Last week on The Flash, The CW series unmasked the series’ first Big Bad of Season 9, the mysterious Red Death and revealed a familiar face in that of Batwoman star Javicia Leslie. The final moments of the episode “Rogues of War” saw Red Death take off their mask and reveal themselves to Mark Blaine/Chillblaine (Jon Cor) and, in response to his question about who they were utter the line “I am vengeance”. While fans had long suspected — and series showrunner Eric Wallace largely confirmed — that Leslie would be playing Red Death in the final season, the official reveal was a powerful moment and the Batwoman writers soon took to social media to share their emotional reaction.
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On Twitter, the official Batwoman Writers Room account shared that their heart “aches” that they weren’t working with Leslie, but that they were excited to see her on The Flash — and they were particularly thrilled with her uttering the “vengeance” line.
“Our heart aches that we’re not working with Javicia Leslie but honestly seeing her grow and shine bright this past year makes up for the heartache just a little bit,” they wrote. “And seeing her nail the best Batman line in the franchise history? *chef’s kiss*.”
They went on to express gratitude to Wallace for bringing Leslie back to the Arrowverse, noting that The Flash writers are “so respectful” of Leslie’s character, Ryan Wilder, as well.
“I hope you all know we’ve been fans of Eric’s for a long time. And we hope you all are pouring your love out to him and the writers of The Flash for making this happen,” they wrote. “They are so respectful of Ryan, of her character, and what she means to the world.”
The Flash‘s Red Death storyline has ties to last season’s “Armageddon”.
Wallace previously explained that the idea for bringing Leslie onto The Flash again has its roots in her appearance in last season’s “Armageddon” event.
“It is fair to say that Javicia has something to do with that red lightning bolt,” Wallace said. “I don’t think that’s going to come as a surprise to anyone. The question is how does it happen and why is she here? And also, who exactly is she playing? That’s a mystery that doesn’t get talked about in her initial appearances on the show. Also, how will it affect her relationship with Iris?”
He continued, “One of the happy accidents that happened in Armageddon when we had Javicia over was the discovery of the incredible chemistry between Candice Patton and Javicia Leslie. After seeing that, I literally made a note, ‘We’ve got to do more of this. This is gold.’ When Javicia comes onto the show, one of the most powerful emotional moments is when her character finally interacts with Iris and it’s going to be in a way that folks are not expecting. And it may show you a side of Javicia Leslie that you haven’t seen before because she just knocks it out of the park with performance. It’s something that I think fans are going to just love.”
The Flash airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.
