Before Batwoman‘s debut, one of the things that showrunners promised was that The CW series would not be repeating Arrowverse villains. That meant that the foes Kate Kane (Ruby Rose) would end up facing when she suited up as Gotham’s new hero would all be ones not yet represented on Arrow, The Flash, or DC’s Legends of Tomorrow — the three shows that take place on Earth-1. Tonight’s episode of Batwoman, “Who Are You?”, makes good on that with the introduction of Magpie — a villain that will see Batwoman tested in a whole new way.
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In comics, Magpie first appeared in The Man of Steel #3 from 1986. Created by John Byrne, Magpie — real name Margaret Pye — was a museum curator who slowly goes mad from being surrounded by beautiful things that she can never own. She ultimately turns into a jewel thief who particularly targets jewels named for birds, replacing them with booby-trapped replicas. In comics, she has the distinction of being the first post-Crisis continuity villain fought by both Batman and Superman working together. In fact, it is Batman’s skill in tracking and dealing with Magpie that convinces Superman of the need for Batman in Gotham.
That latter bit, about Magpie helping Superman see the need for Batman in Gotham, is of particular interest for tonight’s episode of Batwoman because Magpie is the first villain that fans will see the titular heroine take on having officially taken on the Batwoman identity. It is likely that Magpie will serve as a way for Batwoman to prove herself to Gotham — as well on some level to Kate Kane herself as she establishes herself. That opportunity to establish Batwoman despite the character having appeared in last year’s “Elseworlds” crossover, is something that executive producer Sarah Schechter spoke about earlier this year.
“It’s actually really fun,” executive producer Sarah Schechter told reporters in August of the series’ structure. “I kind of wish we could do it on every show because you get to kind of just be with the character and not have to have all of the explanation and introduce the world and you really just get, sort of, a flavor of who they are. Then you can kind of go back in and fill it. I wish we could just honestly, it’s a great way to do it because it’s less pressure than ‘Here’s the world. Here’s all the people. We are going to tell you everything you need to know in 42 minutes and go.’”
“So it was actually a great advantage to be able to do that, I think, in this show because then it also meant, when we did the pilot, we could really because I think this cast is incredible and it was fun to be able to spend time with everyone,” Schechter continued. “And I think, if we hadn’t known Kate a little bit, it would be harder to have the bandwidth to do that.”
Are you excited for Magpie’s appearance in tonight’s Batwoman? Let us know in the comments below.
Batwoman airs Sundays at 8/7c on The CW. “Who Are You?” debuts tonight.
