Batwoman May Have Just Introduced a Fan-Favorite Batman Villain

Batwoman has already covered a lot of ground so far in its second season, using the debut of Ryan Wilder (Javicia Leslie) to further expand on the world of Gotham City. In nearly every episode of Season 2 thus far, that has involved introducing some sort of new villain — and this week’s episode appeared to be no exception. This week’s installment, “Do Not Resuscitate”, certainly seemed to lay the groundwork for an unexpected — but memorable — villain from Batman’s rogues gallery. Spoilers for Season 2, Episode 6 of Batwoman, “Do Not Resuscitate”, below! Only look if you want to know!

One of the episode’s main plots saw Mary Hamilton (Nicole Kang) and Jacob Kane (Dougray Scott) being kidnapped and held hostage, after doctors at a medical facility set out to find more of the Desert Rose cure that was unleashed on Gotham after Alice’s (Rachel Skarsten) bat attack. The doctors sent one of their patients to actually carry out the kidnapping, and as the episode went along, more details surrounding him began to be revealed.

For one thing, the patient would often be thrown into fits of uncontrollable range, some of which left Jacob or Mary severely injured. As the patient later revealed, he had been subjected to an experimental UV therapy by Hamilton Dynamics, which had unintentionally caused a cancer to manifest in his brain and impact his amygdala.

While the patient’s arc ended somewhat unceremoniously, as Ryan Wilder/Batwoman (Javicia Leslie) showed up and fought him, before being accosted by the False Face Society. But it certainly seemed like the patient was set to be Batwoman‘s version of Amygdala, a Batman villain who has appeared sporadically in the comics across the past three decades.

Debuting in Batman: Shadow of the Bat #3 — just two issues after Victor Zsasz, who appeared earlier in this season — Aaron Helzinger/Amygdala is a man whose amygdala was removed entirely, causing him to be an exceedingly angry pawn who was manipulated into doing the bidding of multiple Batman villains, including Jeremy Arkham and Ventriloquist. Amygdala later went on to become reformed and served as a friend of Dick Grayson/Nightwing. Later, he would go on to serve on the Secret Society of Super Villains in Infinite Crisis. He most recently appeared in DC Rebirth, as one of the many villains trying to kill Batman.

This wouldn’t be Amygdala’s first foray into live-action, as he first was portrayed by Stink Fisher in Season 2 of Gotham. Still, his inclusion in the world of Batwoman is definitely interesting, and further expands what colorful characters its version of Gotham is filled with.

Batwoman airs Sundays at 8/7c on The CW.