Batwoman Boss Teases Season 2 Plan to Write Out, Not Kill Off, Kate Kane

Matt Webb Mitovich
·2 min read

Kate Kane will be gone, but alive and kicking, when The CW’s Batwoman opens Season 2 in early 2021.

Aiming to “clarify any misinformation out there,” showrunner Caroline Dries on Wednesday made clear that in the name of dealing with Ruby Rose’s abrupt parting of ways with the Arrowverse series, the character she played will not be killed off.

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“As a lesbian who’s been working as a writer for the past 15 years, I’m well aware of the ‘Bury Your Gays’ trope and I have no interest in participating in it,” Dries wrote (see full message below).

“Like you, I Love Kate Kane…. We’ll never erase her,” the EP reiterated. “In fact, her disappearance will be one of the mysteries of Season 2.”

Shortly after Rose’s exit after just one season was announced, it was reported that Kate Kane would not be recast; instead, a new character — (possibly code-)named “Ryan Wilder,” and who is described as “likeable,” “goofy,” and “highly skilled [but] wildly undisciplined” fighter — will eventually take on the Bat-mantle.

Dries this past weekend explained the decision to introduce a new character versus recast, saying at the ATX At Home Festival, “To be honest with you, I did consider the ‘soap opera version’ [of recasting] for a hot minute, because selfishly we already had a couple episodes written, and transition-wise it would be seamless. But upon further reflection — and I think [Arrowverse EP] Greg [Berlanti] helped me make this call — he’s like, ‘I think we should just reboot Batwoman as a different character.’”

In addition to paying “respect to everything that Ruby [Rose] put into the Kate Kane character” during Season 1, Dries said, “it also helps the audience, because we’re not asking them to address ‘the elephant in the room’” by accepting a new face as the same person.

Dries went on to affirm that “Ryan Wilder” is “a whole new character who in her past was inspired by Batwoman, so she is going to take on the mantle,” adding that the scrappy twentysomething who lives in a van, with her plant, “is maybe not the right person at the time to be doing it, so that’s what makes it fun.”

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