Batwoman showrunner opens up on season two decision

By Neil Wilkes, Editor-in-chief | 2mo

Batwoman executive producer Caroline Dries explains the decision to bring in a new lead character for the upcoming second season.

Batwoman showrunner Caroline Dries has explained the decision to bring in a new character to adopt the moniker in the upcoming second season.

Last month Ruby Rose announced her shock decision to quit the show after just one season, having reportedly struggled to adapt to the show's relentless schedule.

Rather than recast the role of Kate Kane as Batwoman, producers have instead decided to introduce a new character Ryan Wilder, who winds up replacing Kane as the somewhat reluctant defender of Gotham.

"To be honest with you, I did consider the soap opera version [of recasting] for a hot minute, selfishly because we had already a couple of episodes written, and transition-wise it would be seamless," Dries said during a session at the ATX TV festival.

"Upon further reflection - and Greg (Berlanti, exec producer) helped me make this call, he is way smarter than me about this sort of stuff - he said, you know, we should just reboot the character in terms of reboot Batwoman as a different character, and also respect everything that Ruby put into the Katy Kane character.

"And I just think it helps the audience a little bit too, that we are not asking them to not address the elephant in the room."

The new season is not expected to premiere until January 2021 due to a production delay caused by the coronavirus pandemic.