Stephen Amell’s [Green] Arrow is “Batman-Lite”…a claim I quiver (pun intended) at whenever I read it on the web. While I’m not saying that people aren’t entitled to their own opinions of things like shows, characters, portrayals, etc., I’ve come to feel that many of the people making this claim are simply doing so because others have stated so in the past, effectively making this a bandwagon claim. That being said, I think this claim began when a few “fans” who weren’t as familiar with source material as they had originally thought decided to spread the word across the internet and so, here I will be addressing each part of the character and the show which make up these complaints including: Name, Persona, Portrayal and Motivations, Storyline(s), and Villains.
Before I begin my argument , I would like to present my hypothesis as to why the claims are made so frequently in comparison to other heroes:
Before anyone gets insulted I would like to clarify I am a HUGE Batman fan as well, but just because I am a huge fan that doesn’t mean I don’t recognize the character’s flaws, flaws some “fans” choose to ignore.
Over Use in the General Non-Comic Media Market
While some people will make the argument that Batman is used often over used in popular media due in part to the character’s many success, I think it’s just due to the publics familiarity with the character, which in turn is due to the fact that the character has been used a lot in non-comic media, which is due to the publics familiarity with the character, and so on and so forth, creating a vicious cycle. The way I see it success isn’t the character’s true reason for his market over use, the past two Batman-based animated TV show: Brave and the Bold, Beware the Batman, both were poorly received critically and subsequently cancelled and the new slew of live-action Batman films are only fairly received despite DC’s choice to consistently pump them out.
Every photo above, that has not been desaturated (black and white) is an animated movie, live action movie, or cartoon that features Batman in a leading role. Lets take a look at what that all means:
18 out of 25 animated movies since Superman Doomsday (2007) feature Batman in an integral role. Funnily enough, DC’s second most recent animated outing Justice League: Throne of Atlantis was critically received in a more positive light than its predecessor Justice League: War, BUT was mainly criticized for its underuse of Batman.
13+ out of 30 live action movies since Superman (1978) have featured Batman in an integral role, with more being a possibility as it is rumored that Batman will be the one who, in a very Nick Fury (a la the MCU) way will gather the Justice League in DC’s newly established DC Cinematic Universe, or DCEU and it is rumored that Ben Affleck will direct and star in 3 more Batman based solo films, upping the number to 16+
12 out of 18 cartoon shows have featured Batman or his multiple wards in integral or starring roles with the last two, as aforementioned before, doing much worse than expected in terms of overall performance.
Although un-pictured, Batman also dominated comic book shelves in comparison to others. Batman, Batman ’66, Batman/Superman, Detective Comics, Batman: Eternal, Gotham Academy, Gotham by Midnight, and Injustice: Gods Among Us are only a few of the current running titles where Batman is a centerpiece. On top of that, if the search were to be expanded to include anything Batman-related at all the list would include the likes of: Grayson, Justice League, Red Hood and Arsenal , Teen Titans, and more. Even without the titles found by expanding the search, Batman related titles dwarf those of any other character and in regards to Green Arrow his only publications in the last 4 years include Green Arrow and a brief stint in Justice League United (formerly Justice League: Canada and before that Justice League of America). Point being there is no comparison to how much more Batman is pushed to the public.
The point of all of this? To prove that Batman (and again I love the guy) is oversaturated above all else. His popularity is driven by his over-marketing. Clearly if you make 30000 Batman toys you’re going to make a profit but that doesn’t mean the profit is what drives the sales and production of further Batman media and products. If DC cut the Batman titles down to 5 and gave Green Arrow 3 more titles (leaving them at 5 and 5) and then gave Green Arrow an animated outing, after some time the Batman cries would fade away and I can almost guarantee sales would eventually equalize.
It is due to this that the whole ideas that “Batman can beat anyone with planning”, “Batman = Bat-God” , and “every villain from a Batman comic is a Batman-villain” were born.
