You might be forgiven for thinking that the giggling, seemingly insane blonde woman in episode four of The Penguin was Harley Quinn. However, the HBO show went in a different direction for a DC villain cameo.
The cell neighbour for Sofia Falcone is Magpie (“not Margaret”, as she bitterly reminds us), a familiar name for fans of the comic books. But who is this character? We’ve done some digging in the superhero lore to find out everything you need to know.
Major spoilers for episode 4 of The Penguin below
Who is Magpie in HBO’s The Penguin?
We don’t learn that much about Magpie in The Penguin. We know that her case was not that high-profile compared to Sofia’s and that she received Bliss from the guards in Arkham Asylum for being ‘good’.
She was strangely obsessed with Sofia, consistently referring to her as ‘Hangman’ and discussing how they could visit the garden together and celebrate life events. However, Sofia concludes that Magpie is working with the doctors and guards in Arkham to get information out of her.
Magpie meets a grisly end, getting her head smashed in by Sofia. Marié Botha portrays her in the series.
Macall Polay/HBO
Who is Magpie in DC’s comics?
Magpie’s full name is Margaret Pye, and she made her first appearance in 1983’s The Man of Steel #3.
She started as a museum curator at the Gotham City Museum of Antiquities. However, being surrounded by precious artefacts she couldn’t own drove her to madness.
Eventually, she began to steal these precious items, replacing them with replicas laced with deadly booby traps. She hired a gang of thugs to help cover her tracks.
In One Night In Gotham City, she becomes the first-ever DC villain to be taken down by a Batman and Superman team-up, with the pair cornering her in the museum after storming her hideout. She was then institutionalised in Arkham Asylum.
In Arkham Asylum: Living Hell, she escapes prison with the assistance of Poison Ivy. Eventually, she is found dead – murdered by Tally Man II, who was acting on behalf of The Great White Shark. Her body was then reanimated in Blackest Night as a member of the Black Lantern and sent on a murdering rampage.
Magpie has made various appearances on screen. She was in Beware the Batman, voiced by Grey DeLisle – Magpie was the split personality of Magaret Sorrow. She was also in Gotham in the episode 13 Stitches, played by Sarah Schenkkan. Finally, she also appeared in Batwoman , portrayed by Rachel Matthews.
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Author: Hannah Cowton-Barnes, Entertainment Editor, Tech Advisor
As Tech Advisor’s Entertainment Editor, Hannah is the resident expert in all things streaming, film and TV. Before joining Tech Advisor in 2019, she studied Theatre and Performance at the University of Leeds and created a website dedicated to geek culture and lifestyle. She’s also reviewed a whole range of gadgets including flagship smartphones, wearables and styling tools. Outside of Foundry, she’s written freelance pieces for Polygon, Metro and Den of Geek, and is proud to be a Women Techmakers Ambassador for Google.
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