Ruby Rose Cast As CW's Batwoman

Actress Ruby Rose is suiting up to play Batwoman. The character will make her first appearance as part of The CW’s annual Arrowverse crossover event in December. Rose is also set to reprise the role in a new standalone Batwoman series currently in development by The CW.

Rose issued a statement on Instagram soon after the news broke: “The Bat is out of the bag and I am beyond thrilled and honored. I’m also an emotional wreck because this is a childhood dream. This is something I would have died to have seen on TV when I was a young member of the LGBT community who never felt represented on TV and felt alone and different.”

While the project is still in the script stage, with a star of Rose’s calibre playing the lead and CW’s superhero creator Greg Berlanti behind it, the show is likely to go to series. Caroline Dries (formerly of The Vampire Diaries) is set to write the script. She will also serve as executive producer alongside Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Geoff Johns.

If picked up, Batwoman would follow Kate Kane (Rose) in an origin-type story. The logline from the network reads: “Armed with a passion for social justice and a flair for speaking her mind, Kate Kane soars onto the streets of Gotham as Batwoman, an out lesbian and highly trained street fighter primed to snuff out the failing city’s criminal resurgence. But don’t call her a hero yet. In a city desperate for a savior, Kate must overcome her own demons before embracing the call to be Gotham’s symbol of hope.”

Batwoman made her first appearance in DC Comics with Detective Comics #233 in 1956, in which she was introduced as a love interest for Batman. On TV, Batwoman first appeared in the animated series Batman: The Brave and the Bold, which premiered on Cartoon Network in 2008. On film, Batwoman first appeared in Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman, a 2002 direct-to-video animated film based on animated series The New Batman Adventures.