With Ruby Rose’s Kate Kane set to leave the Arrowverse in Batwoman season 2, the series should evolve Rachel Skarsten’s Beth Kane a.k.a. Alice into the anti-hero Red Alice from the DC mythology. The Bat-centric drama is in for more than just one change when Javicia Leslie takes over from Rose’s character as the leading heroine. Following the season finale, Rose announced that she’d be exiting the series, with the creators deciding to create a new character altogether rather than recast Kate. Leslie was cast this summer as the original character Ryan Wilder, who will make her debut in the season premiere. But with Kate leaving the series, it will significantly alter the roles for some of the Batwoman characters as a whole.
Since the series premiere, Alice has been the show’s leading villain and one of the main forces driving Batwoman, given her connection to Kate as her sister. A new character taking up the mantle disconnects Alice from the protagonist. Despite the setups in the season finale, which included making Tommy Elliot look like Bruce Wayne, it remains to be seen how the writers will tackle the remaining Kane daughter on Batwoman. Characters like Jacob Kane (Dougray Scott), Sophie Moore (Meagan Tandy), Luke Fox (Camrus Johnson), and Mary Hamilton (Nicole Kang) – all imperative characters connected to Kate – will be facing a similar situation.
However, one of the major chapters in Alice’s mythology is her evolution from foe to anti-hero, as Beth does at one point take on a different role in the Batwoman comics. While the TV adaptation has only had a single season in the Arrowverse, Alice has so far strictly been on a villainous path. But as Batwoman goes forward with Leslie’s new character, giving Alice a new role that can be earned and developed across a whole season or two isn’t out of the question. This is why the writers should look at evolving Beth into Red Alice, and how DC approached that storyline in the comics.
How Alice Becomes Red Alice In DC Comics
The evolution of Alice becoming Red Alice began in November 2014 with Batwoman #35-40, as Beth returns to Gotham City, looking very different. While looking for her sister, Kate is in the middle of being under the control of the villainous vampire Natalia Mitternacht a.k.a. Nocturna while also dating her. Upon her return, Red Alice realizes very quickly that something is going on with her sister, and she doesn’t trust Nocturna. Because of Nocturna’s work on Kate, the heroine thought she had become a vampire too, but after a battle with her sister she manages to snap out of it. As this becomes a breaking point for Kate, Beth comforts her sister, beginning a new chapter in their relationship.
Beth began psychiatric treatment prior to her return in Batwoman #36, which seems to have been successful. Though she still quotes Lewis Carroll books, this has prompted her to take on the Red Alice moniker as she wants to atone for her past evil actions as Alice. As the Nocturna arc comes to an end, #35 depicts Red Alice joining Batwoman and her team (consisting of Ragman, Clayface, and Etrigan the Demon) in going to space as they try to stop Morgaine le Fey2. However, things take a nasty turn for Red Alice when there is a crack in her spacesuit helmet during the battle with Morgaine. In an effort to save her, Batwoman has Ragman absorb Red Alice’s soul into his suit. Once they make it back to Earth, Ragman puts Red Alice’s soul back into her body, but with a struggle. While inside his rags, Red Alice is being haunted by all of the evil souls that are inside of Ragman, and who try to stop her from leaving.
Determined to not be like them and atone for her sins, Red Alice’s soul manages to escape and return to her own body. Together with the rest of the team, Red Alice helps Batwoman cancel Morgaine’s spell and Earth is restored. In Batwoman’s DC Rebirth series, Red Alice does at one point become Alice again thanks to Safiyah Sohai’s lover Tahani using drugs that made that persona emerge once more. She is, therefore, one of the leading forces that are trying to infect Gotham City through an invasion of bats that are carrying a deadly disease. But after Kate saves her and convinces Batman to let her take care of Beth rather than being sent to Arkham, Red Alice makes a full recovery.
Alice’s Main Villain Status Loses Meaning Without Kate
One of the biggest strengths of the Arrowverse’s Alice is the complex dynamic that she has had with Kate since the very beginning. For Kate to discover that her twin sister was actually alive all these years instead of dying in the car crash when they were kids was an extremely emotional way to begin Batwoman. Most of the first season has Kate trying to save Beth and snap her out of this Alice persona that she has taken on. The most intriguing element in their relationship is seeing one trying to pull the other one over to their side as it becomes a literal battle between light and darkness. However, towards the latter half of the season, Kate showed how little faith she had left in Alice after tricking her.
