Although it was rumored since the character was announced for this season’s CW Arrowverse crossover event, it is now official: according to The Hollywood Reporter, the pilot for Batwoman, starring Ruby Rose, has been picked up by the CW. The series showrunner will be Vampire Diaries’ Caroline Dries, and Greg Berlanti will be the executive producer, making this his ninth DC Comics-themed show on the air. David Nutter, who directed the pilots for Arrow and The Flash, not to mention the Red Wedding episode of Game of Thrones, will direct the pilot for Batwoman as well.
UPDATE, 2/8/19 – The latest bit of news involving the project is the casting of its central villain, Alice, a character with whom fans of Batwoman and DC Comics should be well-acquainted. For those less in the know, Alice is sort of Batwoman’s answer to the Joker: she’s highly unpredictable, violent, and eccentric, and styles herself after the works of Lewis Carroll, both in dress and dialogue. Deadline reports that Rachel Skarsten, who starred as Dinah Lance in the DC Comics TV series Birds of Prey back in the early 2000s, will be taking on the role. Skarsten’s other past roles of note include Queen Elizabeth I in Reign and Tamsin in the series Lost Girl.
1/3/19 – CW has released an official description for the series, which you can read down below:
“Armed with a passion for social justice and a flair for speaking her mind, Kate Kane [Rose] soars onto the streets of Gotham as Batwoman, an out lesbian and highly trained street fighter primed to snuff out the failing city’s criminal resurgence. But don’t call her a hero yet. In a city desperate for a savior, Kate must overcome her own demons before embracing the call to be Gotham’s symbol of hope.”
This series will make history as the first ever superhero show featuring an LGBT lead character, and played by an LGBT actress as well. Although not much is known about the show beyond the description of the pilot, casting sides for the pilot reveal characters from the comics like Kate Kane’s father Jacob Kane (a former military Colonel and Batwoman’s right hand man), Kate’s villainous sister Alice, her police force ally and sometime romantic partner Renee Montoya, and potential future heroes like Batwing and Flamebird. The latter, of course, also happens to be Kane’s cousin Bette.Although the series has to shoot its pilot and be well-received by the network, given Berlanti’s track record with DC Comics series, it’s fair to consider this one a shoo-in, likely airing next fall or early winter 2020.
Images: CW / Warner Bros.