Titans Season 3 Turns Oracle Into DC’s Own JARVIS

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Titans season 3, episode 7, “51%”

In HBO’s Titans, Oracle has become DC’s version of JARVIS rather than serving as a simple codename for Barbara Gordon as the Bat-Family’s premier hacker. Created by the former Batgirl herself, Oracle is apparently a dangerous and powerful piece of AI technology she fears to use despite being the police commissioner of Gotham. However, when Scarecrow and Red Hood are causing all kinds of mayhem in the city, Dick Grayson’s Nightwing pressures her to use it so they can find Scarecrow and save Gotham before it’s too late.

In the comics, Oracle was the codename that Batgirl took after she was paralyzed by the Joker in the classic story written by Alan Moore titled The Killing Joke. While her paralysis limited her ability to jump rooftops, Barbara was still determined to use her other skills such as her brilliant mind with computers to help the Bat-Family by becoming their “woman in the chair,” providing Batman and his allies with valuable intel and access to various systems when needed. However, Oracle has taken on a much different identity in the third season of HBO’s Titans, becoming a much darker kind of Oracle that Barbara views as a monster.

Similar to the sonar technology Batman used to find the Joker in The Dark Knight, Oracle is a dangerous piece of AI capable of listening to all forms of communication and surveillance, allowing for targets to be found within seconds. However, its voice and mannerisms very much resemble that of the MCU’s JARVIS, Tony Stark’s AI virtual assistant. Similarly, JARVIS was able to access multiple forms of surveillance systems, while also controlling Iron Man’s armor protocols and vast sections of his company as well. However, it seems as though Oracle crosses the line into the territory of being unethical due to its ability to listen and record private conversations. This is the source of Barbara’s fear and is what motivates her to destroy Oracle the very second it’s suggested that Scarecrow has hacked into the dangerous technology she clearly regrets creating.

While Oracle does sound a lot like JARVIS, it’s also possible that the AI could be the precursor to the much darker DC villain known as Brother Eye. Created by Batman in the comics so he could spy on heroes he distrusted, the dangerous AI gained sentience and went rogue, unleashing drones known as OMACs as it attempted to take over during Infinite Crisis. Interestingly enough, Titans’ version of Oracle does look similar to a large eyeball, and Brother Eye was capable of the same levels of intrusive espionage. Perhaps Oracle isn’t yet destroyed as Barbara was led to believe?

In any case, it’s certainly an interesting change that Barbara herself isn’t Oracle, and that the name instead belongs to a dark AI system that sounds a lot like Marvel’s JARVIS. However, it does makes a certain amount of sense given Barbara’s role as Gotham’s police commissioner. Regardless, here’s hoping this new AI version of Oracle doesn’t gain its own independence in future episodes, becoming a brand new threat to be faced as Titans continues.

Titans releases new episodes Thursdays on HBO Max.

About The Author

Kevin Erdmann
(2522 Articles Published)

Kevin Erdmann is one of Screen Rant’s staff writers. With a major in Cinema Studies and a minor in Comics and Cartoon Studies from the UofO, Kevin is pretty sure he’s writing for the right site. While Kevin is a huge Marvel fan, he also loves Batman because he’s Batman and is a firm believer that Han shot first. Disney also shares a big part of his fan patronage. Kevin lives in Oregon with his wonderful wife and sinister cat who is no doubt currently plotting his demise.

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