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Following the revelation earlier this season that Kate Kane is, in fact, very much alive, Batwoman fans have been wondering how, exactly, the former Scarlet Knight might return to a show that has largely moved on without her. After all, Ryan Wilder is fully Batwoman in her own right now and the show has recalibrated itself accordingly. Her unique perspective as both a Black woman and a product of Gotham’s failed justice system has allowed Batwoman to tell the kinds of radically different stories that most superhero series aren’t even attempting. And Ryan is building her own relationships with Luke, Mary, Sophie, and even Alice (sort of). Is this a world that even has room for Kate Kane – let alone still needs her?

According to Wallis Day, the answer to that question is a resounding yes. The former Krypton star made her official debut as Kate Kane in Season 2 episode “Initiate Self Destruct,” and spoke to Den of Geek about the excitement and challenges that have come with taking over the role.

“There’s always going to be a place for Kate in Gotham,” Day says. “I genuinely believe that she’s so integral to all these other characters in the show – if you look at Alice and you look at Jacob and Mary, they orbit around Kate.”

Day teases that the actor behind the character won’t be the only change we see in Kate Kane when she returns to Gotham in Season 2: “I think the main difference is the Kate that we see now, post-season one, has had so much more happen to her. There’s so much more depth to her.  I think that’s probably the main difference, and it’s very exciting.”

Day herself, who starred for two seasons as Nyssa-Vex in Syfy’s Krypton, is over the moon about returning to the world of DC Comics and its characters. “I absolutely love it,” Day says. “I love the DC universe so much. And I think having the chance to play you know, more of a hero instead of a villain is so exciting. But then again Nyssa sort of flipped and I feel like this could as well. Oh, my goodness. I am just really excited for her, [to play her].”

Of course, at the moment, Kate’s return probably doesn’t look the way most of us Batwoman fans might expect. She’s not only clearly been damaged physically and mentally – she also doesn’t even really know she’s Kate. Thanks to the hypnotist Enigma, she now believes herself to be Circe Sionis, the daughter of False Face Society leader Roman, who is also the infamous Black Mask.

“The Circe thing is amazing. That is a whole different element,” Day says. “And I don’t play Circe as Kate who believes she’s Circe, because that’s not what Circe would believe. But then you see fragments of [Kate’s] memories that come back, and you’ll see that I incorporate more of Kate as we journey through this season. There’s just such an incredible storyline with her.”

Day, who spends her first episode wearing a wooden mask that hides her face, had to rely on her physicality not just to initially define her Kate, but also to differentiate her from Circe, the woman she believes herself to be.

“I’m such a physical person. I work with a movement coach before everything I do. And obviously, your face is your main form of expression, with acting,” Day explains. “So, we had to basically we had to amp up the physicality of it. [Just] really hone in on how Circe moves in comparison to how Kate moves her body. And then I put a lot of the emphasis in the eyes because obviously, [that’s what] you can see through the mask.”

SUPERGIRL FINDS A WAY HOME – Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) finds an opportunity to escape from the Phantom Zone but it comes with some dangerous strings attached. Meanwhile, Lena (Katie McGrath) joins the Super Friends on a mission but finds she disagrees with their plan of action against the Phantoms and wonders if she is truly ready to be a part of the team.

 Alysse Leite-Rogers directed the episode written by Karen E. Maser & Nicki Holcomb (#604). Original airdate 4/20/2021.

THE FLASHBACK TO MIDVALE INTRODUCES A YOUNG CAT GRANT

Nia (Nicole Maines) and Brainy (Jesse Rath) attempt to save Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) from the Phantom Zone by time traveling back to Kara’s home in 2009. While determined to secure the item needed to help Supergirl, Brainy is worried about keeping a low profile so as not to alter the future timeline. However, when their ship crashes upon arrival, a young Kara Danvers (guest star Izabela Vidovic) is the first on the scene. Meanwhile, a young reporter named Cat Grant (guest star Eliza Helm) sets her sights on Midvale as she suspects there is a big story in the small town.

Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer) will again loom large in the back half of the season.

Batwoman wasted no time in revealing who is holding Kate Kane captive.

The CW superhero drama’s latest episode, titled “Rule #1,” begins with Kate Kane’s family and friends gathering for her funeral, believing she’s dead. But we know Kate’s alive and unwell because Wallis Day (Krypton) is stepping into the character’s shoes later on in season 2, following Ruby Rose’s exit from the show. Shortly after the funeral, an imprisoned, injured, and disfigured Kate receives a visit from her kidnapper: Black Mask (Peter Outerbridge), the sadistic leader of the False Face Society who blames both the Crows and Batwoman 1.0 for his daughter’s death.

Black Mask, a.k.a. Roman Sionis, doesn’t just plan on letting Kate rot in this cell, though. The crime boss brings Enigma, the hypnotist who wiped Alice (Rachel Skarsten) and Ocean’s (Nathan Owens) memories of each other, to see Kate. Enigma notes it was a good thing that Kate’s face was damaged when the Black Mask’s gang pulled her from the plane because “facial recognition leads to memory recovery.” So, Enigma tells her it’s “time to say goodbye to Kate Kane.” So what horrors await the former Batwoman?

“He has some very big plans for Kate,” Peter Outerbridge tells EW. “His game is a long-game, let’s put it that way. It’s a very complicated plan, but very devious indeed.”

Batwoman showrunner Caroline Dries is willing to share a bit more intel on how Enigma fits into Black Mask’s scheme and when we’ll finally see Day’s altered version of Kate.

“Enigma, we know is this mysterious woman who brainwashed Alice and Ocean to forget each other ever existed. And now here we’re seeing Enigma in the flesh as sort of one of the pawns of our big scary villain of the end of the season, Black Mask,” says Dries. “And so what we’ll discover — not in episode 9, we just realized there’s something going on here, but down the line — [is] that Black Mask has a very specific agenda for this altered version of Kate Kane, and it’s going to affect, obviously Kate, but everyone that loves her, in a really dramatic way.”