A brand-new enemy is coming to Gotham in Season 2 of Batwoman, one with a deep connection to Alice on both the show and in the comics.

Ahead of the Season 2 premiere of Batwoman, Entertainment Weekly spoke with showrunner Caroline Dries and new addition Shivaani Ghai, who will play the villain Safiyah Sohail. Previously teased in Season 1 of the show as a big bad trying to kill the Batwoman and with ties to Alice, Safiyah's arrival in Gotham will signal a number of comic book characters crossing over into the Arrowverse. But as the minor mention of Safiyah didn't reveal much about her intentions beyond her aim to take out the Scarlet Knight, there's still a lot of mystery surrounding her.

"She's not what we expected from Season 1," Ghai said. "She does come across as someone who is quite charming and kind. She has a definite soft spot for Alice. You will learn as we go on that there's definitely a much deeper relationship there."

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Dries teased that the arrival of Safiyah will put Alice in a precarious position, as she's not used to being subordinate to others. But with Kate gone and a new Batwoman prowling the streets in the form of Ryan Wilder, Alice will find herself unmoored in other ways as well.

"In Season 2, Alice starts the season with nothing left to lose, so her perspective of Safiyah shifts a little bit," Dries said. "She's less afraid because she's got [Safiyah] in her sights, and what does she have to lose? Her whole plan for killing her sister went down the drain."

EW also revealed two images from the new season, showcasing Safiyah's look on the series.

In the comics, she has a history with Kate Kane before coming to Gotham and using Alice as a pawn in her plans for domination. The show will take a slightly different approach, with a somewhat older Safiyah keeping the connection to Alice but seemingly severing her source material ties to Kate. With so much unknown, however, we could learn that Safiyah had a hand in Kate's mysterious disappearance, potentially connecting her actions to her comic book counterpart.

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Batwoman stars Javicia Leslie, Rachel Skarsten, Meagan Tandy, Camrus Johnson, Dougray Scott and Nicole Kang. Season 2 premieres on Sunday, Jan. 17 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.

Source: Entertainment Weekly