Purpose Served
“This is Batman-lite”, “Totally Batman Lite”, “Wow, so Batman of him” are just some of the complaints I have seen around the web, and now I will begin to address them.
In regards to Arrow’s version of Green Arrow/Oliver Queen being a Batman “rip-off” I must clarify something…YES, Oliver serves as this universe’s version of Bruce in what he symbolizes, nothing more. The big three – referring to Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, are not and should not be a part of The Arrowverse so far. The reasoning for this seems to be to turn the publics focus to lesser know and more minor characters, something they’ve done a splendid job of thus far. What I mean by Oliver being this universe’s version of Bruce…I don’t mean in persona, motivation, appearance, etc… but rather in symbolism. This is where claims of the CW’s “big three” come into play, where in normal comics the “big three” is Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman…the CW’s adaptation includes the likes of [Green] Arrow, The Flash, and (possibly) Vixen, Black Canary… the position is symbolic… the man without powers who stands among the likes of gods.
Another thing that everyone should know is Green Arrow was initially conceived as a Batman rip-off, and for his first 10 years of publication that’s exactly what he was; DC wanted another Batman, so they created one. Whether it was Oliver’s Arrow-Mobile (BatMobile), Arrow-Plane(BatPlane), Arrow-Cave(BatCave), DC purposely wrote the character as a secondary Batman, but after 10-15 years of publication the character began to grow on his own, and ever since then he has “become someone else, become something else”.
Name
The easiest way to combat this complaint is to acknowledge the fact that characters who have colors in front of their names, are rarely called by their full name. Black Canary, Black Lightning, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, etc. are commonly referred to in short: Canary, Lightning, Arrow, Lantern, etc.
While this does combat part of the complaint, it’s also worth noting that Arrow’s earlier seasons took inspiration from the famous Green Arrow storylines, Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters and Green Arrow: Year One, both of which painted a dark, gritty, and primal portrait of who Oliver Queen was. In particular, in The Longbow Hunters, Green Arrow regresses to a more primal state, and even stops using the title “Green Arrow” for a time, and dons a costume in line of Robin Hood, thus becoming, “The Hood”, and “The Vigilante”.
Persona, and Motivations
“He’s dark and brooding, he’s acting like Batman!”
First of all, a character can’t own a genre or emotion, just because Batman is “dark and brooding” doesn’t mean no other character can be, by that logic I suppose Wolverine (introduced in 1974) is also, to some degree, a “rip-off” of Batman (introduced in 1939), because he too (Wolverine) is portrayed as “dark and brooding” at points. I’ve even seen people refer to Marvel’s Daredevil as “Batman-esque” because the show is so dark and at points the character struggles to come to terms with himself.
While Batman is dark and Batman is brooding, but nowhere near as dark as Green Arrow was in Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters, and Green Arrow: Year One (even in the unpopular storyline Cry for Justice). The issue with this is, Green Arrow is no where near as over-saturated into media, as I said before, and so most people only recognize the little non-comic book Green Arrow they have been exposed too (hence people referring to the jokey Oliver as the “more popular version” despite the fact that Longbow Hunters and Year One are two of the most popular Green Arrow books). I’m not saying Oliver isn’t cocky and fun loving, but he certainly isn’t always like that, his New 52, Longbow Hunters, and Year One appearances can attest to that fact. Using the same logic one could then infer that the goofy, stupid Batman seen on Batman: The Brave and the Bold was a ripoff of Green Arrow then…right?
While it certainly is true that Arrow portrays a darker version of Oliver Queen it isn’t the first time – as aforesaid – that we’ve seen that version of the character. When the show began long, gone was the joking political a** featured in the early 2000’s, and in his place we found a version of Queen almost directly torn from the pages of Longbow Hunters, and Year One. Why would they use this version? Simple…to differentiate, not to “make a Batman show without having the rights to Batman”, but to differentiate from Justin Hartley’s Smallville version of the character. Had we been given the same version of the character again fans would have not only questioned the choice to replace Hartley but also question the choice to start a new continuity for this show, rather than keeping it in the continuity established for 10 years by Smallville.
After returning from an island where he had been tortured, beaten, physically and mentally destroyed, etc Arrow’s Oliver Queen returned home as nothing more than an empty shell, something that made sense, he didn’t return happy-go-lucky, and he didn’t return with a big smile because those reactions to what we’ve seen him experience don’t make sense in the slightest. Green Arrow: Year One saw Oliver return from the island in a very similar manner, he didn’t return as “care free” pre-island Oliver, he returned almost exactly as he did on the show; granted the show has drawn his pain out, but in the real world when real emotions are applied healing from that pain whilst simultaneously failing on the one crusade that could pull you out of the crucible is difficult.
This approach to the character is, as aforementioned, is an emotionally realistic take, and if that same logic were to be applied to a character like Batman the results would be drastically different:
Batman (Comic) – Parents killed in front of his eyes 13-15 years before he begins his crusade – His purpose, to make sure no one experiences that by purging the city he lives in of evil (You can debate this point, but there is a reason the portrait of Thomas and Martha Wayne has, and always will play a key role in the Batman mythos)
Green Arrow (CW) – Spends numerous years on an island/in exile where he is tortured, but trained before returning and immediately taking up his crusade – His purpose, to cleanse his city by order of his father who told him of an evil that would destroy the city, then to save his city in general not for a specific purpose, but for the safety of his city
Green Arrow (By Year One standard) -Spends numerous years on an island where he is tortured, but trained before returning and immediately taking up his crusade – His purpose, to cleanse his city and to save his city in general not for a specific purpose, but for the safety of his city
Interestingly, the show applies real world emotions to the character, and one of the reasons Green Arrow is praised by many is because of his real world reactions in a comic book world, to quote an interesting Green Arrow article I saw earlier “Comic book characters often seem like they live in a dreamy, quasi-reality, where things like comic books and blockbuster movies don’t exist. Not so for Green Arrow.”
Portrayal
Stephen Amell’s portrayal of Oliver Queen has been called both “bland” and “emotionless”, to those who state these obscenities I have to ask, do you not watch the show? How can you insult an actor for playing exactly the role he is given? Its one thing if you don’t like this take on the character, but don’t claim its “Batman-Lite” or “bad” simply because you don’t understand or aren’t familiar with the take, similarly this issue arises when fans insult Katie Cassidy’s Laurel Lance for being “too whiney”.
Amell, as aforesaid, does exactly the job he is tasked to do, and will continue to do so. His ability to change from a completely emotionless Oliver, to a different version each season on the island is quite incredible, and the character’s “Season 4 change” expresses just how easily Amell is able to bring his own outside personality (his happiness) into the way he acts. That being said, even with the little emotion he is allowed to show – particularly in the first three seasons – Amell does an amazing job using facial expressions and subtle cues to dictate his mood (see above).
Storylines
Season 1: Oliver Queen v. Malcolm Merlyn
In terms of “accuracy to source material” it should be known that Season 1 of Arrow clearly takes on Oliver’s origin story and that said origin story is pretty faithful to the Green Arrow: Year One storyline. That being said the aspects of the origin and ties to Oliver’s time of the island that are represented through Malcolm Merlyn and his undertaking are relatively new aspects. Although “Merlyn the Archer” is Green Arrow’s top foe in the comics, his name is Arthur King (it was also revealed that Malcolm Merlyn went by that name as well at some point), he does not typically have the extent of manipulation given to Malcolm Merlyn.
