Season 1 of Batwoman stumbled out of the gate but gradually picked up momentum. The show gave us a fresh take on costumed crimefighting in Gotham City and ended on a high note by introducing the Arrowverse’s Bruce Wayne (kinda). A second season was quickly greenlit, confirmed for an early 2021 release date and everything looked peachy. So, it was a huge shock yesterday when star Ruby Rose announced that she was leaving the role and that The CW would recast it.
The announcement hit fans particularly hard, as Rose’s casting was one of the show’s key selling points in the run-up to its premiere and her performance was well received. My first thought when hearing the news was that she left because of the injury she suffered while filming the first season. Initially assumed to be a broken rib, doctors later realized she’d actually herniated two discs in her back.
This left her in chronic pain for six weeks and she had to undergo emergency surgery as she was at risk of becoming paraplegic. Given the physical nature of playing Batwoman, it’s understandable that following this she might bow out with no hard feelings from the network.
However, Deadline are reporting that her injury didn’t factor into the decision and that “the two sides mutually decided to part ways after recently reflecting on the first season and its challenges.” That’s still pretty vague, though they go on to say that Rose wasn’t happy with the tight time constraints and commitment required for a network drama. Beyond that, they mention that the show’s team was so unhappy with her that “no-one could see this going for another season.”
Speaking to our own sources – the same ones who told us Kevin Conroy was playing Kingdom Come Batman in “Crisis” and The CW is developing an Arrow spinoff, both of which were correct – we’ve been told that most of this is true. From what we understand, despite Deadline’s claim, the injury did play a part in her decision but it was also her relationship with the rest of the cast and crew, with Rose reportedly acting “snobby” and not getting along with others on set and also wanting to pursue more movie roles as she felt she was too big a star for a CW show.
Of course, we’re going to have to wait for the dust to settle to find out more about what went on, but it seems that there was definitely some discontent on the Batwoman set. Still, with season 2 not so far away, casting for Rose’s replacement has likely started already and we should hear who The CW chooses to step into the role soon.