Bruce Wayne (Earth-38)

"My cousin's actually friends with Bruce. Um, well, frenemies."

—Kara Danvers to Kate Kane^[src]

Bruce Wayne was a vigilante in Gotham City and an ally of Clark Kent/Superman.

Biography

Bruce Wayne worked with Superman as allies in vigilantism for a time. He was known to use a lot of gadgets.^[1] Eventually, the duo revealed their secret identities to each other and came to be known as the "World's Finest".

Bruce was a friend of Clark, though both Winn Schott and Kara Danvers believe they are more like "frenemies".^[2] It is implied by James Olsen that Bruce is seen as intimidating by the very people he is trying to protect.^[3]

During the Anti-Monitor Crisis, Bruce, as well as everyone in the multiverse except for the seven Paragons, was killed in an antimatter wave by the Anti-Monitor on December 10, 2019.^[4] A month later after the Paragons and the Spectre created Earth-Prime,^[5] a new version of Bruce was created, merging him with his Earth-1 counterpart.^[6]

Personality

"My cousin worked with a vigilante once. Tons of gadgets, lots of demons. Vigilantes are nuts!"

—Kara Danvers^[src]

Kara Danvers has described Bruce in his vigilante activities as "nuts", with "lots of demons".^[1] As a vigilante, he often intimidates the very individuals he is trying to protect.^[3] When Kara, Oliver Queen, and Barry Allen were bailed from detainment by the Gotham City Police Department and questioned on whether Bruce was the one who posted their bail, the former stated that getting individuals out of jail like that doesn't sound like Bruce. Comparing Bruce to his Earth-1 counterpart, Kara mused whether trying to keep his private life from the public eye just got to be too much for Bruce and he broke, in both universes.^[2]

Abilities

• Engineer/Gadgeteer: Bruce is a skilled user of gadgets, carrying "tons" of these devices to fight crime.^[1]

"So, people see this big guy in this scary mask and they freak out, they run away. Just like Clark's friend."

—James Olsen to Winn Schott^[src]

• Intimidation: As a vigilante, Bruce is as just as intimidating to criminals as to those he protects from them, not dissimilar to James Olsen's alter ego prior to the public revelation of his identity.^[3]

Equipment

• Gadgets: Bruce carried "tons of gadgets" on hand for his vigilantism.^[1]

Appearances

Supergirl

Season 2

• "The Darkest Place" (mentioned)
• "City of Lost Children" (mentioned)

Arrow

Season 7

• "Elseworlds, Part 2" (mentioned)

Behind the scenes

• In the main DC Comics continuity, Bruce Wayne is the billionaire CEO of Wayne Industries by day, and the vigilante Batman, protector of Gotham City by night. Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent are continuous allies in the comics and media adaptations, known together as "World's Finest".
  • This is referenced by Kara Danvers in "Elseworlds, Part 2", comparing herself and Kate Kane to their cousins as "World's Finest".
• While only referred to as either "Bruce Wayne" or "the vigilante", the description of this character is a likely allusion to Bruce's vigilantism as Batman in the comics. As such, Bruce could be a resident of Gotham of Earth-38. However, it is still unclear whether he is actually named Batman or not.

References