Savannah Welch Joins ‘Titans’ As Barbara Gordon
by Erik Amaya
Dick Grayson (Brenton Thwaites) is about to meet an Oracle.
Variety reports Six veteran Savannah Welch has joined the cast of Titans as Barbara Gordon. But in a fitting homage to some other versions of the character, this Babs will not be Batgirl. Instead, we’ll meet her as the commissioner of the Gotham Police Department and makes use of a wheelchair. The former is a nod to her status in Batman Beyond while the latter speaks to the decades Barbara spent as Oracle, the DC heroes’ chief information and tactical expert.
As in the post-Crisis comics, the Barbara of Titans was shot by the Joker. The attack paralyzed her and ended her career as Batgirl. And though she has a “combative” relationship with Bruce Wayne (Iain Glen), the return of Grayson to Gotham leads to a “rekindling of their old romance” and the start of a “new crime fighting partnership.” It is not yet clear if she will be doing double duty as commissioner and Oracle, but hope springs eternal for that version of the character to get her proper due in other media.
Oracle was previously played by Dina Meyer on the short-lived WB program Birds of Prey, but as that series only lasted 13 episodes and suffered from a serious cases of 1990s hangover, it never had the chance to develop its characters into iconic forms.
As it happens, Welch is herself an amputee and brings a certain authenticity to Oracle not seen in previous productions. Hopefully, it will aid in giving this version of the character a chance to finally shine.
Titans returns later this year (or early next) on HBO Max.
