Jack Rowand / The CW Network / courtesy Everett Collection
Although Katy Keene, played by Ruby Rose, may be leaving Gotham behind, the Batwoman mantle is here to stay. In the wake of Rose’s sudden departure from Batwoman after one season, last week it was reported that instead of recasting Rose’s character, it will introduce a new lead character instead.
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Batwoman is reportedly casting a character named Ryan Wilder, who will take up the role of Batwoman in season 2. The character will be in her late 20s and is described as “likable, messy, a little goofy and untamed,” and “nothing like Kate Kane, the woman who wore the batsuit before her,” according to the casting information. Ryan, who was a former substance-runner, is now reformed, sober, and living out of her van. She is an out lesbian, like Kate, and also a highly-skilled fighter.
On Monday, June 8, Batwoman showrunner Caroline Dries explained the series’ decision to create an all-new character for season 2 instead of recasting Katy. At the ATX TV…from the Couch festival, Dries credited executive producer Greg Berlanti with the decision to bringing in a new character (Ryan Wilder) to take up the role of Batwoman.
“Greg helped me make this call, he is way smarter than me about this sort of stuff. He said, ‘You know, we should just reboot the character in terms of reboot Batwoman as a different character, and also respect everything that Ruby put into the Kate Kane character,'” Dries said. “And I just think it helps the audience a little bit too, that we are not asking them to not address the elephant in the room.”
The Batwoman showrunner also gave a sneak peek into what fans can expect from the new character, saying, “inventing a whole new character who in her past was inspired by Batwoman.”
Dries added: “She will take on the mantle and is completely maybe not the right person at the time to be doing it, so that’s what makes it fun.”
Of course, there were alternative methods discussed.
“I did consider the soap opera version for a hot minute,” Dries said, referring to the way soap operas recast a character after an actor leaves the show. “Selfishly because we had already a couple of episodes written, and transition-wise it would be seamless.”