Nevertheless, this hero/villain dynamic was something that stood out in the Arrowverse compared to the other shows. Batwoman is on a similar level with The Flash and Black Lightning, where the relationships between Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) and Reverse-Flash (Tom Cavanagh) as well as Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) and Tobias Whale (Marvin Jones III) is part of what pushes the story forward. Even if they all face different villains over the course of the seasons, those main antagonists and their individual history with the leading protagonists are infused in those respective shows’ DNA. However, those shows aren’t facing a situation where the series lead is leaving and the main role is being recast.
While Alice is one of the richer villains in the Arrowverse, and has a lot to offer, her role as the main antagonist loses a lot of meaning without her sister in the picture. Whatever dynamic is set up between her and Ryan Wilder simply won’t be the same as the one Alice has with Kate. Even in the mythology, despite Batwoman facing different kinds of threats, her complicated war with Alice is one of the core elements of her comics. Since Batwoman is the first Arrowverse show to ever go through something like this, that is another reason for the writers to adapt the Red Alice story in a unique way for their version of Beth.
The Arrowverse Needs More Anti-Heroes
The Arrowverse has always had a major lack of anti-heroes. Despite the many heroes and villains that it has introduced across the various shows for almost a decade, the anti-hero concept has so far not been fully fleshed out in this universe. There’s no denying that Greg Berlanti’s shared universe has had plenty of vigilantes. But on Earth-Prime, many of them have automatically been seen, by the public, as superheroes on the level of someone like The Flash, Supergirl (Melissa Benoist), and Superman (Tyler Hoechlin.) The closest thing they have to an anti-hero right now in the Arrowverse is Legends of Tomorrow’s John Constantine (Matt Ryan)
What the franchise needs more of is anti-heroes like Harley Quinn or Deadshot (who is unfortunately dead in the Arrowverse) that can challenge their fellow heroes and even villains. Despite having Killer Frost (Danielle Panabaker), The Flash has taken her into the hero territory rather than be a traditional anti-hero. One of the strongest layers in Alice’s character is how she manages to be unpredictable and serves as a constant wild card. While Kate will only be disappearing rather than being killed off, as false reports were claiming, this will definitely have a major impact on Alice. Not getting to finish playing a game that she and Kate began over a year ago will certainly bring out some complicated feelings.
Depending on how Kate’s disappearance is set up next season, it could pave the way for Alice to do some soul searching. While it’s very unlikely that this could happen just like it does in the comics, the writers could also do their own spin on how Alice transforms into Red Alice. Kate’s disappearance being the trigger point to Beth’s mental health changing would be a compelling adaptation for the Arrowverse if they choose to tackle Red Alice. The only downside of Batwoman doing Red Alice is not getting to have Kate and Beth work together as they did in the comics. But at the same time, it would allow the Arrowverse to have an anti-hero on a regular basis, while also giving the writers creative freedom with Red Alice.
Red Alice Paves Way For New Bigger Threats
The end of Batwoman season 1 teased several new threats coming in the sophomore season, including the confirmation that Safiyah Sohail will be the main foe. Even though this was before Rose’s exit was announced, the producers knew the change that was coming when deciding to make Safiyah the next big bad. Despite his connection with Alice, it’s very likely that Hush will emerge as his own villain in the coming season. Additionally, something that may happen more in Batwoman season 2 and beyond is the introduction of some of the supernatural threats that Kate has faced in the comics. With Crisis on Infinite Earths rebooting the Arrowverse, anything is possible now.
Should Alice evolve into an anti-hero, it would make the transition easier for new, bigger villains to come in and breathe new life into Batwoman. Kate’s departure will, in one way or another, mark the end of an era for the series as Leslie’s new character comes in. Regardless of how Team Batwoman befriends Ryan Wilder and how she takes on the mantle from Kate, the series will need to decide quickly if Alice will be her nemesis, or something else. Given the special connection that Beth and Kate had, it’d benefit Batwoman to let Alice take on a new role – which is why the Red Alice storyline is perfect in this situation.
Ryan and Beth’s relationship would still be something new to the mythology, while also adapting one of Alice’s biggest storylines from the comics. Seeing a Bat-centric hero and an anti-hero team-up while also having their opposing viewpoints would give Ryan a relationship that Beth didn’t have with Kate. But it would also be something refreshing for the Arrowverse and give the series another way to stand out. If Red Alice is on the table, it’d have to be a story arc that is given proper time to develop in order for it to feel like a worthy payoff. As Batwoman season 2 is reportedly starting filming this fall, more details on Alice’s Arrowverse future will hopefully be revealed soon rather than later as Kate Kane leaves the franchise.
