The wait is over. After Ruby Rose exited The CW’s Batwoman at the end of Season 1, Warner Bros. TV has revealed who will take over the show’s starring role. Javicia Leslie will play a brand new character created just for the series.
Leslie is best known for her roles on CBS’ God Friended Me and BET’s The Family Business. She will play the character Ryan Wilder, who is described as “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. Today Ryan lives in her van with her plant. A girl who would steal milk for an alley cat and 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.”
It was revealed shortly after Rose exited the series that The CW would not recast the role of Kate Kane, but would instead create someone new. Now, Leslie becomes the first Black actress to take on the role of Batwoman in a live-action TV show or movie. “I am extremely proud to be the first Black actress to play the iconic role of Batwoman on television, and as a bisexual woman, I am honored to join this groundbreaking show which has been such a trailblazer for the LGBTQ+ community,” she said in a statement.
As with the rest of The CW’s Arrow-verse shows, Batwoman won’t return until January 2021. It will air Sundays, at 8 PM ET/PT.
Image credit: Warner Bros. TV