In terms of what accuracy to Green Arrow: Year One, the audience is given Oliver, trapped on an island, and fighting China White, although he didn’t initially know it, she eventually reveals herself becomes a physical villain to him. Shado is used in place of Taiana, a woman who saved Oliver, as a means to expand and further connect the storyline in latter seasons. Clearly some liberties were taken as to exactness of each storyline, they had to add storyline here and there to truly flesh out his time whilst he was missing, but the overall effect does more good than bad to the storyline; in the comics it was merely implied that Oliver was already a great archer, whereas now we actually see where this training came from.
Season 2: Oliver Queen v. Slade Wilson
This season chose to expand on the friendship established in Season 1 between Oliver and Slade, the concept of having a friend turned foe ins’t exactly a breakthrough storyline (it’s a commonly used trope) but the effect of the storyline was successful none-the-less. That being said some people still complain that Slade, “Wasn’t Oliver’s friend in the comics” and then go onto praise The Flash, a show where Eobard Thawne aka Barry Allen’s greatest foe, served as a foe-mentor to him in Season 1. Personally, I would equate Slade’s training of Oliver has a creative choice pulled almost directly from the comics. There was a period of time – of about a year – where Oliver “left the world” to further his martial arts training and in that time he encountered Natas, one of the main trainers of Slade Wilson. Rather than training with Natas (and creating an needed low level character) Arrow chose to have Oliver train directly with Slade himself.
Season 3: Oliver v. Ra’s Al Ghul…and Himself?
Ah…Arrow Season 3, the season where the foe-Batman claims reached a high point, and unfortunately – on a separate note – Arrow’s overall storyline really suffered. Once again fans must remember there is no Bruce Wayne/Batman in this universe (despite the easter egg in The Flash pilot purely meant as fan service), his role is comparable to Bruce Wayne’s but in no way is he, Oliver, “taking” the spotlight. Complaints really picked up when Ra’s not only had the classic shirtless battle with Oliver, and when he offered Oliver the spot as the “new Ra’s Al Ghul”, both things that occurred in the Heir to the Demon storyline in Batman comics. But again, Oliver is this world’s version of Batman, he isn’t Batman, but he conceptually is, he is a skilled fighter, almost as skilled as Bruce in the comics, not at first, but after leaving for a year to focus on his training, Bruce even acknowledges his nearly-equal skill level. On top of being able to shoot 26 arrows per minute, he is proficient in judo, wing chun, taekwondo, as well as eskrima. Oliver is proclaimed as a martial arts master, and has shown the ability to take on seven people at once.
He spent several months dedicated to making himself a better fighter and trained with many of the world’s finest martial arts teachers and even went through training from Natas, the same person who trained Deathstroke. He has displayed, on many occasions, that he is an expert in acrobatics and often uses this skill while evading enemy fire.Archery is by far Oliver’s preferred method of hunting. He is proficient enough in hunting to pursue a cougar without it ever noticing. Oliver is also very proficient with a sword, though it is not his weapon of choice. He has beaten Jason Todd in a swordfight and has deflected an incoming arrow with the sword he carries. – DC Wikia
As stated above, Oliver’s training with Deathstroke in Season 2 seems to be an homage to his training in the comics with Natas, and fundamentally both comic book Green Arrow, and the CW’s [Green] Arrow are suitable candidates for the role of Ra’s Al Ghul, the comics simply never acknowledge the fact. Given his ability to act with normal human emotion, and break Batman’s “no kill rule” in comics like Longbow Hunters, Year One, and Cry for Justice, Green Arrow may even be a better candidate. Despite not being as proficient in fighting, nor as intellectually brilliant, both the show and comic version of [Green] Arrow have been shown to be or referred to as brilliant tacticians, making him – again- a suitable candidate.
Why include Ra’s at all you ask? The answer to this is again…simple. Expansion on a storyline the comics simply left hanging, in the comics (confirmed in the PreNew 52 continuity and heavily alluded to in the New 52) Merlyn the Archer is also trained and hunted by Ra’s, the show simply took the existing storyline and expanded on it to include Oliver…which makes sense seeing as Merlyn the Archer (or the Dark Archer as the show calls him) is Green Arrow’s greatest foe.
