| Batwoman | |
|---|---|
 Title card for the first season | |
| Genre | |
| Based on | |
| Developed by | Caroline Dries |
| Showrunner | Caroline Dries |
| Starring | |
| Composers | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 51(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Production locations | |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 42–43 minutes |
| Production companies | |
| Original release | |
| Network | The CW |
| Release | October 6, 2019 (2019-10-06) – March 2, 2022 (2022-03-02) |
| Related | |
| Arrowverse | |
Batwoman is an Americansuperhero television series developed byCaroline Dries forThe CW. Based on theDC Comicscharacter of the same name, it is part of theArrowverse television franchise. The series premiered on October 6, 2019, and ran for three seasons until March 2, 2022, before its cancellation on April 29. Thefirst season followsKate Kane, the cousin of vigilanteBruce Wayne, who becomes Batwoman after his disappearance. Thesecond andthird seasons focus on former convictRyan Wilder as she protectsGotham City in the role of Batwoman.
Development on aBatwoman series began in 2018 after it was announced that Kate would appear in the Arrowverse crossover "Elseworlds".Ruby Rose was cast as Kate the same year, withBatwoman receiving a series order in 2019. Shortly after the conclusion of the first season, Rose exited the series andJavicia Leslie was cast as Ryan, an original character created to succeed Kate. Following the series' cancellation, Leslie reprised her role in theninth and final season ofThe Flash.
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | Rank | Average viewers (in millions) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||||
| 1 | 20 | October 6, 2019 (2019-10-06) | May 17, 2020 (2020-05-17) | 117 | 1.00[1] | |
| 2 | 18 | January 17, 2021 (2021-01-17) | June 27, 2021 (2021-06-27) | 147 | 0.50[2] | |
| 3 | 13 | October 13, 2021 (2021-10-13) | March 2, 2022 (2022-03-02) | 129 | 0.46[3] | |
The series followsKate Kane andRyan Wilder overcoming their demons by becoming vigilantes and fighting crime inGotham City.
In thefirst season, following the disappearance ofGotham City-based vigilante Batman,[a] Kate discovers that her cousinBruce Wayne was Batman and decides to follow in his footsteps by becoming her own vigilante using her prior military skills, coined "Batwoman" by the media, with the help of tech-expert and former Wayne Enterprises employeeLuke Fox, and her stepsisterMary Hamilton, who eventually discovers Kate is Batwoman. Meanwhile, Kate's fatherJacob had formed a security firm known as the Crows during Batman's absence and has come into conflict with theWonderland Gang, led by the psychotic serial killerAlice all while Batwoman attempts to convince the Crows she is on their side of the war as they won't accept help from masked vigilantes. Kate deduces that Alice is her fraternal twin sister Beth, who was presumed dead following a car accident.
In thesecond season, following Kate Kane's supposed death from a plane crash, homeless ex-conRyan Wilder finds the bat-suit from the plane wreckage and takes up the mantle of Batwoman to avenge her mother's death. Meanwhile, Alice explores more of her past which she has mysterious connections with a man namedOcean and a mysterious enemy known as Safiyah Sohail – the woman who hadEnigma erase those memories for unknown reasons; In addition, the Crows face up against a new drug dealing organization known as theFalse Face Society led byBlack Mask. Unbeknownst to everyone, Black Mask has Kate hostage after the False Face Society raided her airplane and had Enigma brainwash her to be his daughter Circe Sionis who perished the day when Alice caused a mass breakout at Arkham Asylum. In addition, Black Mask later has Jacob arrested by the police officers on his side for withholding the information that Alice is Beth Kane where Jacob cuts a deal that gets him placed in a prison inMetropolis while "Circe" gains Jacob and Mary's trust in order to steal some items belonging to Batman's enemies. When Alice defeats Black Mask and helps Ryan cure Kate of the Circe persona, she is arrested by the police and remanded to Arkham Asylum with Black Mask. With Kate back to normal, she leaves Gotham to go visit her father and Supergirl before going to look for Bruce. While visiting Alice, Ryan learns that her biological mother is still alive. As for the stolen items that ended up in the river during the conflict, they wash up on shore as a container of one ofPoison Ivy's plants breaks open.
In thethird and final season, Ryan and Luke begin the hunt for the missing Batman villain trophies like one of Poison Ivy's plants,Mad Hatter's hat,Killer Croc's tooth, andMr. Freeze's liquid nitrogen where it falls into the hands of different people. Due to some intimidation from former Gotham City Police Department memberRenee Montoya, Ryan has no choice but to have Alice as a consultant when looking for the missing trophies. In addition, Ryan finds out that her biological mother is Jeturian Industries' CEOJada Jet as she also meets her half-brother Marquis, who has a dark past that revolved around a bus that was hijacked byJoker when he was young. Mary gets possessed by Poison Ivy's plant and acts as her proxy. Renee finds Poison Ivy's body and gets her back to her mobile state as she finally meets with Mary's possessed form to get back to full power. After Poison Ivy is defeated and relocated to Coryana with Renee, Batwoman is left to deal with Marquis. Batwoman uses the Joker's joy buzzer to restore Marquis back to normal, while the Joker acid he was going to distribute over Gotham City exploded over a desolate part of the area.
