Spoiler warning: The following article and clip reveal a name-drop in the upcoming Arrow episode "Tribute" that is pretty major. 

There has always been a bat-shaped shadow hanging over Arrow. Stephen Amell's Oliver Queen, billionaire playboy by day, tech-aided vigilante by night, de facto orphan, has certainly shared some key qualities with Bruce Wayne and Batman over the years. It was kind of an unspoken acknowledgement that Oliver Queen and Barry Allen were, in their CW iterations, a kind of Batman and Superman-esque duo. But then we got Supergirl and, shockingly, Superman, which left the door open for us to see ... Batman? It's unlikely, though Evan Valentine made some good arguments last year about how the caped crusader could work on the network.

Before we saw Clark Kent on Supergirl, though, we had plenty of mentions to Kara's cousin, but the series went to great pains to make sure that the two didn't cross over too much. Kara can't be calling on Kal every other week, or vice versa. Still, Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow have made up their own kind of Justice League with their annual crossovers, but once you start introducing Superman and Batman things get complicated. And yet, Oliver Queen doesn't care! Check out this video clip posted today from the upcoming episode "Tribute," where Oliver attempts to throw people off when it comes to his identity as The Green Arrow by suggesting someone else:

[EMBED_TWITTER]https://twitter.com/CW_Arrow/status/920711821849280513?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw[/EMBED_TWITTER]

It's totally not me, it's that other billionaire! Or to be exact, "Photos can be doctored. They could have put Bruce Wayne's head on that body," Mayor Queen tells the press, then turning to ask, "Has Bruce Wayne left Gotham to hang out in Star City recently? No!"

Consider me shooketh: Bruce Wayne has been acknowledged!

Does Oliver know that Bruce Wayne is the Batman? One assumes he's not referencing the baby Bruce Wayne of Gotham. It's worth noting that Gotham is the only other major DC series on right now that isn't connected to the CW's DC universe, and likely never will be. I mean, it's no "Martha," but still, it's a big moment.

Let us know what you think of the name-drop in the comments, and be sure to head back to Collider after "Tribute" to read Kayti Burt's rundown of the episode, and what revealing that name might mean for Arrow moving forward.

Arrow airs Thursday nights on The CW.

arrow-season-5-honor-thy-fathers-image-4
Image via The CW
arrow-season-5-disbanded-image-6
Image via The CW
arrow-season-5-lian-yu-image-4
Image via The CW