The CW’s Batwoman will not be explaining Kate Kane’s absence by killing off the character. A few weeks after star Ruby Rose announced her surprise exit from the show, showrunner Caroline Dries has tweeted a statement about how the show will address this in a way that avoids the problematic “Bury Your Gays” trope.
“As a lesbian who’s been working as a writer for the past fifteen years, I’m well aware of the ‘Bury Your Gays’ trope and I have no interest in participating in it,” she wrote. “That’s why it’s important to me as the showrunner to clarify any misinformation out there about Kate Kane and recasting Batwoman.”
In the statement, Dries said the character was “the reason [she] wanted to do the show,” and that instead of “erasing” her, the show will treat her disappearance as one of season 2’s mysteries. “I don’t want to give away any of our surprises, but to all our devoted fans, please know that LGBTQ+ justice is at the very core of what Batwoman is and we have no intention of abandoning that,” she wrote.
A note from me on behalf of The Bat Team… pic.twitter.com/V6iXjaCrA5
— Caroline Dries (@carolinedries) June 10, 2020
Previously, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that the show will be writing in a brand-new lead to play Batwoman, instead of recasting Kate Kane. Tentatively named “Ryan Wilder,” per a now-deleted casting notice dug up by Decider, the new Batwoman will reportedly be an out lesbian in her mid-20s:
“She’s likable, messy, a little goofy and untamed. She’s also nothing like Kate Kane, the woman who wore the batsuit before her. With no one in her life to keep her on track, Ryan spent years as a drug-runner, dodging the GCPD and masking her pain with bad habits. A girl who would steal milk for an alley cat could also kill you with her bare hands, Ryan is the most dangerous type of fighter: highly skilled and wildly undisciplined. An out lesbian. Athletic. Raw. Passionate. Fallible. And very much not your stereotypical All-American hero.”
While Dries has not commented on whether “Ryan Wilder” is indeed the character’s name or simply a decoy for casting purposes, she did confirm that an entirely new character will be donning Batwoman’s cape.
“I’m inventing a whole new character who in her past was inspired by Batwoman, so she will take on the mantle and is completely maybe not the right person at the time to be doing it, so that’s what makes it fun,” she said during a conversation with The Vampire Diaries showrunner Julie Plec at the ATX TV festival, according to Deadline.
There’s no word yet on when Batwoman season 2 will arrive, although The CW has said, per Screenrant, that none of the Arrowverse shows will be returning until at least January 2021.
