WARNING: The following contains SPOILERS for Batwoman season 2, episode 1, "What Happened To Kate Kane?"
In addition to introducing the new Batwoman, Ryan Wilder, the Batwoman season 2 premiere also introduced a new threat to Gotham City: the False Face Society. While not much is known about this group and how much of a power they are in the Arrowverse, the original False Face Society is one of the more notable gangs in Gotham City, not only for their power and their connection to Black Mask, but for their long and twisted history.
Shortly after discovering the Bat-Suit among the wreckage of the plane that was carrying Kate Kane home to Gotham City, Ryan Wider used the costume to confront a pair of False Face Society members. She did this because "the False Face Society knows things" and she needed information on where to find Alice, the leader of the Wonderland Gang. In addition to establishing Ryan's character and that she knew something of the criminal underworld of Gotham City and how to navigate it, the scene also set the stage for the crime boss Black Mask, who it has been revealed will be one of the two chief villains of Batwoman season 2.
While the False Face Society has operated as an independent organization before in the comics, it is most often presented as Black Mask's private gang of enforcers, particularly in the current reality of the Batman comics. There's no word yet on just when Black Mask will be making his Arrowverse debut, but showrunner Caroline Dries has confirmed that the False Face Society of the Arrowverse is led by Black Mask and that the gang will be circulating a new drug called Snakebite around Gotham City. Here's a rundown of the False Face Society's history in the comics and everything that is known about their Arrowverse incarnation.
What Is The False Face Society?
The first incarnation of the False Face Society appeared in Batman #152 (December 1962) and was organized by The Joker. The gang was part of a contest proposed by the Clown Prince of Crime, who suggested that all of the assembled criminals, who were masked to hide their identities from one another, commit a series of colorful crimes while dressed in the costume of a profession that was not their own. The criminals' winnings would go into a pool, with the crook who managed the most impressive heist winning all of the ill-gotten gains. Naturally, this being a Joker scheme, he'd rigged the contest so that he would win. The original gang was broken up by Batman, but the idea of the False Face Society would live on, with the name being adopted by a number of robbers with no common link or theme beyond the robbers all wearing exotic masks.
In 1985, the False Face Society was reborn in Batman #386. This time the organization was led by the villain Black Mask: a former make-up magnate named Roman Sionis, who lost his family fortune after a number of bad business decisions stemming from his obsession with masks. Owner of a vast collection of costume masks, Sionis gave each member of his organization a mask he felt suited their skill-set or personality, giving them strict instructions not to appear before him "without their face on."
The False Face Society was altered somewhat in the modern Batman comics. In the current timeline, the False Face Society was originally established by Richard Sionis, a Gotham City crime boss known simply as The Mask. Roman Sionis created the Black Mask identity during a schism within the False Face Society, during which he attempted to usurp his father's position and fend off a take-over by a rival criminal, David Franco, who had adopted the moniker White Mask. In the end, Roman Sionis reigned supreme as the ruler of all three branches of the newly unified False Face Society.
Is False Face Part Of The Society?
It's worth noting that the False Face Society has no direct connection to False Face, another Batman villain with a rather odd history. Originally, False Face appeared in only a single comic, Batman #113 (February 1958), where he was presented as a criminal make-up artist and master of disguise, who used his talent for impersonation to rob the rich by posing as them and walking away with their most priceless possessions. Despite never taking off (presumably because his name and gimmick were too much like the flashier Batman villain Clayface, who was reworked into a shapeshifter in 1961), False Face went on to appear in two episodes of the 1966 Batman television series, played by Malachi Throne. This False Face was a master of disguise, but he also had an obsession with replicas, leading him to steal items and replace them with nearly perfect copies.
However, False Face does have an indirect connection to the society that shares his name. The character of Black Mask was reportedly created as a grim and gritty interpretation of the False Face concept. The key difference between them was that while False Face used his mask to hide who he was, Roman Sionis' skull mask, forged from a piece of his father's coffin, was used to establish a new and horrifying identity for himself. False Face was also a far more gentlemanly criminal, whereas Roman Sionis was a brutal thug who wouldn't think twice before resorting to violence to solve his problems.
The False Face Society In The Arrowverse
As of the first episode of Batwoman season 2, audiences don't know much about the False Face Society of the Arrowverse. The two members Ryan Wilder confronted in "What Happened To Kate Kane?" appeared to be involved in some kind of illegal drug trade. (Presumably this drug, which appeared to be administered through twin hypodermic needles, is the Snakebite drug mentioned by showrunner Caroline Dries.) Ryan Wilder also said that the False Face Society was known for keeping track of the comings and goings of the Gotham City underworld and being a good source of information. Beyond the fact that Black Mask is their leader, there's little hard information to be had based on the first episode of season 2, such as how many members the False Face Society has and how much of the city they control. It seems clear, however, that they will be a force to be reckoned with in the year to come. Thankfully, so is Gotham City's (and the Arrowverse's) new Batwoman.