2:00pm PT by Lesley Goldberg

Rachel Maddow Joins The CW's 'Batwoman' (Exclusive)

The MSNBC political commentator is expected to have a role in multiple episodes — but there's a catch.
THR; The CW
Rachel Maddow (left) and Ruby Rose as Kate Kane in The CW's 'Batwoman.'

Rachel Maddow is heading to The CW's Batwoman.

The MSNBC host — currently enjoying a big ratings bump amid talk of a presidential  impeachment — will have a key role in the Ruby Rose-led drama.

Maddow takes on the role of Vesper Fairchild, a character from the Batman comics. Fairchild is a television and radio personality who had a romantic relationship with Bruce Wayne (Batman). The Batwoman catch is that Maddow's Fairchild will never appear onscreen — at least there are no current plans for her to do so. Still, Maddow is expected to "appear" in multiple episodes starting with Sunday's series debut.

This will be the political commentator's second connection to the world of Batwoman, the DC Comics series about an out lesbian superhero. She previously wrote an introduction for the 2010 deluxe hardcover edition of writer Greg Rucka's Batwoman graphic novel Elegy. (That collected Detective Comics issues 854-860.)
 
 
"We consider Vesper Fairchild to be the sardonic Voice of Gotham," Batwoman showrunner Caroline Dries told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement. "In addition to Rachel’s interest in Batwoman, we thought she’d be the perfect casting choice because her own hard-hitting journalism wildly contrasts Vesper’s penchant for snark, gossip and criticism of female superheroes."   
 
Debuting Sunday, Oct. 6, at 8 p.m., The CW's Batwoman is exec produced by Greg Berlanti and Dries (The Vampire Diaries). Ruby Rose (Orange Is the New Black) takes on the lead role of Batwoman/Kate Kane. Batwoman, part of The CW's swelling Arrow-verse, has the distinction of being primetime television's first show with an out lesbian superhero as its lead (that also happens to be played by an out actress).

As for how Maddow's character fits into the network's Arrow-verse, it's worth noting that in last year's Elseworlds crossover, it was revealed that Fairchild previously had an intimate relationship with Oliver Queen/Arrow (Stephen Amell).

Here's the latest trailer for Batwoman.

Lesley Goldberg

Lesley Goldberg

Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com Snoodit

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