In episode 6's fight between Barbara Gordon and Lady Vic, Titans season 3 adds something to the superhero genre that the MCU and DCEU have both shied away from. A key figure among Gotham City's youthful crime-fighters, it was only a matter of time until Barbara Gordon arrived in Titans, and season 3 introduces Savannah Welch as the GCPD Commissioner trying to escape her father's shadow. At this point, Barbara has already done her time as Batgirl, and received life-changing injuries following a heinous attack by The Joker (as per DC's The Killing Joke comic). Now a wheelchair user, Barbara's opinion on vigilantes has toughened as she tries to establish order in Gotham through more official channels.
Of course, no member of the Bat Family is ever truly out, and Titans season 3's "Lady Vic" episode finds Barbara lured into a trap when she receives a cryptic message from "Bruce Wayne." Suddenly, Barbara is faced with an old nemesis who's hungry for blood and an intense battle ensues. Barbara and Lady Vic's Titans fight scene incorporates gun play, melee weapons (the Commissioner keeps nightsticks in her chair, like her comic counterpart), physical combat, and high-speed movements. It's everything you'd expect from a superhero action sequence - but with one combatant using a wheelchair.
This is relatively new ground Titans is breaking, as larger superhero franchises such as the MCU and DCEU lag behind in representing persons with disabilities, and wheelchair users in particular. The MCU has Matt Murdock (if you include the Netflix TV shows), who lost his sight in a tragic accident, and Eternals will introduce Makkari, the franchise's first deaf superhero. The DCEU includes Ray Fisher's Cyborg, whose physical injuries led to cybernetic enhancements, and though Professor X played a significant role in Fox's X-Men series, he generally left the violence to others. There's still an overriding feeling that superhero franchises view the physical limits of a wheelchair too restrictive for live-action - even though a quick look over at the current Tokyo Paralympics proves vehemently otherwise.
Seeing Barbara Gordon kick Lady Vic's ass in Titans season 3 is a hugely refreshing wake-up call, shattering any notion that differently-abled superheroes and wheelchair users can't partake in the same superhero shenanigans as any other crime-fighter. MCU and DCEU attitudes to disabilities are works-in-progress, to say the least. War Machine, for example, was paralyzed during Captain America: Civil War's airport battle, but through a mixture of Stark technology and narrative convenience, he's able to resume normal activity exactly as before. While this makes sense in a world of Arc reactors and Pym Particles, magical leg braces aren't necessarily something fans with their own physical impairments can relate to. The most encouraging aspect of Titans' Barbara Gordon fight is how the sequence embraces her differences instead of making them invisible, affording wheelchair users some long-awaited superhero representation.
Titans season 3's latest episode heavily hints Barbara Gordon will transition into Oracle - one of her superhero personas from DC comics. With that and her Commissioner duties, it's unlikely the former Batgirl will join Dick Grayson's Titans on a permanent basis. Nevertheless, Barbara's Lady Vic fight suggests she won't be stuck behind a computer screen either, throwing herself into action when called upon. Titans season 3 deserves credit for utilizing Barbara Gordon in such a way, and the MCU and DCEU with their multiple releases per year would do well to take a cue from the HBO Max TV series.