LaMonica Garrett also stars on "Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Two" asMar Novu / Monitor, a multiversal being who tests different Earths in the multiverse in preparation for an impending "crisis" orchestrated by his polar opposite,Mobius / Anti-Monitor.[16]
In May 2018,The CW presidentMark Pedowitz andArrow leadStephen Amell announced at The CW'supfront presentation thatBatwoman would be introduced in theArrowverse series' 2018 crossover, "Elseworlds", which aired in December 2018, fighting alongside the other Arrowverse heroes, withGotham City also appearing.[17][18] In July 2018, it was reported that The CW was planning to develop a series around the character, to air in 2019 if picked up. The series, said to only be a "script-development deal", was written byCaroline Dries, who would also serve as an executive producer withGreg Berlanti, Sarah Schecter, and the character's co-creatorGeoff Johns. The series would be produced byBerlanti Productions andMad Ghost Productions in association withWarner Bros. Television.[5] The following month, Pedowitz noted the pilot would be completed "for mid-season".[19]
In December 2018, Dries submitted a "strong" script for a potential pilot episode, according to Nellie Andreeva ofDeadline Hollywood.[20] That led to the series receiving a pilot order from The CW the next month, to be considered for a series order in the2019–20 television season.[21][20][22] As of April 2019, the series was considered "a lock" at The CW, and reportedly had a writing staff in place.[23] On May 7, 2019, The CW ordered the show to series.[24] On October 25, 2019, the series was picked up for a full season of 22 episodes.[25] On January 7, 2020, the series was renewed for asecond season, which premiered on January 17, 2021.[26][27]
On February 3, 2021, The CW renewed the series for a third season which premiered on October 13, 2021,[28][29] and the finale aired on March 2, 2022.[30] On April 29, 2022, The CW canceled the series after three seasons.[31]
Casting for Kate Kane was expected to begin after the announcement of the intended series in May 2018,[32] with the intention of casting an openly gay actress.[33] In August,Ruby Rose was cast asKate Kane / Batwoman.[6] In late January 2019,Meagan Tandy,Camrus Johnson and Nicole Kang were cast in the series regular roles asSophie Moore,Luke Fox andMary Hamilton, respectively.[8] This was followed shortly by the casting ofRachel Skarsten asAlice,[7]Dougray Scott asJacob Kane,[11] andElizabeth Anweis asCatherine Hamilton-Kane.[10]
The casting of Rose as Batwoman was met by backlash on social media and received intense criticism.[34][35] DC Comics, which owns the rights to the long-time comic book superheroine Batwoman, reintroduced the character in 2006 as a gay Jewish woman. Some online reactions attacked Rose for not being Jewish, while the main focus of the criticism was the assertion that the fact that she considers herselfgender-fluid made her "not gay enough."[35] Rose leftTwitter and deactivated public commenting on herInstagram account following the backlash.[34]
In July 2021,Robin Givens,Victoria Cartagena and Nick Creegan were cast as new series regulars for the third season.[14][13][15] In August 2021,Bridget Regan was cast in the recurring role ofPoison Ivy for the third season.[36]
In May 2020, Rose announced she would be leaving the series ahead of its second season;[37] while it was initially announced that it was mutually decided between Rose, the studio, and the network for her to leave,[38][39] Rose'sBatwoman co-star Camrus Johnson confirmed in October 2021 that Rose had in fact been fired after "multiple complaints" about her on-set behavior.[40] The producers reaffirmed their commitment to the series and finding a new actress who is gay to lead future seasons.[37] Rose later called being the lead of a series "taxing" and stated her back surgery following an on-set accident in 2019 was a contributing factor in deciding to leave, saying it was "time for me to take a break to fully heal and then return" to acting. Spending time in isolation because of the COVID-19 pandemic also allowed Rose "to just think about a lot of different things and what you want to achieve in life and what you want to do," which allowed her "a great opportunity to have a dialogue about a lot of things" with the producers.[41]
The following month, a casting notice for a new character named Ryan Wilder was revealed, indicating the series was looking to replace Kane as Batwoman.[42][43] Dries defended the decision to introduce a new character as Batwoman, asserting that the series would continue to "respect everything that Ruby put into the Kate Kane character."[44] She also revealed Kane would not be killed, and her disappearance would be a key story-line during season two.[45]
