Renee Montoya has been cast for Batwoman season 3, and it is a face that should be familiar. First introduced in Batman: The Animated Series, Montoya became a part of the DC Comics canon, a love interest for Kate Kane's Batwoman, and the newest incarnation of The Question. Earlier in the month, it was reported that Batwoman was looking to cast Renee Montoya to join the upcoming season, and they found a pick in an actress who has a history with the role: Gotham's Victoria Cartagena.
Cartagena played the role of Renee Montoya on the hit series, Gotham. She only appeared in one season of the series but was established as a former girlfriend of Gordan's wife, Barbara. Since leaving Gotham, Cartagena has been featured on a number of series including Jessica Jones, and a recurring role on the now-canceled NBC series, Manifest. She most recently was one of the stars of the short-lived Fox drama, Almost Family, which was canceled after one season. Cartagena will now be returning to the streets of Gotham, just on a different network and universe.
According to a report by Deadline, Cartagena will join the role of Renee Montoya in the upcoming season of Batwoman. It is noted that despite playing the same role on Gotham, this will be a different incarnation of the character with no relation to the version seen on Gotham. Cartagena’s Montoya is described as a former GCPD officer who left the force when she could no longer stomach the corruption inside the department and now runs the "freaks" division, which will see more activity with the rise of supervillains hinted at in Batwoman's season 2 finale.
Cartagena joining the cast of the Arrowverse continues a DC television tradition of honoring the legacy of adaptations these characters have. John Wesley Shipp, who played Barry Allen in the '90s The Flash series has gotten to play Henry Allen, Jay Garrick, and even reprise his Barry Allen from Earth 90 role on the CW series, The Flash. Matt Ryan reprised his role on Constantine, which aired on NBC, into the CW series like Arrow and DC's Legends of Tomorrow but it has never been specified how much of the Constantine series is canon or if Ryan is just playing another Constantine. Brandon Routh played both the Ray Palmer Atom and was given the chance to reprise his role as Superman from Superman Returns inspired by Kingdom Come.
With the arrival of Renee Montoya to Batwoman season 3, the allies of the new Bat-family begin to grow. Cartagena now is given the chance to explore a different take on the character from how she portrayed it on Gotham. This will give audiences a chance to see how the same actor approaches the same role but in two vastly different series. Season 3 just recently started filming, so it may be a few months until The CW releases the first image or clip of Cartagena as Renee Montoya in Batwoman.
Source: Deadline