Arrowverse fans were crushed by the news that Ruby Rose had stepped away from Batwoman after just one season, but they were infuriated when it turned out that Kate Kane wouldn’t just be recast but written out of the show completely and a new lead character brought on board. It’s yet to be officially revealed how Kate will be removed from the equation, but reports are swirling that she’s going to be killed off and as you can imagine, fans don’t like the sounds of that.
In response to these reports, showrunner Caroline Dries has shared a statement on social media, which avoids going into specifics but does hint that Kate will not be killed off in season 2. She goes as far as to say that the mystery of what’s happened to Bruce Wayne’s cousin will be a major plot point throughout the run. “We’ll never erase her,” says the EP.
“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 wrote. “My comments about recasting Batwoman have launched a storm of rumors and misinformation and I wanted to clarify something. 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.”
In the absence of Kate, the new Batwoman is currently being called Ryan Wilder, according to a casting call, but it’s possible this is an alias hiding the name of a familiar comic book character. Dries has previously stated that the next Batwoman will be a new creation, though, so that seems unlikely. From what we know, she’s been described as “likable, messy, a little goofy and untamed. She’s also nothing like Kate Kane.”
The call specifies that the character could be of any ethnicity, but the two actresses linked to the role so far suggest Dries and the production team are leaning towards casting a woman of color. We Got This Covered has heard The CW wants Amandla Stenberg (The Hunger Games), while another report says Riverdale‘s Vanessa Morgan is being eyed as well.
Batwoman season 2 won’t be here until January 2021, but hopefully The CW will find their new lead soon.