Caped Crusader Has A Flower-Themed Villain — However It is Not Poison Ivy

Spoilers for “Batman: Caped Crusader” Season 2 Episode 7, “Her Darkish Reflection.”

“Batman: Caped Crusader” makes a degree of not depicting traditional Batman villains within the methods most followers would count on. Sequence developer Bruce Timm, most well-known as co-creator of the beloved “Batman: The Animated Sequence,” has made it clear he did not simply need to revive that present, however do one thing distinctive.

Therefore, final season on “Caped Crusader,” we had a Harvey Dent/Two-Face (Deidrich Bader) who really grew to become a greater particular person after getting acid thrown in his face. “Caped Crusader” Season 2 brings in lots of extra of the Gotham Metropolis rogues gallery A-list, and the revamping does not cease.

Essentially the most baffling change is, sadly, additionally the villain who will get essentially the most display time: Eddie Nygma/The Riddler (Ronan Raftery). Right here, he is not a genius obsessive about puzzles, riddles, and proving himself smarter than Batman; he is a Tommy gun-wielding gangster. (The nickname appears to discuss with how he “riddles” his victims with bullets, which … not essentially the most intuitive label.) The “Caped Crusader” Riddler is genuinely despicable, however at the very least he will get his comeuppance in “Her Darkish Reflection.”

The “Caped Crusader” Season 2 trailer confirmed a red-haired lady wearing inexperienced who fights with a whip. Most Bat-fans, yours actually included, rushed to the conclusion this was Poison Ivy. “Batman: The Animated Sequence” featured Ivy (Diane Pershing) closely and has formed future portrayals, and depicting her as a glamorous, movie noir femme fatale feels just like the type of reinvention that’d slot in “Caped Crusader.”

However we have been fallacious. The villainess is definitely a way more obscure plant-themed DC character: Rose and Thorn, named for her contrasting twin personalities. To underline how below the radar Rose and Thorn are, that is their first look in animation.

Rose and Thorn within the comics have little to no ties to Batman — however there’s inventive overlap between her and Poison Ivy. The unique model, Rose Canton, was created as a villain for the Flash in 1947 by John Broome and Carmine Infantino. A brand new model, named Rose Forrest, debuted in 1970’s “Superman’s Girlfriend: Lois Lane” #105, created by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru. 

Infantino and Kanigher, alongside Sheldon Moldoff, are additionally the co-creators of Poison Ivy, who debuted in 1966 after the Adam West “Batman” TV present created demand for extra feminine villains. Rose and Thorn reveals Infantino had created a plant-themed villainess 20 years earlier than Poison Ivy, whereas Poison Ivy might need in flip impressed Kanigher’s reintroduction of Rose and Thorn.

In “Caped Crusader,” Rose Forrest (Fryda Wolff) is the daughter of a flower store proprietor murdered by the Riddler. Thorn seemingly wakes up by the cracks of Rose’s damaged coronary heart and devises her vengeance. She places collectively a moll persona (together with a darkish purple wig that pointedly conceals half her face), seduces the Riddler, and even helps him tackle Batman. As soon as Eddie’s belief in her is cemented, Thorn lures Riddler to his dying, riddling him with bullets like so a lot of his victims.

Rose and Thorn hadn’t been utterly forgotten by DC Comics earlier than “Caped Crusader.” In 2004, author Gail Simone penned an eponymous Rose and Thorn comedian miniseries. However anecdotally, Rose and Thorn continues to be obscure sufficient that I, a card-carrying DC skilled, did not acknowledge her at first in “Caped Crusader.” That includes a personality no different Batman cartoon has, although, was a way more refreshing selection than what I would first feared: a Poison Ivy watered down into the Riddler’s sidekick.

“Batman: Caped Crusader” is streaming on Prime Video.