Cassandra Jean Amell To Play Nora Fries In Arrowverse Crossover
by Erik Amaya
The latest Arrowverse casting decision offers a big clue to December’s crossover event.
Deadline reports Cassandra Jean Amell will appear as Nora Fries in the story, which will span Supergirl, The Flash and Arrow, later this season. The character, created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, first appeared in the 1992 Batman: The Animated Series episode “Heart of Ice.” Initially created to give Mr. Freeze (voiced by Michael Ansara) more of a motivation for his crimes, the villain encased her in ice when they discovered she was terminally ill. Freeze’s robberies funds his research into finding her a cure. The concept of Nora was quickly adopted in the feature film Batman & Robin and in comic books starting with 1997’s Batman: Mr. Freeze one-shot. For the next nine years, she would be more a prop in Freeze’s story than a character in her own right. In a 2006 issue of Batgirl, Freeze finally threw her into a Lazarus Pit, where she emerged as the villainous Lazara. Her activities as a villain and her relationship with Freeze were wiped away in the New 52, where she became a cryogenically frozen woman Victor Fries believed he was married to.
Presumably, the Arrowverse will either introduce her as Freeze’s frozen wife or as Lazara herself. Considering a Batwoman television show needs to be populated with villains all its own, this could be an early look at some of the foes Kate Kane (Ruby Rose) will fight in her own CW series.
The character previously appeared on Gotham in the form of actor Kristin Hager, where Nora’s life ended as tragically as a number of other Nora Frieses in DC history. Hopefully, Amell’s Nora will have a longer life in the Arrowverse.
The Arrowverse crossover airs in December on The CW.
