Who is Magpie? The Penguin Episode 4’s Batman villain explained

The Penguin Episode 4 explores how Sofia Falcone ended up in Arkham, where she met an inmate with a familiar name for Batman fans: Magpie.

Since Sofia Falcone first appeared in The Penguin, those around her (excluding Oz Cobb) have been mostly nervous (or even terrified) to be in her orbit. After all, this is the Hangman, the serial killer who hanged seven women.

Episode 4 revealed the truth: Carmine Falcone was the real culprit and he framed his daughter when cops and reporters started sniffing around.

She’s unceremoniously dumped in Arkham State Hospital; stripped, scrubbed, probed, and left to cry in her cell. However, she hears a friendly voice next door.

Who is Magpie?

HBO

The Penguin doesn’t tell us much about Magpie, but we know more about her from the comics: her real name is Margaret Pye, and she’s a notorious jewel thief.

She doesn’t tell Sofia anything about herself other than her name. Magpie asks her if she’s the real Hangman, and in the wider context of the story, her main purpose is to introduce Sofia to ‘Bliss’, the new drug she sold to the Triads in Episode 3.

Unfortunately, don’t expect to see her pop up in The Batman 2. While Robert Pattinson’s caped crusader probably put her behind bars, she doesn’t make it to the end of this week’s episode. After Sofia is deemed unfit to stand trial, she suspects Magpie has been spying on her… so she smashes her head against the table and kills her.

Magpie fought Batman and Superman

DC

Magpie was introduced in The Man of Steel #3 in 1986, tussling (and losing) against Superman and Batman in one of their earliest team-ups.

Following the Crisis on Infinite Earth event, this issue followed Superman as he flew to Gotham to apprehend Batman, believing him to be a vigilante (not unlike BvS: Dawn of Justice).

However, a thief with a habit of stealing jewels named after birds and replacing them with booby traps brought them together. With her behind bars in Arkham Asylum, Superman changed his mind about Batman, and they became friends.

She was eventually killed by a group of villains working for the Penguin. In 2011, as part of the DC’s New 52 reboot, Magpie returned and joined the Secret Society of Super Villains. She died, again, so she returned in 2016’s DC Rebirth reboot, where she joined the Suicide Squad. Guess what? She was killed.

Magpie in live-action

Fox/The CW

Before The Penguin, Magpie appeared in Gotham (played by Sarah Schenkkan) and Batwoman (portrayed by Rachel Matthews).

Her Gotham design was clearly influenced by her New 52 comics counterpart, though she didn’t have any scrapes with Batman. Instead, she met her end at the hands of Oswald Cobblepot, who shot her after he caught her trying to steal things from his base.

Batwoman made a few changes. Her name was Margot, not Margaret, and she used her job as a photographer to case the places she was planning to steal from.

She eventually fought Batwoman, who caught her trying to steal jewels from Gotham’s museum, and even tried to trick the hero with a 3D-printed necklace rigged with explosives.

Her plan didn’t work, and she ended up in Blackgate Penitentiary.

Magpie in The Penguin

HBO

Marié Botha plays Magpie in The Penguin. Her aesthetic and voice were inspired by Harley Quinn, as well as Harry Potter’s Moaning Myrtle.

“I definitely planted some Harley in there. A key script direction mentions that Magpie has quite a high-pitched speaking voice, which I think comes from a lot of childhood trauma and bullying, and so she makes herself as innocent and childlike as possible to either manipulate or shield herself,” the star told ScreenRant.

The question is, will we see her again? According to Botha, Magpie is definitely dead – but that doesn’t mean we’ll never see her again.

“Anything is possible. However, I think in this particular show, Sofia really did murder Magpie. In the comics, Magpie is resurrected again later on during Blackest Night, but I am more interested in her backstory and digging deeper into what that is,” she explained.

“I have only played it out in my own mind, I would love to see what that would look like in the mind of Matt Reeves or Lauren LeFranc. What I do know is that there is a part of me that feels not quite ready to say goodbye to Magpie just yet.”

Check out our recaps of The Penguin Episode 1, Episode 2, and Episode 3, and find out when you can watch Episode 5. You can also read why Batman won’t appear in The Penguin and why Julian Rush may be a Batman villain in disguise.