‘Batwoman’ Showrunner On Kate Kane’s Departure: “It Will Be A Huge Roller Coaster For All Of Our Characters”

While the new season of CW’s Batwoman will introduce Javicia Leslie’s Ryan Wilder as the new heroine donning the stylish black-and-red Batsuit,  audiences won’t be left in the dark about what becomes of Ruby Rose’s Kate Kane.

“It’s something that will resolve,” showrunner Caroline Dries assured during the CW virtual panel this morning. As fans recall, last year Rose announced her exit from the series after the end of Season 1. While Dries played coy when asked exactly when viewers will get that resolution, she teased “I will say, as a storyteller, this will be a lot of twists and turns. It will be a huge roller coaster for all of our characters and my hope is that it feels like a very awesome, satisfying resolve.”

Ahead of the show’s debut this Sunday, Dries was joined by Leslie whose character Ryan discovers Kate Kane’s Batsuit as well as a newfound responsibility. “The suit has always represented a legacy,” said Leslie.

“It is the suit, but the person also has to be worthy to carry that legacy,” she continued. “And that’s kind of the journey that Ryan goes on because when she first gets the suit, like me, when I first got the job, you question whether or not you’re worthy of what this really represents and what this legacy means… you’ll find out whether or not she becomes worthy, but it’s really the journey of owning her Batwoman.”

Unlike Kate, Ryan has no relations with the existing characters in the series.

“I wanted a girl that nobody was connected to,” said Dries. “We don’t have the family bonds. She’s a nobody, that’s the whole point. She’s invisible. she’s lost in the system. And so it was easier to integrate her into the Bat world and the Bat team because she’s that woman and they’re all working together.”

Described as likable, messy, a little goofy and untamed, Ryan is nothing like Kate Kane. With no one in her life to keep her on track, she 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.

Leslie’s casting represented a groundbreaking moment for the franchise as she became the first Black actress to play Batwoman on screen. The show has already made positive strives in the quest to increase representation. At its onset, Batwoman received attention for being the first superhero series in television history to feature an LGBTQ character as the central character.

“When I was growing up, I didn’t see versions of myself on the screen, especially in superhero movies and television shows. I remember when I was growing up, I saw two black female superheroes, and technically Catwoman is not really a superhero. So I saw one and Halle Berry played both,” said Leslie. “So to be able to be a vessel in this industry that allows other people that either look like me or walk the same path,” she added, “I think it’s important.”

“I think that we deserve to have representation.”

Season 2 of Batwoman premieres Sunday, Jan. 17 on the CW.