The CW Has Cast Javicia Leslie as the New BATWOMAN; Ruby Rose Responds
The CW is ready to move forward with the second season of its Batwoman series, and they have cast God Friended Me co-star Javicia Leslie to play the new Batwoman. She is filling the spot of Ruby Rose, who quit the series.
Leslie will play a new character named Ryan Wilder, and she will wear the iconic cape and cowl when Batwoman returns to The CW for its second season in January. The character is described as “likable, messy, a little goofy and untamed. She’s also nothing like Kate Kane, the woman who wore the Batsuit before her. 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 Ryan lives in her van with her plant. A girl who would steal milk for an alley cat and also could 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.”
Leslie said in a statement:
“I am extremely proud to be the first Black actress to play the iconic role of Batwoman on television, and as a bisexual woman, I am honored to join this groundbreaking show which has been such a trailblazer for the LGBTQ+ community.”
When talking about why they were going to create a new character for the series, series creator Caroline Dries said:
“I’m inventing a whole new character who in her past was inspired by Batwoman, so 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. Rebooting Batwoman as a different character allows the show to respect everything that Ruby put into the Kate Kane character and helps the audience a little bit too, that we are not asking them to not address the elephant in the room.”
Ruby Rose responded to the news with the following Instagram poster: “OMG!! This is amazing!! I am so glad Batwoman will be played by an amazing Black woman. I want to congratulate Javicia Leslie on taking over the bat cape. You are walking into an amazing cast and crew. I can’t wait to watch season 2 you are going to be amazing!!”
I’m personally not familiar with Leslie’s work, but the creative team obviously saw something special in her. I guess we’ll see how she is in the role when the series returns.
Source: Deadline