‘Batwoman’ Adds Rachel Skarsten As Its Villain, Alice
The ‘Batwoman’ pilot has found its main villain, as Rachel Skarsten lands the role of “Alice” in the superhero drama.
Armed with a passion for social justice and a flair for speaking her mind, Kate Kane (Ruby Rose) soars onto the streets of Gotham as Batwoman, an out lesbian and highly trained street fighter primed to snuff out the failing city’s criminal resurgence. But don’t call her a hero yet. In a city desperate for a saviour, Kate must overcome her own demons before embracing the call to be Gotham’s symbol of hope.
Skarsten is set to play Alice, leader of the Wonderland Gang, a Lewis Carroll–inspired group of villains. Alice is somewhat like Batwoman’s Joker, described as swinging unpredictably between maniacal and charming, she has made it her mission to undermine Gotham’s sense of security.
Created by Greg Rucka and J. H. Williams III, Alice first appeared in the comic books in 2009, although the tv version does seem to have tweaked a few elements of the character. In the books, she is a former high madame of the Religion of Crime. In the tv show, they have “borrowed” the Wonderland Gang from the better-known villain Mad Hatter (aka Jervis Tetch), someone, in the books, she vehemently denies any connection to. However, it is a change which makes perfect sense, and monkeying around with established DC Comics tropes is nothing new for a DC/CW show. They seem to be avoiding giving away Alice’s true identity in any of the press releases, so I won’t mention it here, but you can find out if you do some googling of the character… As I mentioned though, the Arrowverse does not always follow the comics.
This marks a return to DC Comics for Rachel Skarsten, who previously starred as Dinah Lance/Black Canary in the short-lived ‘Birds Of Prey’ tv series. Since then she has appeared in numerous series including a recurring role as Tasmin in ‘Lost Girl’ and a main role as Elizabeth I of England in ‘Reign’.
Skarsten joins the previously announced cast of Ruby Rose (‘Orange Is The New Black’) as Kate Kane/Batwoman, Camrus Johnson (‘Luke Cage’) as Luke Fox/Batwing, Meagan Tandy (‘Teen Wolf’) as Kate’s ex-girlfriend, Sophie Moore, & Nicole Kang (‘YOU’) as Kate’s step-sister, Mary Hamilton.
‘Batwoman’ is still only a pilot at the moment, although we think has a pretty good chance of being picked up and joining the rest of the Arrowverse on The CW. We’ll let you know when we hear more.