Matt Webb Mitovitch atTVLine and Jill Pantozzi ofio9 both felt replacing Kane as Batwoman would be a detriment to the series. Mitovitch felt it would "create more problems than it solves", saying it would take away from the established character dynamics (namely the "central" one between Kate and Alice) and the various plot threads waiting to be resolved from the end of thefirst season. He added: "a simple if momentarily awkward recast would have kept all established storylines and dynamics intact; Season 2 could then pick up where the solid Season 1 left off. Instead, loyal viewers will be asked to re-invest in something that is significantly new, while also possibly giving up some of the things they liked most about the show."[46] Pantozzi felt the series could have approached the casting of a new lead actress more creatively, given the series exists in "a universe of time travel, doppelgängers, and literal face-swapping". She concluded, "if they are truly doing away with the Kate character it feels like a bizarre move. Fans could much easier come to terms with a simple replacement actress, than having to go through a convoluted story of why a random lesbian has taken up the cowl so soon after Kate did. ... It seems like a lot of explaining to do when there's a much easier option."[47] Conversely,Collider's Liz Shannon Miller felt a new character was "the right call" and "a big swing" for the series. Miller pointed to the "long-established precedent" in the comics of new characters taking over mantles from others. Like Mitovitch, Miller questioned what the new character would mean for the series' supporting cast, since their connections to Kate were "their primary reason for being a part of the show's storyline". She also hoped "Ryan Wilder" was a place-holder name, "because the trend of naming strong female characters with traditionally male names has just gotten tired at this point".[48]
In early July 2020,Javicia Leslie was cast as Ryan Wilder, the new Batwoman.[12] Rose was supportive of Leslie's casting.[49][41]Wallis Day was later cast as Kate Kane where it was claimed that she surgically altered her appearance.[4] Rose, commenting on an Instagram tribute to her time in the role, stated that she was "stoked" about Day's casting.[50]
In an interview withComicBookMovie.com when asked if she would reprise Kate at some point, Rose said, "I would totally do it. I don't think it would serve the story because I think building the new Batwoman is more important than going back too far into Kate Kane, but of course I would." Then she added on "I've watched a couple of episodes, and I think how they're handling it is beautiful. I think it's [Ryan Wilder's] time to shine."[51] However, in later in October 2021, after Rose spoke out about alleged abuse and neglect on set, she walked back on the statement, saying she would not return for "any amount of money nor if there were a gun to my head".[52]
Production on the pilot episode began on March 4 and concluded on March 25, 2019, inVancouver, British Columbia.[53][54] Additional filming took place inChicago, Illinois.[55] Filming for the rest of the season began on July 4 and was set to conclude in mid-2020.[56] On March 12, 2020, Warner Bros. Television shut down production on the series due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[57] Filming for the second season began on September 3, 2020,[58] and concluded on May 10, 2021.[59] Filming for the third season began on July 19, 2021, and concluded on December 22.[60]
In 2019, Rose suffered an injury during stunt work on the series. She spoke about the experience being close to "severing my spinal chord (sic). I was in chronic pain and yet couldn't feel my arms". She required emergency surgery.[61] In 2020, Amanda Smith, a production assistant working on the show, was paralyzed following a bucket lift being lowered onto her head. Warner Bros. Television stated they cooperated with an investigation into onset safety.[62]
In October 2021, Rose spoke out on the working conditions of her time onBatwoman. She alleged that after her spine injury, she was forced back to work with the implications from studio executives being that the entire crew would lose their jobs if she did not. She also stated that production was rushed and corners cut during theCOVID-19 pandemic and that there were manystuntpersons' injuries on-set amongst her own, including one which she stipulated cast and crew should have gotten therapy afterward.[52][63] Rose spoke out against co-starsDougray Scott and Camrus Johnson's behavior on-set, calling the former abusive and the latter an "egomaniac kid who worked one day a week". Scott responded that these allegations are "entirely made-up,"[64] while Johnson stated Rose was fired and he felt "we have a lot of great souls working on this show".[65]
In a statement, Warner Bros. Television dismissed the allegations by Rose and said that her contract was not picked up for season two because of multiple complaints about her workplace behavior.[66] This was expanded on when a production assistant, Alexander J. Baxter, came forward to confirm Rose had been fired from the show for alleged "dictator"-like behaviour.[67] However, Rose disputed these claims and produced emails, texts and other evidence on her concerns with the working conditions and ethics on set.[68]
