Ruby Rose suits up in first trailer for The CW's Batwoman
Here’s the first footage from The CW’s Batwoman.
The network revealed the new trailer for the Arrowverse’s latest entry, which stars Ruby Rose as Kate Kane, Gotham City’s newest hero, at its upfront presentation to advertisers on Thursday. While this isn’t the first time we’ve seen Rose suit up as the scarlet caped crusader (she made her debut as Batwoman in last year’s “Elseworlds” crossover), this is our first glimpse of how she got started.
Executive produced by Greg Berlanti and showrunner Caroline Dries (The Vampire Diaries, Smallville), the show follows Kate, an out lesbian who was dishonorably discharged from military school and spent years in survival training. When she returns to Gotham City — which became overridden with crime after the Batman mysteriously disappeared years earlier — the Alice in Wonderland Gang targets her father’s private security firm, The Crows, and kidnaps their best officer Sophie Moore (Meagan Tandy). Sophie is also Kate’s ex-girlfriend, which means the prodigal daughter will have to go up against the Alice in Wonderland gang’s Joker-like leader Alice (Rachel Skarsten) in order to save her. Batman may be gone, but Gotham certainly hasn’t run out of villains with weird obsessions, colorful gimmicks, and a penchant for taking hostages.
Despite her father’s misgivings, Kate refuses to give up on Sophie. As seen in the trailer, she explores her cousin Bruce Wayne’s offices until she finds the abandoned Batcave, complete with the Batman suit. Luke Fox (Camrus Johnson), the son of Wayne Enterprises’ tech guru Lucius Fox, confidently declares “the suit is literal perfection,” but Kate has a caveat: “It will be…when it fits a woman.” After she suits up to rescue Sophie, Gotham citizens understandably celebrate Batman’s long-awaited return. But Kate doesn’t want to “let a man take credit for a woman’s work,” so some design changes are in order until she can reach the red-and-black costume made iconic by Batwoman’s comic appearances.
Batwoman is one of DC Comics’ most high-profile LGBTQ characters, and the significance of playing her on TV is not lost on Rose.
“The fact that she is an outwardly gay superhero, which is something growing up I would’ve loved to have seen on my TV, was a big deciding factor as to why I was so passionate about the role,” Rose told EW when we visited “Elseworlds” set. “This [role] just meant a lot more to me because I could relate in so many ways and, at the same time, felt like this was a job that would give me a purpose every day coming into work beyond just getting to live my dream, which is acting, and would be far more rewarding than anything I’ve done in the past.”
The series also stars Dougray Scott as Kate’s father Jacob; Elizabeth Anweis as her step-mother Catherine Hamilton-Kane, who funds the Crows; and YOU‘s Nicole Kang as her stepsister Mary. Geoff Johns and Sarah Schechter also serve as executive producers, and David Nutter and Marcos Siega executive produced the pilot.
Watch the trailer above. Batwoman will air Sundays this fall on The CW.
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