It’s also extremely note worthy that, while the overall storyline took very few cues from Batman and Ra’s Al Ghul’s long history, those cues were also significantly changed. Bruce refused the role of Ra’s Al Ghul, despite besting Ra’s in a fight to the death and “losing”, on the other hand Oliver chose to accept the role as to save the people closest to him. Bruce was forced into marriage with Talia Al Ghul, someone who loved him back, and Oliver was forced into marriage with Nyssa AlGhul, a lesbian…who loved someone else… and that’s really where the similarities end.
Legends of Tomorrow: Into the Future with Connor Hawke:
I’ve directly tackled in another editorial, here, why the “Terry McGinnis story” is actually a knockoff of the “Connor Hawke story” and not vice versa.
The Nolan “Batman” Influence:
Arrow does a few plot cues from Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, there’s no denying that, but the ways these apparently similarities are used as flaws in mind-blowing. The first and foremost issue with this argument (sorry Nolan fans) is that Nolan’s Batman wasn’t Batman, in any form, Arrow’s GA (Green Arrow) is a less popular version of the character…but still a version none the less. Oliver may not be whipping one liners out here and there, but other than that, his arrogance, and ability to manipulate any self-absorbed situation and make it seem like he is “doing it for a cause” are pretty spot on to the character. On the other hand there is Baleman didn’t really embody some of the mainstays of what it meant to be the Dark Knight. I’m not saying the Nolan films were “bad films”, but they were bad Batman films. On a very general scale Batman has three key characteristics:
Heroism of Zorro
While Batman certainly was a hero in the Nolan trilogy, there was nothing that made him unique, and dos mantra of “anyone can where this cowl and be Batman” was completely out of character. There have been numerous times in the comics where, even with a broken back, Bruce didn’t want to give up wearing the cowl because it was HIS mission.
Stealth and Speed of Dracula
Let’s face it the Nolan films, despite claiming Bruce trained in 137 (I believe?) martial arts, made it look like he went to a few Karate classes and put on a bat costume. There was no speed, or fluidity to his movements, he’d throw a few jabs and a punch. Compare the Nolan fight style to the much more faithful Batman being played by Ben Affleck in Batman v. Superman and you’ll understand the issue. As for stealth, minus a few scenes in Batman Begins we rarely saw Batman navigate the shadows and for that matter…nor does Oliver on the CW
Intellect of Sherlock Holmes
Baleman is indisputably the stupidest version of Batman, minus Batzarro, to ever grace any screen or comic book. Unlike Oliver, who uses outside sources on both the CW [see Season 2.5] and the comics [Q-Core] to build gear and complete his mission as [Green] Arrow, Batman has always relied on his own smarts to be able to defeat most villains. This is a trait that, with except to the bullet tracking scene in The Dark Knight was completely and utterly ignored.
Getting past the core issues, the “Nolan Trilogy” further embodies just how oversaturated, and over-credited Batman has become, people draw parallels between Bruce Wayne’s exile in The Dark Knight Rises and Oliver’s exile after the Season 3’s mid-season finale and claim that he is just “ripping off Batman”. To this claim I say…halt…The Dark Knight Rises was just a poor adaptation of the famous Batman storyline Knightfall, in which Batman has his back broken, and very reluctantly choses a replacement, and goes to rehabilitate himself. On the other hand, The Dark Knight Rises, used a theme that has been used time and time again in works ranging all the way from Shakespeare’s Hamlet to Disney’s The Lion King to Marvel’s Iron Man, so Arrow much like The Dark Knight Rises, The Lion King, Iron Man, and countless other films and tv shows have always and will always be taking queues from age old material.