The series debuted on The CW October 6, 2019.[69] In New Zealand, the series is streamed onTVNZ's free streaming serviceTVNZ OnDemand.[70] In the United Kingdom, the series is shown onE4.[71] In Canada, it is aired onShowcase.[72]
Season 1 was released onDVD andBlu-ray on August 18, 2020. Special features included deleted scenes, a gag reel, highlights from DCTV's 2019San Diego Comic-Con panels, and a behind-the-scenes featurette entitled "On the Set". The release also included a bonus disc with all five episodes of the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover event.[73]
Season 2 was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 21, 2021. Special features included deleted scenes, a gag reel, and two featurettes entitled "Villains Analyzed" and "Never Alone: Heroes and Allies".[74]
Season 3 was released on Blu-ray & DVD on July 12, 2022. Special features included deleted scenes and a gag reel.[75]
| Season | Timeslot (ET) | Episodes | First aired | Last aired | TV season | Viewership rank | Avg. viewers (millions) | 18–49 rank | Avg. 18–49 rating | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Viewers (millions) | Date | Viewers (millions) | ||||||||
| 1 | Sunday 8:00 pm | 20 | October 6, 2019 (2019-10-06) | 1.86[76] | May 17, 2020 (2020-05-17) | 0.74[77] | 2019–20 | 117 | 1.0 | 113 | 0.5[1] |
| 2 | Sunday 8:00 pm(1–11) Sunday 9:00 pm(12–18) | 18 | January 17, 2021 (2021-01-17) | 0.66[78] | June 27, 2021 (2021-06-27) | 0.41[79] | 2020–21 | 147 | 0.50 | 141 | 0.2[2] |
| 3 | Wednesday 9:00 pm | 13 | October 13, 2021 (2021-10-13) | 0.47[80] | March 2, 2022 (2022-03-02) | 0.42[81] | 2021–22 | 129 | 0.47 | 117 | 0.2[3] |
OnRotten Tomatoes, the series' first season holds an approval rating of 80% based on 236 reviews from critics, with an average rating of 6.85/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Though it needs more time to develop its own identity to truly soar,Batwoman's fun and stylish first season is a step in the right direction for representation and superhero shows alike."[82] OnMetacritic, the first season has aweighted average score of 59 out of 100 based on reviews from 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[83]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has an approval rating of 86% based on 21 reviews, with an average rating of 6.80/10. The critical consensus for the season reads, "Batwoman's second season survives a soft reboot, maintaining the show's excellence while giving Javicia Leslie plenty of room to spread her wings."[84]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | GLAAD Media Awards | Outstanding Drama Series | Batwoman | Nominated | [85] |
| Queerty Awards | TV Series | Batwoman | Nominated | [86] [87] | |
| TV Performance | Ruby Rose | Nominated | |||
| Leo Awards | Best Cinematography in a Dramatic Series | Nominated | |||
| Best Costume Design in a Dramatic Series | Nominated | ||||
| CAFTCAD Awards | Best Costume Design in TV Sci-Fi/ Fantasy | Nominated | |||
| UBCP/ACTRA Awards | Best Stunt Performance | Nominated | |||
| Autostraddle Gay Emmys | Outstanding Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series | Batwoman | Runner-up | [88] | |
| Outstanding Supporting Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series | Meagan Tandy | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Guest Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series | Christina Wolfe | Runner-up | |||
| Brianne Howey | Nominated | ||||
| Outstanding Performance by an LGBTQ+ Actor in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show | Ruby Rose | Nominated | |||
| Most Groundbreaking Representation (Show) | Batwoman | Runner-up | |||
| 2021 | TVLine Performer of the Week | Javicia Leslie | Won | [89] | |
| Saturn Awards | Best Superhero Adaptation Television Series | Batwoman | Nominated | [90] | |
| Autostraddle Gay Emmys | Outstanding Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series | Batwoman | Won | [91] | |
| Outstanding Lead Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Sci-Fi Series | Javicia Leslie | Won | |||
| Outstanding Supporting or Guest Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Sci-Fi Series | Meagan Tandy | Won | |||
| Outstanding LGBTQ+ Actor in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show | Javicia Leslie | Won | |||
| Outstanding Hairstyling for an LGBTQ+ Character | Sophie Moore | Runner-up | |||
| Outstanding Costume Design for a Show With LGBTQ+ Characters | Batwoman | Nominated | |||
| 2022 | GLAAD Media Awards | Outstanding Drama Series | Batwoman | Nominated | [92] |
| Critics' Choice Super Awards | Best Actress in a Superhero Series | Javicia Leslie | Nominated | [93] |
| Incarnations | |
|---|---|
| Supporting characters | |
| Enemies | |
| Publications | |
| Other media | |
| Related | |
| Arrow | |
|---|---|
| The Flash | |
| Supergirl | |
| Legends of Tomorrow | |
| Black Lightning | |
| Batwoman | |
| Animated series | |
| Characters | |
| Crossovers | |
| Related | |
