‘Batwoman’ Lead Character Kate Kane To Be Replaced With A New Character in Season 2

The new lead character of the CW’s Batwoman will not be Kate Kane. The show has decided to go with a new character in the title role following the exit of season one star Ruby Rose. The show was expected to go for a new identity of Batwoman, which is a far more elegant way of replacing lead character than straight-out recasting, especially given the fact that DC comics is a Multiverse and it has 52 different Earths.

 

The news began to trickle out thanks to a leaked casting call looking for a character named “Ryan Wilder.” Described as a “female, Mid-late 20s, any ethnicity,” the part that raised fans eyebrows was the following sentence: “Ryan Wilder is about to become Batwoman.”

 

You can access the leaked casting call here: https://www.reddit.com/r/BatwomanTV/comments/gv9okk/s2_new_batwoman_casting_info/

As of now the above post on reddit is deleted.

"She’s likable, messy, a little goofy and untamed. She’s also nothing like Kate Kane, the woman who wore the batsuit before her," the notice reads, according to Decider. "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. A girl who would steal milk for an alley cat could also kill you with her bare hands, Ryan is the most dangerous type of fighter: highly skilled and wildly undisciplined. An out lesbian. Athletic. Raw. Passionate. Fallible. And very much not your stereotypical All-American hero."

 

As mentioned, it’s not uncommon for multiple people — in the DC universe and otherwise — to take on the cape, cowl and identity of a superhero. When it comes to Batman, numerous people have assumed the role besides Bruce Wayne including Dick Grayson — who many know as Robin or Nightwing. Betty Kane became Batgirl and then was passed on to multiple people including Barbara Gordon (Commissioner Gordon’s daughter) as well as Cassandra Cain, a character featured in Birds of Prey played by Ella Jay Basco. On top of that, there are many iterations of the Man of Steel himself, Superman.

Batwoman made history in the 2019-20 season as the first scripted live-action TV series to feature a lesbian superhero at the top of the call sheet. Rose made a surprise announcement on May 19 that she had exited the series, saying in a statement that "This was not a decision I made lightly."

 

Warner Bros. TV, which produces the series, and The CW said in their own statement they would cast a member of the LGBTQ community in the title role.

 

Rose faced immediate backlash on social media after she was cast and would eventually quit Twitter, although she remains active on Instagram.

Batwoman is produced by Berlanti Productions/Warner Bros Television. It hails from writer-executive producer Caroline Dries and executive producers Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Geoff Johns, David Nutter and director-executive producer Marcos Siega.