The CW has released a first look at the character of Stephanie Brown, who is set to appear on Batwoman in Sunday’s episode, “I’ll Give You A Clue.” The episode, centered on a ladies’ night out for Batwoman and friends, pits the hero against Cluemaster, the man who in the comics is Stephanie’s father. Fans have speculated since Cluemaster was announced that Stephanie — or even her costumed identity, Spoiler — could show up on the series, but today marks both the first confirmation that she will, and a first look at the character. Originally a love interest created for the Tim Drake Robin, Stephanie became a fan-favorite character in her own right and has spent time as both Batgirl and Robin over the years.
Arthur Brown is a failed game show host who became the supervillain Cluemaster, a Batman villain who leaves clues behind meant to test the cleverness of those who chase him. Unlike The Riddler, Cluemaster’s clues are straightforward clues, rather than riddles, but also are not always as immediately obvious on the scene.
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“Episode 13 is all about Sophie proving herself to Ryan,” showrunner Caroline Dries told Entertainment Weekly. “Our starting point to this Cluemaster story was: What sort of story can we tell wherein Sophie is pressed to reveal to Ryan that she knows her identity? [Episode 12] was a really dark episode and we wanted something more fun, so girls’ night became our high concept, and then to give it conflict we thought, ‘Well, they can’t have fun for too long, so let’s spoil it,’ and the Stephanie-Arthur story line popped out of [writer Natalie Abrams’] head and we wove it together.”
You can see the photo (via EW) below.
Stephanie originally suited up as Spoiler to stop her father’s criminal ways, in the hopes of forcing him to reform. During one of her father’s crime sprees, she crossed paths with Robin, and developed a little crush on him. That relationship was developed over the course of the rest of Robin’s series, with Stephanie even stepping into the Robin role for a while.
She later became Batgirl after Cassandra Cain vacated the role (and while Barbara Gordon was still paralyzed from the waist down and acting as Oracle). The critically-acclaimed run of Batgirl that centered on Steph ended with the launch of the 2011 publishing initiative The New 52, in which the publisher rebooted their superhero universe and restored Barbara Gordon as Batgirl. The move was vexing for fans, because while the book was good, reinstating Barbara also meant removing a popular new heroine (Steph) from the continuity altogether, and removing Barbara’s disability using super-science, something that reduced visibility and representation for wheelchair users and which some felt disrespectful to the character’s history.
After DC’s Rebirth initiative, Stephanie was restored to the continuity, her history restored, and she returned to her original role as Spoiler, becoming a major character during James Tynion IV’s Detective Comics run, which (like Batwoman) saw the heroes of Gotham working together as a cohesive unit.
