Morena Baccarin’s varied filmography means she’s very familiar with the worlds of comic books and sci-fi TV shows. She largely forged her career on the small screen with “Firefly,” “Stargate,” and “V,” but she’s also played a handful of DC Comics characters over the years, including in one of the best superhero cartoons of all time.
Before diving into her work on the small screen, an honorable mention has to be made for her vocal performance as Talia al Ghul in two DC animated <a href="https://comicvibe.com/charlie-puth-<a href="https://comicvibe.com/channing-tatum-movies-and-tv-shows/” title=”Channing Tatum Movies and TV Shows”>movies-and-tv-shows/” title=”Charlie Puth Movies and TV Shows”>movies: “Son of Batman” and “Batman: Bad Blood.” Talia is the mother of Batman’s (Jason O’Mara) son, Damian Wayne (Stuart Allan). Talia has a strained relationship with Batman since she drugged the Dark Knight so that she could manipulate him into sleeping with her. Only Baccarin could pull off voicing such a complex villain.
Aside from voicing Talia, Baccarin has played four different DC Comics characters on the small screen — although some appearances were bigger than others.
4. Cheetah (Batman: The Brave and the Bold)
At the bottom of the list is Cheetah in “Batman: The Brave and The Bold.” That’s not to say that the villain isn’t a worthy adversary for the Caped Crusader, but the animated series is much sillier compared to other DC shows. Morena Baccarin voices Priscilla Rich, A.K.A Cheetah, who hunts artifacts and relics that might grant her extra powers.
When Priscilla first steps into her villainous alter-ego, she uses a cheetah skin rug to fashion a costume for herself. This is a step away from the live-action version of Cheetah (Kristen Wiig) seen in “Wonder Woman 1984,” where she transforms into an anthropomorphic cheetah-human hybrid. Regardless of her greedy nature, Cheetah in “Batman: The Brave and The Bold” is a skilled fighter who has no issues grappling with Batman (Diedrich Bader), Superman (Roger Rose), and Wonder Woman (Vicki Lewis) in the Season 3 episode, “Triumvirate of Terror!”
It’s definitely fun hearing Baccarin let loose with lines like; “Steel or flesh, no man can resist the claws of this cat!” But it’s not exactly the richest dialogue or character exploration the star has worked with. That said, it’s worth noting that “Batman: The Brave and The Bold” is aimed at younger audiences, so it’s not surprising that Cheetah is a two-dimensional villain.
3. Gideon (The Flash)
Morena Baccarin had a vital role in the best Arrowverse show, “The Flash,” but you’d be forgiven if you didn’t realize she was in the CW series. She voiced the futuristic A.I. hidden in S.T.A.R. Labs, called Gideon. The highly intelligent computer was built in the future by Barry Allen (Grant Gustin), but was commandeered by the Reverse Flash (Matt Letscher/Tom Cavanagh). She can be accessed inside the Time Vault in the lab, and the villain uses her to check if the future timeline has been changed or not.
Gideon appears as a blue holographic display, but the AI doesn’t look like Baccarin despite being voiced by her. It’s a very straightforward performance from the star, as she’s essentially just playing a computer. She voiced Gideon for 34 episodes throughout the entire run of “The Flash,” from 2014 to 2023. In fact, Baccarin’s role in the Arrowverse is very similar to Paul Bettany’s performance as the A.I., J.A.R.V.I.S., in the early days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Gideon essentially provides exposition and information to help the audience grasp the stakes of what’s unfolding in each episode. Sure, voicing Gideon isn’t quite as flashy as donning a supersuit and fighting bad guys, but it’s a cool entry in Baccarin’s career, nonetheless.
2. Black Canary/Dinah Lance (Justice League Unlimited)
Another DC Comics character voiced by Morena Baccarin is Black Canary — whose real name is Dinah Lance. She appears in “Justice League Unlimited,” widely considered one of the best animated DC Comics TV shows of all time. She’s a fierce hand-to-hand brawler who has the ability to unleash a powerful sonic scream. Black Canary might not be as central to the team as the likes of Batman (Kevin Conroy) or Superman (George Newbern), but she’s certainly one of the most interesting.
Black Canary only appears in four episodes in total, including her cameo in the pilot, but she has one of the best romantic sub-plots in the entire series with Green Arrow (Kin Shriner). Baccarin’s standout performance comes in Season 2, Episode 1, “The Cat and The Canary,” when she goes looking for her old mentor, Wildcat (Dennis Farina), after he goes missing. Since she can’t track him down alone, she brings Green Arrow along for the ride, and their relationship starts to flourish.
Bringing genuine chemistry to life through a vocal performance is incredibly difficult, yet Baccarin and Shriner perfectly capture the flirty and playful dynamic between Black Canary and Green Arrow as they infiltrate an underground meta-human fight club. Whether it’s Black Canary faking her skills as a fighter to recruit Green Arrow, or the Emerald Archer faking his own death mid-fight with Wildcat, they’re on par with each other almost instantly.
1. Leslie Thompkins (Gotham)
The top spot has to be taken by Morena Baccarin’s only live-action role in the list: Dr. Leslie Thompkins in Fox’s “Gotham” TV series. She joined the show in Season 1 and was a regular star right through until its fifth and final season in 2019. Thompkins is an on-and-off-again love interest for Detective Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie), and the turbulent, twisted nature of “Gotham” gave Baccarin plenty to do over five seasons: From being associated with the mob, to willingly injecting herself with a virus that brings out her dark side, and eventually getting married to Gordon.
Even for a show as wild as “Gotham,” there’s still room for genuine sincerity, emotional depth, and character growth — and Thompkins’ story is a great example of that. Take the virus, for example. She chooses to do that to herself over the guilt she feels over the death of her fiancé, Mario Calvi, in Season 3. Eventually, she and Gordon get back together, and it was great to see “Gotham” lean into something unique to the show. Their relationship doesn’t exist in the comics, but the chemistry between Baccarin and Ben McKenzie was undeniable, both on-screen and in real life. This was the role that saw the actors actually get together in 2015, and they’ve been together ever since.
