanterns' series premiere left fans intrigued when Kelly MacDonald's Sheriff Kerry Kane was heard saying down the phone, "Tell Barb I say hey," which many instantly took as a reference to Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl. That theory would be a major stretch if it came from any other character, although Lanterns made a point to confirm that Kane's roots lie in the Gordon family hometown of Gotham City.
Following some debate over whether Kane was on the phone with Jim Gordon in Gotham or a completely random Rushville local, HBO Max U.K. finally confirmed the truth in a round-up video of Lanterns Season 1's biggest DC Easter eggs. The moment is shown with the caption "Batgirl/Oracle," leaving some mystery about Barbara's status and Bat-Family mantle at that time in James Gunn's DCU canon.
The Easter egg comes from Lanterns' earlier 2016 events, roughly a decade before the present-day DCU that was explored in Superman. As such, Babs is probably still a child at the time of this reference, presumably a preteen or teenager, well before she carried either of her crucial Bat-Family mantles.
Most DC fans know Barbara Gordon best as the daughter of Commissioner Gordon, but also as Batgirl, as she set out to fight crime on her own terms when her father forbade her from joining the GCPD. She ultimately earned Batman's respect and became a crucial member of the Bat-Family alongside the Robins.
Speaking of the Boy of Wonder, Babs' connections to Bruce Wayne's Bat-Family run deeper than a mutually shared costume. She is also the girlfriend and most famous love interest of Batman's first adopted son, Dick Grayson, aka Nightwing.
In DC's famous The Killing Joke storyline, the Joker shot Barbara through her spine on her apartment doorstep as a twisted prank on her father to prove that one bad day could send any law-abiding citizen into a decline of madness.
That attack left Barbara paralyzed and unable to operate as Batgirl, but she remained a key part of the Bat-Family as Oracle, the team's "girl in the chair" who assists with tactics, information, and intel. She has since regained the ability to walk in some modern runs with high-tech implants or experimental surgery in the case of the New 52 reboot, even becoming Batgirl again for a period.
These days, Barbara shares the Batgirl mantle with younger heroes like Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown, while also operating as Oracle. So, now that the DCU is preparing to introduce an established Bat-Family in The Brave and the Bold, is Batgirl, Oracle, or both part of James Gunn's larger plans?
Batgirl vs. Oracle: How Will James Gunn's DCU Utilize Barbara Gordon?
Fans already know that Damian Wayne will carry the Robin flag into The Brave and the Bold, indicating that Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Tim Drake have all already completed their time as the Boy of Wonder. That means that The Killing Joke and Barbara Gordon's paralyzation should have already happened when audiences enter the story of this older, more experienced Dark Knight.
However, Warner Bros. already disappointed Babs' fans by cancelling the DCEU's Batgirl movie after production was done to make way for the DCU, as it would have spun out of The Flash's original ending by featuring Michael Keaton's Batman. To skip over Barbara's time under the cowl and immediatly relegate her to a wheelchair behind a desk could be seen as a slight toward the character.
Even though Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain have grown into fan-favorite characters in their own right, Barbara remains the most iconic Batgirl, even recently starring in LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight. So, it's tough to envision her superheroic tenure being completely skipped over in the DCU, and perhaps fans could even see how it ends in live-action.
Interestingly, James Gunn has brought up The Killing Joke multiple times on Threads this year as an example of how DC Comics can vary in tone, using it to combat criticism over the DCU's lack of tonal consistency. One has to wonder if the DC Studios co-CEO may be plotting to adapt The Killing Joke in the DCU, allowing fans to witness Barbara's tragic shift from Batgirl to Oracle on the big screen.