Villains
“Arrow uses ‘Batman villains'”
Is this true? Not in the slightest, but again this is due to Batman’s over saturation in non-comic book media. Overall there have been well over approximately 317 episodes of animated Batman-related content. While Batman’s rogues gallery is one of the largest in all of comics, both Marvel and DC, even he (Batman) had to pull villains from elsewhere as to not get repetitive within all of those episodes.
A “Batman villain” or a “_____ villain” (hero specific villain) is a villain who draws that hero to them in nearly every appearance. For example, whenever Joker faces lets say Superman, Batman always appears in the storyline because Joker is a Batman villain, when you have one you also have the other. Real Batman villains include the greats…ala Joker, Bane, Scarecrow, Penguin, Riddler, Mr. Freeze, etc. Second rate villains such as Dollmaker and Firefly have faced off against other heroes time and time again without Batman’s intervention.
On the other hand, Green Arrow’s rogues gallery is far smaller in the comics including the likes of Merlyn (Arthur King), Brick, Shado, Edward Fyers, Chine White, Onomatopoeia, Constantine Drakon, Count Vertigo, Komodo and Deathstroke, all of which have been featured on the show (Onomatopoeia was featured in the Season 2.5 comic). With a Rogue’s gallery consisting of about 10 villains, and then a whole bunch of aimless and lame other archers who are villains as well: Ape Archer, Rainbow Archer, the Archer From Mars, Archie the Archer, Beau Brummel the list of lame archer villains goes on, it would be difficult for a Green Arrow show NOT to pull from the vast majority of DC UNIVERSE villains, not Batman villains.
Here are some of the “Batman villains” fans claim Arrow uses:
Ra’s Al Ghul and the League
Ra’s Al Ghul and his League are probably the greyest area on the list below, simply because the logic behind his comic book organization doesn’t make much sense. In the comics Ra’s Al Ghul does train Green Arrow’s main adversary, Merlyn the Archer, and it (may be) the League of Assassins who trained the New 52 version of Merlyn the Archer as well, no issues there. The crux of the Ra’s issue lies in the fact that Ra’s runs a worldwide organization of assassins, and yet he rarely comes into contact with other heroes, Vandal Savage has similar worldwide powers and frequently crosses paths with various heroes. That being said Green Arrow did cross paths with Ra’s in a few issues of Green Arrow and Black Canary, but the two have ye to cross paths again.
Deathstroke
Generally a Teen Titans foe, Deathstroke fought the Green Arrow during the events of Identity Crisis where the hero stabbed him in the eye with an arrow and since then, Deathstroke has targeted the Oliver. On top of this, Deathstroke has an entire 7-9 issue arc where he attempts to kill the Green Arrow after his [Green Arrow’s] year of training with Natas. Interestingly, Deathstroke also serves another purpose, in order to fulfill to goals, create a trainer (turned friend) for Oliver, and a villain for Season 2, the writers seem to have combined the logic that Oliver trained with Natas, Deathstrokes trainer in the comics, and simply made Deathstroke train Oliver – negating the need for an unnecessary third party.
Deadshot
In the comics Deadshot discovers he has a daughter, Zoe, who is being raised in a crime-filled area of Star City. Lawton decides to do right by this daughter, and embarks on a lethal war on the local gangs that plague the area. The storyline eventually ends with Floyd (Deadshot) faking his own death and, having realized a normal life isn’t for him, convincing Green Arrow to patrol the area and city more regularly.
Harley Quinn
First of all, Harley technically never showed up on Arrow, but if she did, so be it! Harley is a member of the Suicide Squad in the New 52, the Suicide Squad that goes off on missions all the time that don’t involve Batman at all…successfully making her one of very few villains to have grown out of the mold of a Batman villain. Also, she and Oliver Queen have one of the most interesting and noteworthy friendships in the Injustice prequel comic as well.
Clock King
The first Clock King was originally an enemy of Green Arrow, but has become more identified by his appearances in Justice League International and Suicide Squad, and subsequent adaptations in Batman: The Animated Series. – BatmanWikia
That’s a quote taken directly from BatmanWikia, a quote justified by nearly every comic book and informational wiki about DC comics on the internet.
