Batwoman: Who Is Julia Pennyworth?

As Batwoman‘s first season continues to unfold, The CW series continues to introduce new characters into the Arrowverse by way of the titular heroine’s Gotham. Thus far, most of those new faces have been villains, such as Tommy Elliot and Magpie, but this week we’ll be introduced to a new and somewhat unexpected face. Thanks to previously released photos from Entertainment Weekly, we know that “Tell Me the Truth” will introduce Julia Pennyworth to the series. Julia, the daughter of Batman’s loyal butler Alfred, will be played by The Royals’ Christina Wolfe in the episode but who is the mysterious character? It’s something we can look to comics to find out a bit more.

There have actually been two takes on Alfred’s daughter Julia in comics. The first, Julia Remarque, made her debut in Detective Comics #501 in 1981. The daughter of Alfred Pennyworth and French heroine Mademoiselle Marie, Julia was actually raised by a friend of her mother’s and was unaware initially that Alfred was her father and instead believed him to be her mother’s killer. This version also had something of a relationship with Batman/Bruce Wayne but was erased from existence due to Crisis on Infinite Earths.

A new version of Julia Pennyworth — and presumably the version Batwoman will lean closer to — first appeared in Batman Vol. 2 #28 in April 2014. This version was at one point an agent for the Special Reconnaissance Regiment before assisting with the Bat Family as a mission control figure. In comics she also helped Batwoman in a mission to track down and stop the spread of the Monster Venom bioweapon as well as the hunt for the terrorist group The Many Arms of Death who was behind the sale and distribution of Monster Venom and other weapons.

It’s the efforts to take down the Many Arms of Death that Batwoman appears to be working towards in tonight’s episode. “Tell Me the Truth” is set to introduce a comic-accurate member of the group, The Rifle (Garfield Wilson.)

The introduction The Rifle and Julia Pennyworth is just the latest example of Batwoman’s efforts to carve its own path in the Arrowverse with new characters and new villains never before used in the interconnected world.

“We are not going to repeat villains from the Arrowverse; we’re using a whole new chapter of villains and heroes,” showrunner Caroline Dries explained earlier this year.

“That was really important to me as we were breaking the crossover is that I want to really keep the tone of our show in Gotham and very grounded.” Dries revealed earlier this year. “We are just starting out, and our characters it’s not normal for them to interact with aliens and travel to different universes and stuff like that. So that is the first thing I brought up to the writers’ the major writers’ room as we were breaking the crossover, like, ‘This is the thing that’s important to me.’”

Batwoman airs Sundays at 8/7c on The CW. “Tell Me the Truth” will air on November 17th.