Batwoman Casts the Arrowverse's Next Major Villain

CBR

By Drew Mollo

Published Feb 8, 2019

The CW's Batwoman just cast the show's main villain, and she's a familiar face to longtime DC TV fans.

As the saying goes, a hero is only as good as their villain, and the latest Batwoman casting announcement has finally given the heroic Kate Kane her on-screen nemesis. Reign's Rachel Skarsten has reportedly been cast as Alice, the villainous lead opposite Ruby Rose's Batwoman for the upcoming CW superhero series.

According to Deadline, Skarsten will play Alice, the leader of the Lewis Carroll-inspired Wonderland Gang who may adopt a Joker/Batman relationship with Rose's Batwoman as the maniacal yet persuasive criminal leader seeks to undermine Kate Kane's efforts to maintain order in a Batman-less Gotham.

The role is a welcome return to the DC Universe for Skarsten who originally portrayed Dinah Lance, also known as the Black Canary in the short-lived Birds of Prey series on the WB back in 2002. Skarsten's filming credits also include a recurring role on Bravo's Imposters and Syfy's Lost Girl.

In comics, Alice is the alias for Elizabeth Kane, Kate Kane's twin sister who was thought to have died during a terrorist kidnapping that killed her mother. Although she survived the event, her mind was broken and she remodeled herself after the character Alice from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.

By the time she debuted in Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III's Detective Comics #854, she was a high-ranking leader in Gotham's Religion of Crime which lead to a confrontation with her sister as Batwoman who was shaken to discover that Alice was her long-thought dead sister after she seemingly perished again.

It is unclear at this time if Batwoman will take inspiration from the comics or take the character in a completely new direction. While the Batwoman strongly implied pilot hasn't officially been picked up as a series yet, CW President Mark Pedowitz that the show had a good chance of being ordered to series.

Written by Caroline Dries and developed by Bertlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television, Batwoman stars Ruby Rose, Rachel Skarsten, Meagan Tandy, Camrus Johnson, and Nicole Kang. There is currently no announced release date for the Batwoman pilot.