As Gotham gears up for its fifth and final season, its ever-increasing list of villains has just added another to the roster. The popular DC prequel series largely follows the origin story of Bruce Wayne’s Batman alter-ego, but each season also explores the beginnings of its iconic villains. Magpie is the next villain to enter the show for its next season.
At a panel at last weekend’s Fan Expo Canada, Robin Lord Taylor, who played a well-regarded version of Penguin since the first season, revealed that the show’s roster of villains would be getting even bigger than the season four finale suggested. In another case of classic comic book wordplay, Margaret Pye, known as her alter-ego Magpie, will join Gotham at some point in season five. Taylor confirmed the news but didn’t go so far as to reveal who had been cast in the role.
For the uninitiated, Magpie is a villain first introduced to Gotham in the cross-over Man of Steel 3 in which Superman and Batman teamed up to combat the lucrative jewel thief. As her name suggests, Magpie goes after all things shiny, often robbing museums of jewels and replacing them with dangerous replicas.
Magpie is the second Gotham season five villain to be confirmed following the closing moments of season four that heavily teased Man-Bat, Mutant Leader, and Mother as season five focuses. Early season five episode titles suggested Bane would also be introduced in the show’s final season, with Robin Lord Taylor confirming that to be the case during the same panel according to ComicBook. He wouldn’t reveal just how Penguin would interact with the iconic antagonist but suggested that such encounters usually have a profound effect on his character.
Gotham hasn’t enjoyed the strongest ratings in recent years but was renewed for a final season by Fox following the season four finale, giving the crew time to introduce a new villain roster and finish up the story they set to tell back in 2013. The show won’t be back on our screens until early next year, but we’ve just learned of yet another iconic baddie set to grace the streets of Gotham City when it airs.