Firefly
Throughout the course of his comic run he has faced heroes who are most certainly not Batman. That being said he does normally operate out of Gotham City and has faced Batman more than other heroes. Furthermore, he had one short, meaningless appearance on Arrow, so is it really worth the complaint?
Dollmaker
Again, a fairly low-level and insignificant one-off Arrow villain that isn’t even worth the complaint, that being said Barton Mathis has faced off against other heroes (namely Nightwing) despite operating out of Gotham.
Huntress
The Huntress is an anti-hero in her own right, often striking out on her own, in no way does this make her a Batman villain/associate; yes they are friends, but much more so in the New 52, and that is only due to the fact that she (Huntress) is Helena WAYNE from another Earth.
Anarchy
If Anarky was to be tied to one hero, that would be Robin not Batman, Anarky has been featured in Robin-based stories far more than Batman based stories. BUT, he isn’t simply tied to Robin, what many fans don’t realize is that Anarky disappeared from DC comics for a number of years after a failed outing, writers didn’t want to use the character for fear it would ruin their books but Anarky did return… How did he return you ask? In 2005, James Peaty succeeded in temporarily returning Anarky to publication, writing Green Arrow No.51, Anarky in the USA. Although the character failed to make more outings, the storyline is amongst the most popular as it argued a true real world issue, and it reinvented the cult following of the character.
But What About…Smallville?
My favorite part to the argument that “Arrow is Batman-Lite” is the occasional “pick what evidence supports he is like Batman, and neglect what evidence doesn’t” approach. I recall none of this being the case when Smallville producers essentially said “we are giving you Oliver Queen because we can’t get Bruce Wayne” (a claim they outright made, whereas Arrow’s show runners have at most stated that they would like to maybe have Batman appear) and then proceeded to make Justin Hartley’s Oliver Queen just as dark and gritty as Batman…but had him throw in some quips and one liners that completely changed his mood out of the blue. They also made it Justin Hartley’s Green Arrow who formed the Justice League, something Batman has done a few times (depending on origin story and storyline). Hartley’s Oliver also had a relationship with Lois, something that has been teased a few times between Bruce and Lois, in particular The Batman/Superman Movie (animated).
On top of all of this it is widely believed that the character of “Adam Knight” the rich, brooding teen introduced in Smallville’s third season was initially supposed to be Bruce Wayne but after higher ups pulled the plug the character’s name and story were changed. “Adam” being taken from the first notable actor who played Batman on screen, Adam West, and “Knight” being taken from Batman’s nickname, “The Dark Knight”. It was only after this that the show introduced Oliver Queen in the shows sixth season.
In Conclusion
Overall, and I think this is more clear now that you’ve – hopefully – read everything above, is that this all boils down to Batman’s over use in non-comic media. That is why it’s only when it comes to “The Great Batman” that people seem to crawl out of their caves and make these complaints, better yet, is when people just hop on the bandwagon for the sake of listening to other people.
It’s quite strange that things like the MCU’s portrayal of Iron Man and comic book Doctor Strange have a great deal in common as well, and seeing as Doctor Strange is actually going to be in the MCU…and Batman most likely won’t appear in The Arrowverse, you would wonder why people aren’t complaining. You have two characters, both pompous, arrogant jerks who think they are on top of the world, who both lose or damage a part of their bodies (Stark his heart, Strange his hands) and some how this loss leads to them being humbled, in some form, and becoming heroes…on top of that…they both rock the same exact facial hair! But alas, neither Iron Man nor Doctor Strange have had, 17 Animated Movie appearances, 13+ Live Action movie appearances and 12 Cartoon Show appearances as a large scale character to cement them as Marvel’s most overrated heroes. Ah Iron Man the perfect lead into….Why Arrow’s The Atom is FAR From “Iron-Man Lite”