Vancouver is no stranger to superheroes. Clark Kent spent years in the Lower Mainland on the TV show Smallville before graduating to the big screen and finally pulling on a pair of tights last year for Man of Steel. Members of the Watchmen, X-Men and Fantastic Four have also all plied their trade in the area.
Vancouver is also home to notable crime-fighters such as Green Lantern (Ryan Reynolds) and the Green Hornet (Seth Rogen) as well as the current setting for a Green Arrow television series.
Possibly this is all somehow connected to the City of Vancouver's Greenest City Action Plan.
While these may be the heroes Vancouver deserves, apparently one well-known superhero has decided they aren’t the ones we need right now.
The masked vigilante known as Batman recently posed for photos on a downtown rooftop with members of the Vancouver Police Department. While the VPD have yet to activate a bat signal, they refused to confirm the nature of their relationship with the Dark Knight. When contactedby by the Courier via Twitter, a spokesperson for the VPD said only that it was "top secret superhero business."
Of course, this is far from the first Batman sighting in Vancouver. Sharp-eyed viewers of Tim Burton’s original 1989 Batman movie may recall that, in a crucial scene when Gotham Gazette reporters were first breaking the story about a man dressed like a rodent who enjoyed beating criminals to a bloody pulp, they inexplicably pointed to a map of Vancouver to make their case. The North Burnaby area in particular was known for being a hotbed of Batman activity along with, according to notes scrawled on the map, YVR airport. If Christopher Nolan had been the director, Batman probably would've been spotted patrolling the mean streets of Surrey in order for it to seem more realistic.
Curiously, there were no Batman sightings near Gotham Steakhouse on Seymour Street.
Vancouver is rumoured to be in the running to be the location for filming of the upcoming Zack Snyder blockbuster Batman vs. Superman. If so, let’s just hope the caped crusader manages to stay out of Brandi’s this time around.
