Gotham City will be under new jurisdiction when the Second Season of BATWOMAN returns in January! The show will be in the capable hands of actress Javicia Leslie who will be donning the iconic cape and cowl for a new generation of heroes!
Holy reboot Bat Fans! Since the announcement of Ruby Rose’s departure at the conclusion of the First Season of The CW’s hit series Batwoman it appears that Hollywood has proven indeed heroes run rampant and recast the role with a new lead — an entirely new character in fact. Stepping into the role will be actress Javicia Leslie who co-starred on the CBS hit comedy God Friended Me (also a Berlanti Production). That series has just concluded its run, making the actress available to take on the rigors of going up against Gotham City’s most nefarious foes.
Leslie will be inheriting the cape and cowl, and the keys to the cave, but will not be playing the same character Ruby Rose brought to the screen; Kate Kane, based on the DC Comics character who is not only secretly The Batwoman, but the first-cousin of billionaire industrialist Bruce Wayne, The Batman! Rose was introduced into The CW’s “Arrowverse” in 2018 as part of that season’s “Elseworlds” crossover event, which also set-up Gotham City as a part of the extended DC TV universe. Shortly after, a full-on series was green-lit immediately with Rose in the lead.
Rose had injured yourself during the first season shoot, it has been reported while working out a complex stunt while filming the 5-part epic crossover event “Crisis on Infinite Earths”. She hurt her back and actually had to sit out part of the season, while they shot around as she Rose recovered from her injury. The actors from The CW series have often commented on how grueling the crossover shoots could be, and last season was certainly unique — the event encompassed all five of the primetime series, and also included Black Lightning into the mix.
With her departure, especially after such successful launch, fans speculated on the direction the series would take; it wasn’t long that a casting breakdown revealed the next steps! In lieu of recasting the role of “Kate Kane” (leaving a side-door open in the event that Ruby Rose decides to return down the line), a new character was sketched out. “Ryan Wilder” is described as “likable, messy, a little goofy and untamed.” If the name is unfamiliar to Bat-fans of the comics, don’t worry — you’re not alone.
Suiting Up!
With the announcement of Javicia Leslie stepping in, the actress has the advantage that she will be forging forward without the hindrance of having to reprise “Kate Kane”. Leslie can make “Wilder” and her Batwoman, very much all her own, and as an African-American actress, she will be the first black actor ever to embody an iconic hero with such an extensive history. Adding in that Leslie will also be breaking ground as an openly bisexual woman in a lead role, certainly a trailblazing moment for the LGBTQ+ community.
Ruby Rose, herself openly identifying as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, has already taken to social networking to praise the actress and congratulate her on joining the Batwoman and went as far as to promise she’ll be tuning in next winter when Batwoman returns to The CW in January. How Ryan Wilder becomes the new Batwoman will certainly be something to watch, as the character’s origin story unfolds after a turbulent cliffhanger that reveals the “face” of Bruce Wayne (Warren Christie), although in truth it’s the villain known as Hush in a gruesome disguise.
Overnight, the news of Javicia Leslie’s casting has been burning up on all the trades as fans prepare to welcome her into the “Arrowverse” fold. With the pandemic having halted productions on the series and most comic-cons also on pause, the announcement is good news indeed and optimistically exciting, signaling that when the time is right — the Bat-signal will return to the skies over the city and justice will be served! Stay tuned for more as we follow further developments on this story.
Batwoman | Season 2 | Returns in 2021 on The CW.