You could be forgiven for thinking that the laughing, seemingly crazy blonde woman in episode four of The Penguin was Harley Quinn. However, the HBO series went in a different direction for a DC villain cameo.
Sofia Falcone’s cell neighbor is Magpie (“not Margaret,” as she bitterly reminds us), a familiar name to comic book fans. But who is this character? We’ve dug into the history of superheroes 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 much about Magpie in The Penguin. We know that her case wasn’t high profile compared to Sofia’s and that she received the Bliss from the Arkham Asylum guards for being “good.”
She was strangely obsessed with Sofia, constantly calling her “Hangman” and discussing how they could visit the garden together and celebrate life’s events. However, Sofia concludes that Magpie is working with Arkham’s doctors and guards to extract information from her.
Magpie meets a gruesome end, having her head smashed in by Sofia. Married Botha portrays her in the series.
Macall Polay/HBO
Macall Polay/HBO
Macall Polay/HBO
Who is Magpie in DC comics?
Magpie’s full name is Margaret Pye, and she made her first appearance in The Man of Steel #3 in 1983.
She started as a museum curator at the Gotham City Museum of Antiquities. However, being surrounded by precious objects that she could not possess drove her crazy.
Eventually, she began stealing these precious items, replacing them with replicas riddled with death 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 out by a team of Batman and Superman, with the two men cornering her in the museum after storming her hideout. She was then interned in Arkham Asylum.
In Arkham Asylum: Living Hell, she escapes from prison with the help of Poison Ivy. Eventually, she is found dead – murdered by Tally Man II, who was acting on behalf of the Great White Shark. His body was later reanimated in Blackest Night as a member of the Black Lantern and sent on a murderous rampage.
Magpie has made various on-screen appearances. She was in Beware the Batman, voiced by Gray DeLisle – Magpie was Magaret Sorrow’s split personality. She was also in Gotham in episode 13 Stitches, played by Sarah Schenkkan. Finally, she also appeared in Batwoman, played by Rachel Matthews.
