Batwoman: Rachel Maddow Cast as Vesper Fairchild

Batwoman has found its next star in the form of MSNBC host Rachel Maddow. According to new reports from THR, Maddow will be playing Vesper Fairchild, a Gotham-based media personality who's had relationships with Bruce Wayne. The catch? It appears Maddow's version of the character won't actually appear onscreen — at least as of now. Maddow's role is expected to be recurring throughout the first season.

"We consider Vesper Fairchild to be the sardonic Voice of Gotham," said Batwoman showrunner Caroline Dries in a statement. "In addition to Rachel's interest in Batwoman, we thought she'd be the perfect casting choice because her own hard-hitting journalism wildly contrasts Vesper's penchant for snark, gossip and criticism of female superheroes."

Batwoman has been in the news this week after series lead Ruby Rose revealed on The Tonight Show she broke her neck doing a stunt on the show, something which could have a paralyzed her for life.

"I broke my neck basically, on the show, as well," Rose said on the Jimmy Fallon-hosted show. "I did a stunt for a very extended amount of time, like seven hours, and we thought that I broke a rib or fractured a rib. That's like 6 to 12 weeks of healing. So, then I had 6 to 12 weeks of chronic pain and just kept assuming that's what it was." Unfortunately, that was not what it was, and the actual injury was much more serious despite the actress continuing her work on another film.

"I kept seeing these doctors and they're like, 'It's your neck. It's your neck. It just kind of radiates into these nerve endings,'" she recalled. "So, I finally got an MRI and I had to get it in Romania in the middle of a film where I was also doing stunts. I sent it to my doctor who sort of transcribed the whole thing and basically he called and was like, 'You could become paraplegic. This is your spine. Two of your discs have herniated and they've broken all the protective layers. You have this tiny amount that your spine is not severed and if you don't get back, you could become paraplegic. Even just seeping wrong or moving my head in a strange direction. It was really, really terrifying."

Dries executive produces the show with Greg Berlanti. Batwoman stars Ruby Rose, Meagan Tandy, Camrus Johnson, Nicole Kang, Rachel Skarsten, Dougray Scott, and Elizabeth Anweis.

Batwoman premieres Sunday, October 6th at 8/7 p.m. Central on The CW.

Photo by Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images