Ruby Rose unveiled as Batwoman: First image has fans swooning

Gwynne Watkins
·Writer, Yahoo Entertainment

Ruby Rose is answering the Bat-Signal, and she looks amazing doing it. The CW has unveiled the first image of Rose as Batwoman, Gotham’s new street-fighting vigilante, who will make her debut in a December “Arrowverse” crossover event, spanning episodes of Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl, in advance of a standalone Bat-series.

Rose’s casting elicited some angry social media reactions when it was revealed that Batwoman would be a lesbian, making her the first LGBT superhero to headline a live-action series. (In addition to the expected homophobia, some Batman fans argued that the gender-fluid Australian actress was not “gay enough” to play the role; Rose wound up shutting down her social media in response to the vitriol.) But when it comes to the new Batwoman costume, the Twitterverse is full of raves.

Ruby Rose as Batwoman; that’s Wayne Tower in the background. (Photo: JSquared Photography/The CW)
Ruby Rose as Batwoman; that’s Wayne Tower in the background. (Photo: JSquared Photography/The CW)

Designed by Oscar winner Colleen Atwood, the fight-ready Batwoman costume features a winged cape, a red bat symbol across the chest, a utility belt, and, most striking of all, a red wig emerging from the traditional cowl. Fans are praising the new bat-suit both for its striking appearance and for how closely it mirrors the look of the DC Comics character.

Batwoman as she appears in DC Comics. (Image: Courtesy of DC Entertainment)
Batwoman as she appears in DC Comics. (Image: Courtesy of DC Entertainment)

Rose has said that when she got the role, she “kept spontaneously crying” because she was so thrilled to play Batwoman. “I feel like the reason I keep getting so emotional is because, you know, growing up watching TV, I never saw somebody on TV that I could identify with,” she told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show. “Let alone a superhero, you know?”

Rose’s Batwoman will first appear on the CW in the “Elseworlds” crossover event, which will include episodes of Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl. Batwoman is slated to premiere in 2019.

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