It’s time for some great casting news!
Ruby Rose will be joining the CW’s Arrowverse. She will be playing Batwoman as the titular character in the upcoming TV series.
Even before that series premieres, fans will get to see her make an appearance as Batwoman.
Greg Berlanti is living his best life. He is producing Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, Titans, and more.
And soon, he and writer Caroline Dries will have a new series for The Cw: Batwoman.
The character of Batwoman will make her first appearance before her show even begins, because she will have a role on his December’s big DC crossover event.
And The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Batwoman will be played by Ruby Rose.
Ruby also a model and recording artist, and is noted for acting roles on Orange Is The New Black and Dark Matter as well as film roles like John Wick II and The Meg.
This is great news!
If you’re not familiar with the character of Batwoman, you should start off by knowing that she is emphatically not Batman’s girlfriend.
In fact, Batwoman is Bruce Wayne’s cousin. Also, she’s a lesbian. Her name is Kate Kane.
Like her cousin, she utilizes combat skills, detective work, and gadgetry in order to combat her city’s criminal element.
The Batwoman series will follow Kate Kane as she pursues her interest in social justice and her training in street fighting, battling her inner demons and also battling crime in Gotham.
There have been a number of versions of Kate’s story over the years — that’s the nature of comics. It’s likely that fans will see both new and familiar elements of Kate as they watch her joint he Arrowverse.
While Batwoman won’t be the DC’s first lesbian superhero on the CW (for example, there is Anissa Pierce, aka Thunder on Black Lightning), or the first LGBT+ lead on a DC show (that would be Sara Lance on Legends of Tomorrow), she will be the first gay lead.
Showrunners had decided from the get-go that they wanted to cast an openly gay actress for the role.
Representation is important, and a lot of heterosexual actors have been hailed as “brave” for portraying LGBT+ characters over the years.
Ruby Rose, who came out as gay when she was 12, and was dating Jess Origliasso of The Veronicas until April of this year, is a great fit.
The Arrowverse is affirming its commitment to representation with Nicole Maines, a trans woman who will play a trans superhero, joining Supergirl as a series regular next season.
When the news of her casting broke, Ruby took to Instagram to confirm it to her followers.
“The Bat is out of the bag,” Ruby’s captions begin. “And I am beyond thrilled and honored.”
“I’m also,” she admits. “An emotional wreck.”
This means so much to her, she explains, “because this is a childhood dream.”
“This is something I would have died to have seen on TV when I was a young member of the LGBT community,” Ruby says. “Who never felt represented on tv and felt alone and different.”
Kids and teens need representation, too.
“Thank you everyone,” Ruby says. “Thank you god.”
We still do not know which other characters will be featured on Batwoman, let alone who will play them.
(We all have our fancasts of who should play Renee Montoya — a comics character often associated with Batwoman, though, like Harley Quinn, Montoya was originally conceived in the 1990s for Batman: The Animated Series)
Batwoman is expected to air on the CW, while other upcoming live-action DC shows like Titans, Doom Patrol, and Swamp Thing will be making their debut on the DC Universe streaming app, which is now available for preorder.
Congratulations to Ruby Rose for living her dreams and getting to bring this comics legend to life!
