Batman doesn’t always have a great relationship with the Gotham City Police Department in the comics, but over the years, several of its employees have proven to be important allies in his fight against crime. Naturally James Gordon is the first of this bunch who comes to mind, but Renee Montoya has also had frequent contact with the Dark Knight. Today brings word that now the Arrowverse is bringing in Renee to build a rapport with Batwoman, and she’ll be played by Gotham alum Victoria Cartagena.
If this Batwoman Season 3 casting news sounds like déjà vu, it’s because Victoria Cartagena actually played Renee Montoya on Gotham. However, her stint as that version of Renee only lasted during the Fox series’ first season, so now Cartagena has an opportunity to do something different with the character in a separate universe, and hopefully she’ll have more to do compared to how she was utilized in Gotham. Cartagena’s other prominent credits include The Bedford Diaries, Almost Family and Servant.
Deadline’s report states that Batwoman’s version of Renee Montoya as a former GCPD police officer who left the force “when she could no longer stomach the corruption” inside the organization. Now she’s in charge of the “freaks division,” which hasn’t seen a lot of action, but that will change in Season 3, no doubt due to all the Bat-villain items that were lost in Batwoman’s Season 2 finale. Victoria Cartagena’s new version of Renee is also described as a “righteous, pragmatic and LGBTQ+” woman who is determined to clean up Gotham City’s streets “by whatever means necessary.” So now we count down until she and Javicia Leslie’s Ryan Wilder, who took up the Batwoman mantle following Kate Kane’s disappearance, form an alliance of some sort.
Renee Montoya was created for Batman: The Animated Series, but not long after the series debuted in 1992, she quickly made the jump to the printed page. Victoria Cartagena is one of only two actresses to play Renee in live action, with Rosie Perez starring as the character in the DCEU movie Birds of Prey. Along with being a GCPD officer/detective, Renee is well known in the comics for inheriting the mantle of The Question from Vic Sage. If Batwoman’s version of Renee is willing to do whatever it takes to keep her city safe, perhaps that means she’ll eventually follow suit, don a faceless mask and join the vigilante game.
Victoria Cartagena is the second new actor to be brought aboard for Batwoman Season 3. Earlier this month, it was announced that Robin Givens joined the cast as Jada Jet, a powerful CEO who was forced to give up her firstborn child. Considering that Beth Kane revealed to Ryan in the Batwoman Season 2 finale that her biological mother was still alive, it’s a good bet that Jada is that woman and now reentering Ryan’s life. Season 3 will also see more of Luke Fox fighting out in the field as Batwing, with the tech genius first donning his armor in the Season 2 finale.
Batwoman Season 3 will premiere Wednesday, October 13 on The CW. Find out what other shows will return later this year with our fall 2021 TV premiere schedule.
