The following contains spoilers for The Flash Season 9, Episode 5, "The Mask of the Red Death, Part 2," which debuted Wednesday, March 8 on The CW.

At first, Javicia Leslie's Red Death, The Flash's twisted Batwoman, shocked fans with a performance that was over-the-top, even for The CW series. However, Red Death was a chance for The Flash's writers to honor the long history of Batman in film and TV, including his often-overlooked camp era.

Of all the Arrowverse series, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow embraced the sillier side of comic book storytelling. The show makes characters like Gorilla Grodd or Rainbow Raider permanent fixtures. When Evil Ryan met Iris, Leslie's performance was more understated, growing in intensity until she dropped a Michael Keaton Batman classic, "You wanna get nuts? Let's get nuts." And get nuts the show did. From the vague psychic magic and sci-fi tech involved in the plan to the moments immediately after the fight, the show was closer to Batman the TV series than Matt Reeves' Dark Knight. During the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, Burt Ward appeared in practically the first scene. The producers at the Berlanti Hall of Justice honor all of the past DC iterations, which include the aforementioned TV show and Joel Schumacher's films that leaned into the camp side of Batman.

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Javicia Leslie's Red Death Fits In With Batman's Campy Rogues

On cutting loose as Red Death, Leslie and the producers took it seriously: " I'm very small. If you see me next to…the [other] actors, I am smaller than all of them. Seeing that much rage really lifted her [up] and made her feel more intimidating. It was a scary thing to do, but I am really excited that I did it. We took chances." From Cesar Romero chewing scenery as The Joker to Tommy Lee Jones hamming it up as Two-Face, the campy rogues have one thing in common. Everyone involved in the storytelling should play it like Shakespeare.

Just like The Bard's classics, it's all a little silly. Still, whatever creative ephemera "grounded" acting requires is also needed here. Some fans, most of them literal children at the time, saw the TV series, Batman Forever or Batman and Robin as nothing but serious business. The Flash treats their silly bits the same way. For example, Grodd is a psychic, sentient CGI gorilla. Yet, even in this episode, he's more grounded than The Flash's new rogues. Barry saves the day by reminding him how to be hopeful. When Batwoman asks if Central City is always so exciting, the "Good" Rogues answer, in unison, "It's Wednesday!" followed by a big group laugh. Pure cornball nonsense, but as foundational to this kind of storytelling as the mythic parallels and psychological human allegories.

Anyone who watched Batwoman knows that Leslie can deliver grounded, emotional performances. As Red Death, viewers now know Leslie can also serve up over-the-top camp, still raw with emotion. "I will always and forever be a part of [the Batverse]," Leslie told CBR, "It was an honor." Yet, unlike Christian Bale or Robert Pattinson, Leslie has experienced the full spectrum of Bat-adaptation. Like Eartha Kitt's Catwoman, Javicia Leslie's Red Death delivers lines that will make kids gasp with worry about their heroes, while parents laugh with the show.

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The Flash and the Arrowverse Aren't Afraid of the 'Fun' Side of DC History

Jim Carrey dressed as the Riddler with Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face

One way that Marvel Studios surprised fans and Hollywood with Spider-Man: No Way Home was by embracing the past versions of Spider-Man. Andrew Garfield's movies ended very ignominiously. Even he likely wouldn't blame Marvel for not reminding viewers they existed. The Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Arrowverse share many qualities, including no compunction about embracing past adaptations. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law paid homage to the 1970s The Incredible Hulk TV series. Everyone from Ben Affleck's Daredevil to Nicolas Cage's Ghost Rider probably shows up in Avengers: Secret War. This is exactly what the Arrowverse did with Crisis on Infinite Earths.

The event was meant to be an ambitious crossover, not a small feat in the year Avengers: Endgame debuted. Producers brought in a number of figures, like Ward. Robert Wuhl played Alexander Knox from Tim Burton's Batman. Tom Welling reprised his Clark Kent from Smallville. Even "forgotten" DC Comics shows like Birds of Prey were honored. The event was such a cavalcade of DC history, the studio effectively forced the producers to include Ezra Miller's Flash as a cameo, after previously saying TV couldn't touch the old DC Extended Universe. Allowing Javicia Leslie to go all out as Red Death continued the tradition of honoring even the parts Warner Bros. wants to forget.

Adam West's Bright Knight or either of Joel Schumacher's Dark-ish Knights are someone's favorite Batman. Leslie's performance fits squarely in that tradition, including being underappreciated by fans who like their villains gloomier or, at least, more practical. Javicia Leslie is the only actor since West to wear a Batsuit this long on TV. It's only fitting that part of her swan song is a campy number with a performance big enough to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the giants of the Batverse who came before her.

The Flash debuts new episodes Wednesdays at 8 PM ET on The CW, and the complete Batwoman series is streaming on HBO Max.