Rachel Skarsten Is Batwoman’s Villian
[feature image: DC Comics]
Rachel Skarsten has joined the cast of the CW’s newest Arrowverse drama, Batwoman. She will play the villain Alice opposite Ruby Rose’s Kate Kane/Batwoman.
Rose’s character was introduced in last year’s “Elseworlds” crossover episodes of Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl. The story took the crew to Gotham City where their introduction to Kate Kane was received very well by the Arrowverse fans. According to pilot scribe Caroline Dries (The Vampire Diaries), the episode was a way to lay the ground work for a solo television show: “Our goal was trying to create set ups, story-wise where we could meet her, kinda be intrigued by her, introduce Gotham a little bit.”
Intriguing is definitely a word to use. Kate Kane is the first gay lead character of a live-action superhero series and is played by the openly gay Rose.
Skarsten will play Alice, the leader of her Lewis Carroll-inspired Wonderland Gang. Her character tends to speak in phrases and quotes from his books and has an unpredictable personality that swings between “maniacal and charming.” Alice’s mission is to undermine Gotham’s sense of security, thus threatening Batwoman’s goal to eliminate the city’s criminal resurgence. She is described as Batwoman’s Joker.
The character of Alice was created by George Rucka and J.H. Williams and first introduced in 2009’s Detective Comics #854. Depending on how The CW decides to use Alice, this could be a fun long-term story arc. According to the books, Alice’s real name is Beth Kane, Kate’s twin sister who was thought to be dead. If the CW does decide to follow through with this potential story, Alice eventually turns into a more heroic character as Red Alice. However, fans will have to wait and see.
This will not be the first CW show for Rachel Skarsten. She was originally Dinah Lance in the 2002 series Birds of Prey and later Queen Elizabeth on Reign. She’s also been in season 2 of Bravo’s Imposters and a regular on Syfy’s Lost Girl.
Skarsten posted on her Instagram account, that she’s “thrilled” to be back in the DC universe:
Skarsten will be joining Meagan Tandy as military academy graduate Sophie Moore, Camrus Johnson as Lucius Fox’s son Luke, and Nicole Kang as Kate’s step-sister Mary Hamilton.
Batwoman will be directed by David Nutter (Game of Thrones) and debut later in 2019.
