Jeffery Garland / ©The CW / Courtesy Everett Collection
The production team behind The CW’s Batwoman series has been working hard to figure out what to do next after the surprising exit of star Ruby Rose after just one season.
Shortly after Rose’s decision to exit the series after starring as Kate Kane/Batwoman, it was reported that they had made the difficult decision to recast the character, but producers have now decided to go in a different direction entirely and introduce a brand new character to take on the Batwoman mantle.
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With a new character on the way, the show’s showrunner Caroline Dries revealed that they have no plans to kill off Kate Kane in the series.
“As a lesbian who’s been working as a writer for the past fifteen years, I’m well aware of the “Bury Your Gays” trope and I have no interest in participating in it,” Dries said in a statement released Wednesday morning. “That’s why it’s important to me as the showrunner to clarify any misinformation out there about Kate Kane and recasting Batwoman. Like you, I love Kate Kane – she’s the reason I wanted to do the show. We’ll never erase her. In fact, her disappearance will be one of the mysteries of season two. I don’t want to give away any of our surprises, but to all our devoted fans, please know that LGBTQ+ justice is at the very core of what Batwoman is and we have no intention of abandoning that.”
Meanwhile it has already been leaked that the new character coming into the series will be called Ryan Wilder and will be the complete opposite of Kate Kane. “She’s likable, messy, a little goofy, and untamed,” the now-deleted document read. “With no one in her life to keep her on track, Ryan spent years as a drug-runner, dodging the GCPD and masking her pain with bad habits. Today, reformed and sober, Ryan lives in van with her plant. A girl who would steal milk from an alley cat and could also kill you with her bare hands, Ryan is the most dangerous type of fighter: highly skilled and wildly disciplined. An out lesbian. Athletic. Raw. Passionate. Fallible. And very much not your stereotypical All-American hero,” a casting call for the role read.
Batwoman is expected to return in 2021. The complete first season is available to stream on HBO Max now.