After years of dropping Easter eggs for Aquaman, Batwoman officially confirms the Justice League hero exists in the Arrowverse. Most members of the Justice League have already been introduced in the Arrowverse. While some have only been revealed through namedrops, others have gone on to be big characters in the franchise. One character who has been hinted at, but never properly established, is Arthur Curry a.k.a. Aquaman. While there have been vague nods, Aquaman is one of the remaining Justice League characters who hasn’t shown up yet.
Some of DC Comics’ bigger characters tend to not be allowed to be part of DC TV due to Warner Bros’s various cinematic plans with them. That’s why, for example, none of the shows have had a proper Batman appearance while they can still use Bruce Wayne to a certain degree. However, thanks to Batwoman season 2, Aquaman is revealed to be part of the Arrowverse. In Batwoman season 2, episode 10, “Time Off for Good Behavior”, Ryan Wilder is still on the hunt for Black Mask while trying to figure out his real identity. During a conversation with Luke Fox, he brings up that he still hasn’t discovered who Black Mask really is. According to Luke, there’s no list of suspects because Kate Kane never killed anyone, especially Black Mask’s daughter.
When Luke brings up how Black Mask is also blaming The Crows for his daughter’s death, he goes on to say, “I assume next week, it will be Aquaman,” confirming the water hero being somewhere in the Arrowverse. This isn’t the first time Batwoman has confirmed a Justice League member in-universe; in the first season, Kate uttered Wonder Woman’s name for the first time in the franchise, establishing the Amazonian heroine’s existence. While Aquaman hasn’t been referenced until this season, the Arrowverse hasn’t held back on the Easter eggs from Arthur’s mythology. Ever since Crisis on Infinite Earths, The Flash has consistently been bringing up Atlantis through Cisco Ramon, who is the only member of Team Flash who has gone there.
Although, it was never clear if he went underwater to get there or if Earth-Prime’s Atlantis is somehow in the surface world. Since Aquaman hadn’t been brought up, it was fair to assume that Arrowverse’s Atlantis was perhaps different from the DCEU’s counterpart. But now that Batwoman has confirmed him, it seems more likely that their Atlantis is a sunken kingdom. Even if Cisco has never specifically mentioned how he gets there, it might be a common fact among the characters, while being cryptic about it to the viewers. The bigger question now is whether or not Aquaman will make an appearance in the flesh on any of the Arrowverse shows.
Due to the fact that Jason Momoa’s ongoing Aquaman franchise has become one of Warner Bros’s successful properties, it might take some years before Arthur comes to The CW. However, since Luke only said Aquaman, and not Arthur Curry specifically, there is always the possible chance that the Arrowverse has someone else carrying that mantle. They could always pull inspiration from Young Justice: Outsiders where Kaldur’ahm ended up becoming the new Aquaman after Arthur gave up the throne. Only time will tell if the Arrowverse gets to play with Aquaman, but at least now he officially does live in the same world as the other heroes, thanks to Batwoman.
