And she almost did it too. But Sofia underestimated the odds stacked against women in her situation and soon found herself back in Arkham, under the control of her psychatrist Dr. Julian Rush.
The one bit of hope for Sofia comes in a letter receives from her half-sister Selina Kyle, who not only knows what it’s like to be a woman in Gotham’s margins, but also understands the violence perpetuated by their father. Will they team-up in The Batman: Part II? Sofia isn’t nearly ass important a character in the comics, but no one would complain about getting more Milioti dominating the screen.
Were There Any Other Villains in The Penguin?
Sofia Gigante isn’t the only new baddie to join the world of The Batman in The Penguin. The series loved to make nods at other comic book characters, most notably Oz’s moll Eve Karlo (Carmen Ejogo).
As discussed elsewhere at Den of Geek, the name Karlo brings to mind Basil Karlo, the secret identity of the original Clayface. Before turning into a big brown glob of shapechanging goo, Clayface was a master of disguise, who used classical theatrical tricks to commit crimes. Eve Karlo seems to use disguises as part of her sex work, as demonstrated by her dressing up like Oz’s mother at the end of the finale. We don’t ever see Eve harming people in disguises, but Oz may make use of her skills against Mr. Vengence in the sequel.
We got a couple of glimpses of other villains, including the mad scientist Dr. Bloom and the blissed-out petty thief Magpie. But the biggest potential big bad masqueraded as a good guy.
At first, Dr. Julian Rush (Theo Rossi) seemed like a welcome bit of kindness for the beleaguered Sofia, locked away in Arkham. However, his soft-spoken demeanor soon revealed a lust for control, one that continued even after he seemed trapped under Sofia’s thumb. Many had speculated that Rush would be an established Batman villain, maybe Jonathan Crane aka the Scarecrow, Julian Day aka the Calendar Man, or Dr. Hugo Strange.
