Killer Croc claws his way onto Batwoman in first look photos
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
The road to DC FanDome begins here! In the days leading up to the second annual free virtual fan event — which returns Saturday, Oct. 16 at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT — EW will be debuting exclusive new looks at DC Entertainment's forthcoming TV shows and comics. Today, Killer Croc emerges from the deep on Batwoman in exclusive new first look photos.
A new version of the Batman villain Killer Croc is terrorizing Batwoman's Gotham City — and EW has your exclusive first look at his debut below.
Ryan Wilder (Javicia Leslie) and her unlikely partner Alice (Rachel Skarsten) face off with the monstrous reptilian foe in next Wednesday's episode, titled "Loose Tooth." Killer Croc 2.0's creation is the direct result of the Bat-team losing track of Batman's villain trophies at the end of season 2 because original Killer Croc Waylon Jones' infectious tooth was among the cache of dangerous items unleashed on Gotham. An unassuming teenager named Stephen finds the tooth and transforms into the new Croc, "whose hunger and ferocity may even exceed that of his predecessor," according to the official character description. "As the bodies pile up, Batwoman will be forced to decide if there's enough of Steven left in this new Croc to reason with, or if he's already too far gone." Check out the new photos below.
Katie Yu/The CW
"We had an absolute blast during the creature design phase, and having Batwoman hunting Croc 2.0 through the sewers of Gotham in our show's version of a creature feature horror movie is a story we can't wait to unleash on our fans," showrunner Caroline Dries tells EW.
"It was a lot of fun," says Leslie of shooting the Killer Croc episode. "They hired an actor who was huge in real life. He's like a really big guy, so we didn't have to fake anything with special effects. So, the stunts were fun and he was creepy. Special effects did such a good job with his makeup and mask. So, he was really scary-looking. It felt like one of those nostalgic episodes that is like Batman meets Stranger Things."
While Dries was excited about bringing this character into the show's world, she was initially hesitant about doing it when the idea was first pitched in the writers' room.
Katie Yu/The CW
"I was like, 'Eh... what is it like, a crocodile as a character on the show? I like it theory, but what is it in execution?'" Dries recalls saying when the writers pitched Killer Croc. "Once you mine it and mine it and find this core essence of it and you can apply science to it, even if it's schmience, I can ground it in reality somehow and it'll make sense in my brain. So that's what we did with Killer Croc, and we understand that [it's a] mutation and it ultimately makes sense, and comes from a very human place."
Beyond grounding a character like Killer Croc in science, Dries also wanted to figure out how his story could work thematically with what the characters are going through in their personal lives.
"In this Killer Croc episode, in particular, it's really this story about a dad who doesn't want to give up on his son," says Dries. "And in Ryan's story, she's going through learning that her birth mom gave up on her in the blink of an eye and it's kind of [about] her reconciling that with where she stands as Gotham's savior."
Katie Yu/The CW Javicia Leslie as 'Batwoman'
Batwoman airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on the CW. For more on Batwoman and the Arrowverse, make sure to tune into DC FanDome this Saturday at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET on DCFanDome.com.
Related content:
