Reign's Rachel Skarsten to terrorize Kate Kane as the villain of The CW's Batwoman
Aux Features Rachel SkarstenAfter getting a taste of Ruby Rose’s Kate Kane during the CW’s Arrowverse crossover “Elseworlds,” you may have been curious as to who would be squaring off weekly with Kane’s seemingly inherited brooding glare in the upcoming Batwoman series. As it turns out, that honor has been bestowed upon CW alum Rachel Skarsten.
Skarsten has been tapped to play Alice, who will be leading the Lewis Carroll-inspired Wonderland Gang while filling the role of Kane’s main antagonist. We can prepare ourselves for the inevitable comparisons to Joker (because when will we ever actually be free of him?); however, Alice has the room to shine in her own right, as she menacingly toggles between enchanting and certifiable. The Lost Girl actress is the latest addition to the steadily growing supporting cast, joining Camrus Johnson as Luke Fox/Nightwing, Meagan Tandy as Kane’s girlfriend Sophie Moore, and Nicole Kang as Kane’s chipper stepsister Mary Hamilton.
Skarsten is returning to the CW after her stint as Queen Elizabeth on Reign. It should also be noted that her first major role materialized on the 2002 one-season-and-done series Birds of Prey, where she played Dinah Lance during the good old days of The WB. So she isn’t exactly a stranger to the DC televised universe. Hopefully this go-round will be a better fit.
[Via Deadline]
24 Comments
joining Camrus Johnson as Luke Fox/NightwingIsn’t he B?
Ya, I was wondering that too actually.
I really wanted to love the old Birds of Prey series but it was not great. This is cool casting though, I love when the ArrowVerse shows cast vets of earlier iterations of the DC shows like Teri Hatcher and Erica Durance on Supergirl, or John Wesley Shipp and Mark Hamill on The Flash.
Don’t forget Laura Vandervoort Smallvilles Supergirl from S1 and of course Kara’s parents.
Linda Carter, Helen Slater, Dean Cain, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Laura Vendervoort. I’m sure there’s more.
Also Sam Witwer this season on Supergirl, and soon to debut Jon Cryer as Lex Luthor
“Wanting to love” something usually means that you know full well that’s it’s probably going to be incredibly shitty; it’s never a good policy for movies, albums, etc.
I really wanted to love the old Birds of Prey series but it was not great. But it did have that sweet fight scored by t.A.t.U
I worked my way through BoP once and out of that whole season the only thing that didn’t completely suck was the scene where Barbara put on the Batsuit and exoskeleton.The rest, pure trash.
I still consider the late Ian Abercrombie to be the best on-screen Alfred in existance – perfect balance of aloof Butler with a massive heart to offset it. I also seriously teared up when the character he voices in the Green Lantern animated series -Gathet’s first departure coincided with the actor’s passing so he gets to give this really big, emotional goodbye speech and how the world isn’t ready for him & then the screen fades to the dedication (i’m a sucker who cries more over cartoons than real-life though – Stan Lee talking about how anybody can be Spider-man in Into the Spider-verse & the end of Young Justice season 2 also had me balling my eyes out)
I think visually Skarsten works as Alice who basically has to be the villain for the first season as Batwoman writers are still struggling to carry any other villain than her. However, I’m also now mentally comparing that can she pass as Rose’s sister, but that’s always been less of a constraint in these shows.
Why assume that a TV adaptation has to be like the comic books to that degree? Life is just going to make a fool of you
Sure, but Alice as a character and as a villain is so fundamentally tied to her being Kate’s sister that it seems like a plausible first guess. This is pretty different than arguing about what Kate’s hair color should be or should she still be Bruce’s cousin.
Camrus Johnson as Luke Fox/Nightwing, Meagan Tandy as Kane’s girlfriend Sophie Moore, and Nicole Kang as Kane’s chipper stepsister Mary Hamilton.Man, I missed a lot of casting news these last few months. Sidenote, this is going to be one good look cast even by CW Standards.
I just realized there has to be a typo there, right? I mean Luke Fox was Batwing, not Nightwing as that would be a bizarre switch to do. And I write that knowing what a weird stretch it is to get Batwing on this show.
I am assuming it has to be a typo. I mean Luke Fox is Batwang not Nightwing. Also the fan angst over Nightwing not being Dick Grayson would likely be VERY loud and that doesn’t exist. So ya I am going with typo.
I am a huge fan of typos (never with ill will intended), especially when typos are during a conversation about typos, so Batwang is one of the best things I’ve seen all day.
Batwang. Now that’s one hell of a slip.
Get to the important stuff – 1) Is the pilot filming in Chicago? 2) If it’s ordered to series, would it be filmed in Chicago? 3) Where’s the fife? 4) Gimme the fife.
Wait, we’re getting Nightwing? I’m actually interested!…Wait, who the hell is Luke Fox? Where is Dick Grayson? 🙁
As I mentioned above, Luke Fox is Lucius Fox’s son who became Batwing, who in turn was originally the Batman Inc. representative of Africa before Luke took over.Seriously, don’t ask as it won’t become any clearer, but he is a very different character from Dick Grayson. And let’s be real, if CW somehow got the rights to Dick Grayson and the associated mythos, they would be rushing that to series above almost anything else.
“If CW somehow got the rights to Dick Grayson and the associated mythos…”Yeah, the Berlanti-verse version of Dick Grayson is squarely tied to TITANS on the DC Universe service, and Nightwing is clearly coming to that show. There’s no way WB would dilute that brand by re-framing the character as Luke Fox on BATWOMAN.
Oh, man the Birds of Prey TV show was NOT GREAT, but I’m excited for Batwoman.
Will they tie her into the Mad Hatter (unlike the comics)?