BATWOMAN: Javicia Leslie Set as the New Title Hero

BATWOMAN has a new hero: Javicia Leslie will lead up the second season of The CW series.

With her casting, Leslie becomes the first Black actress to portray Batwoman in a live-action television or film production.

“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,” Leslie said in a statement.

Leslie will play Ryan Wilder, who 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 could also 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.”

Though BATWOMAN boss Caroline Dries did initially think about doing a simple recasting for Ruby Rose’s Kate Kane, during a mini-ATX Television Festival panel last month, she explained that she thought it would be better for the show to take a different approach. “To be honest with you, I did consider the soap opera version for a hot minute, selfishly, because we had a couple episodes already written, and transition-wise, it would be seamless [since] we already started breaking season 2,” Dries explained at the time. “But upon further reflection, and [executive producer] Greg [Berlanti] helped me make this call—and he’s way smarter than me about this sort of stuff—he’s like, ‘You know, I think we should just reboot the character in terms of reboot Batwoman as a different character.’ Just to also respect everything that Ruby [Rose] put into the Kate Kane character.”

She also later clarified, “Like you, I love Kate Kane – she’s the reason I wanted to do the show. We’ll never erase her. In fact, her disappearance will be one of the mysteries of season 2.”

Leslie previously starred on GOD FRIENDED ME and THE FAMILY BUSINESS.

BATWOMAN is set to return to The CW in 2021.

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