Batman: Caped Crusader: Linton Midnite, Explained

Batman: Caped Crusader is the latest animated take on The Dark Knight, giving the character a new show that somewhat hearkens back to his Golden Age roots. Due to this, numerous classic Batman villains and supporting cast members appear in the show, expanding upon his world in its first 10-episode season. Oddly enough, it also goes beyond the world of Gotham City to introduce a completely unrelated DC Comics character.

Also known as Papa Midnite, Linton Midnite plays a key role in Batman: Caped Crusader. In the comics, he has nothing to do with Batman, but instead runs afoul of another DC character entirely. His presence in the new animated series suggests that this character may also exist in the world of Caped Crusader, though he’s likely further across the pond.

Papa Midnite Is a Friend and Foe of John Constantine

Debut: Hellblazer #1 by Jamie Delano and John Ridgway

Papa Midnite debuted in the first issue of Hellblazer, which was the solo series for John Constantine under the Vertigo imprint. Constantine had debuted in Alan Moore’s Saga of the Swamp Thing, with the magical miscreant from Liverpool quickly becoming a cynical fan favorite. Papa Midnite was an occult expert who was also immortal due to a series of curses and magical mishaps. This began in the 1800s, when Papa Midnite — born Linton Midnite — was taught these dark arts in his home country of Jamaica.

Initially, Papa Midnite was simply content with doing mere tricks, but after he betrayed a planned slave rebellion, he began to seek true power. He finally gained these greater abilities after sacrificing his beloved sister, selling her soul to demons. In the modern era, Papa Midnite was a Vodun Houngan (or “voodoo priest”) with a vast criminal empire, allowing him to constantly live large in his base of power in New York. This involved not only violent cage matches against mindless voodoo zombies, but other magical missions, namely the acquisition of powerful artifacts and treasures.

Chief among the latter was the “Ace of Winchesters” rifle, which is one of several such mystical weapons in his arsenal that bolster his own arcane abilities. In the first story arc of the Hellblazer comic book, John Constantine seeks Midnite’s aid to deal with the hungry demon known as Mnemoth. This wasn’t their first encounter with each other, with Midnite well aware of Constantine’s trickery and treachery. In fact, dealing with Mnemoth means the end for Constantine’s drug-addicted friend Gary Lester, with even Midnite noting how cold John was about the situation. Since then, Papa Midnite has appeared in various other Hellblazer and Constantine comic books, including his rebooted New 52 comics.

Papa Midnite also starred in his own miniseries that further highlighted his origin story. He even showed up in the 2005 Constantine movie and the 2014 Constantine TV series, with the latter largely being seen as a much better adaptation of John Constantine and his mythos. Nevertheless, even the movie got Papa Midnite right in terms of accuracy, and his appearance in the film (played by actor Djimon Honsou) inspired a redesign in the comics. At the same time, he hasn’t had as many interactions with other DC characters, with even Batman and his family of Robins being perhaps too family friendly. He now has a new adaptation beyond the printed page, but it doesn’t involve Constantine.

Batman: Caped Crusader Features a Constantine Foe

In “Night Ride,” the sixth episode of Batman: Caped Crusader, The Dark Knight comes to blows with a foe that’s far beyond his usual enemies, and far from beyond the grave. This is none other than undead highway robber Jim Craddock, aka the Gentleman Ghost. The latter is almost always an enemy of Hawkman, which makes sense given that the Golden Age Hawkman is known for reincarnating throughout history. After multiple encounters, Batman and his butler, Alfred Pennyworth, decide that the foe might truly be a supernatural being. For this reason, Batman seeks out the aid of a man named Linton Midnite who owns an occult shop in Gotham City.

After speaking with Midnite, Batman is tasked with reading an old incantation and using the blood of a nobleman (Alfred’s blood, given his lineage) to defeat the spirit of Craddock. After defeating the ghost and drawing him out of Alfred’s body following a temporary possession, he lures him into a vial that he gives to Papa Midnite. Recognizing the voodoo priest, Craddock’s spirit screams out in terror from the vial and begs not to be left with the occult master. When Batman asks what Midnite plans to do with him, he responds that said actions are better left unspoken. Beyond residing in Gotham City instead of New York, this characterization is fairly close to the source material. Given how well the somewhat obscure character of Papa Midnite is adapted, it’s possible that the universe of Batman: Caped Crusader also contains a certain other magical DC character.

Is John Constantine In Batman: Caped Crusader?

Despite the presence of Papa Midnite, John Constantine himself is not seen or mentioned in Batman: Caped Crusader. This makes some sense, as Midnite is an acquaintance of Constantine’s, but not directly tied to him. At the same time, it’s obvious that the chronology of the series is still fairly early in The Dark Knight’s career. While Batman isn’t a rookie in Batman: Caped Crusader, he’s only now fighting versions of his most iconic foes. These include fresh incarnations of The Penguin, mob boss Rupert Thorne, a completely original take on Harley Quinn, the tragic Harvey Dent/Two-Face and the femme fatale, Catwoman. While many of these characters are based, at least loosely, on the Golden Age of Comics, this isn’t the only era of DC Comics that the show pulls from.

After all, Harley Quinn wasn’t introduced until Batman: The Animated Series, which came out in the 1990s. Likewise, the versions of Catwoman and the disfigured actor Clayface combine elements of the Golden Age iterations with other takes on the familiar villains. Thus, a post-Crisis on Infinite Earths character such as John Constantine might also already exist in this world. After all, Papa Midnite is there, but this could be tied to the fact that he’s immortal, allowing things to make sense in a 1940s-inspired world. This creates the possibility of a much wider universe in Batman: Caped Crusader, with various other characters and concepts existing beyond the streets of Gotham City. The one issue that might keep Constantine from being around is how exactly he would work in the time period.

Constantine is a character who’s very much born of the 1980s, and arguably only works during or after that time period. In the original mature-oriented Hellblazer comic books, his actions and antics were in many ways a reaction to the growing right-wing political sentiments of Margaret Thatcher’s government in 1980s Britain. Likewise, he was equally defined by punk rank and its sense of anarchy, namely in defiance of what many musicians at the time saw as supposed fascism. The lack of these exact concepts or close parallels to them might make it hard for John Constantine to work in a Golden Age-inspired environment, though punk rock could perhaps be exchanged for jazz music. Regardless of whether Constantine himself shows up or gets referenced in Season 2 of Batman: Caped Crusader, his begrudging “ally” Papa Midnite has already cast his own dark shadow.

Batman: Caped Crusader is now streaming on Prime Video.