At a recent convention in Nashville, Arrow star Stephen Amell teased that he’d be making a “really fun announcement” at The CW’s upfront presentation today, and now we know what that announcement is: Batwoman is coming to the next Arrow, Flash, Supergirl, and Legends Of Tomorrow crossover event, and the heroes will be visiting her in a sleeply little hamlet known as Gotham City (via The Hollywood Reporter). This won’t be a crossover with Fox’s Gotham and Batman himself most likely will not show up, but this will still be the first time any of the Arrow-related shows will be making a direct connection to the Batman universe—not counting a visit to Blüdhaven in an episode of Arrow or the tongue-in-cheek Bat-nods on Supergirl.
Amell said that Batwoman will be “fighting alongside” the usual array of CW superheroes, but other than that and the tease that we’ll be seeing this universe’s version of Gotham for the first time (we’re guessing it’ll look like Vancouver, but darker and with more gargoyles), that’s all we know about next season’s crossover. As for Batwoman, this will be the live-action debut of any incarnation of the character, though various animated Batwomen have appeared in a couple DC cartoons and direct-to-DVD movies. (The CW says this will be her first appearance “on any screen,” but that’s not technically true.)
The modern version of Batwoman is Kate Kane, a Gotham socialite and vigilante who pays homage to the Bat-Family’s iconography while not really being a core member of the team like the various Robins or Batgirl (she’s also one of DC’s highest-profile gay characters). Unless The CW’s plan is to just make her a stand-in for Batman with some clear indication that he does not exist in this universe, Batwoman’s distance from the Bat-Family will give Arrow and the other shows a chance to have some Gotham adventures without necessarily involving Bruce Wayne, Jim Gordon, and the rest of the people who are integral to a traditional Batman story.