‘Batwoman’ Is Bigger Than Ruby Rose

Particularly given TV production is currently mostly on hold, one might not expect earth-shattering news to break about a series that won’t debut until next year. Yet that’s exactly what happened last night (May 19), when it was announced that Ruby Rose won’t be returning to The CW’s Batwoman for Season 2. That’s shocking not just because the leads of the other so-called Arrow-verse shows have stayed steady for almost a decade, but also because (queue up Beanie Feldstein in Lady Bird voice) that’s the titular role.

But while this is a huge blow for the fledging superhero series, it’s far from a death blow: Batwoman is bigger than Ruby Rose.

Not physically larger, mind you, though the bat cowl and flowing main of red hair in the costume probably add a few inches, and the armor some bulk. But the idea of Batwoman the series is more popular, and more of a draw than Ruby Rose ever was.

To take a bit of a step back here, Batwoman was first announced as a continuation of the Warner Bros. produced DC Comics based series back in July of 2018. Centered on Bruce Wayne’s cousin Kate Kane, the character was a critical hit for DC Comics when she was reintroduced years earlier, and a groundbreaking lead for network television: other than being a vigilante by night, Kate Kane is also an out lesbian. Though the Arrow-verse series including Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and Black Lightning include multiple LGBTQ+ characters, the only one with a lead superhero is Legends, and that’s more of an ensemble show.

Shorter version? Batwoman, even in the early stages, under The Vampire Diaries Caroline Dries as showrunner, was a big deal.

Less than a month later, The CW announced that Ruby Rose would be playing Kate. Part of the rush was to get everything in place for the superhero series’ annual crossover event, which would air in December and introduce Batwoman to the rest of superhero clan. But the network was already bullish on a potential series as well, putting it into development for the 2019-2020 season. By October, we had our first look at Ruby Rose in the Batwoman suit; and in January, a pilot was ordered.

Though reaction to Rose’s casting was initially mixed, based on how fans felt about her performances in Orange Is The New Black and John Wick: Chapter Two, once they saw her in action most of those fears went away. Rose only briefly appeared in the “Elseworlds” crossover that aired during episodes of The Flash, Arrow and Supergirl; but the first screenings of the Batwoman pilot at 2019’s San Diego Comic-Con were met with an enthusiastic response.

Still, things were clearly not all copacetic in the background. Rose skipped the big premiere in San Diego due to “scheduling conflicts,” something that raised eyebrows given a superhero coming out party at pop culture’s biggest event is a rite of passage. She later showed up at that summer’s Television Critics Association event, but skipped other press events throughout the year — not a requirement, but part of the process. And on a different part of the spectrum, revealed that a stunt on set, according to her, almost paralyzed her.

Look, before we get into this next part, I’d like to clarify that I liked Rose as Kate Kane. Over the course of the first season she seamlessly vacillated between the James Bond type smolder needed for a rich playgirl in Gotham City, seducing waitresses and spies alike; and a surprisingly  goofy/awkward physical humor you wouldn’t expect from the grim tradition of Batman and his ilk. There was also a slow build on the part of Dries and the writing staff to create a “Team Batwoman” around Kate, a la the other Arrow-verse shows, thanks to the effortlessly game Nicole Kang as influencer/medic Mary Hamilton and Camrus Johnson as buff tech nerd Luke Fox.

Most importantly, though, Rose formed a clear on-screen bond with Rachel Skarsten, who plays Alice — the show’s Joker type figure, who through a series of events was revealed to also be Kate’s sister. It’s a palpable relationship, and Rose and Skarsten made it the beating heart of the series, and a dynamic unique to current superhero shows.

Rose did a great job on screen, which is where it counts. But the questions we’ll be asking, at least until there’s a definitive behind the scenes story (Decider reached out to The CW for further comment) is whether Rose was doing the job behind the screen, as well.

The fact of the matter is that being the lead of a show is intense. That’s not necessarily ground-breaking info, but when you talk to anyone on a working series, it’s clear that it isn’t just the showrunner who makes the series work, it’s the lead, too. Melissa Benoist on Supergirl, Stephen Amell on Arrow, Grant Gustin on The Flash… They’re all regularly lauded by their cast-mates as the ones who are first on set, last on set, and keeping everyone going in between. A lead on any series is like that, but on a superhero series you also have to spend a fair amount of your time wearing an incredibly tight, uncomfortable costume. You need to memorize stunts, as well as lines. You need to spew a bunch of sci-fi nonsense that you may or may not understand, and then make it seem reasonable to the viewing audience. And then on top of all that, you need to be the superhero in real life, too, connecting with fans, buoying up the show, crafting your whole public persona to hew towards the hopeful idea of the superhero you portray. Even for a dark hero like Batwoman, the watch-word is “hope.” It’s a lot.

Was this why Rose left? Maybe. It seems like a reasonable guess that even when you think you can do something like this, the actual physical demands are more than most humans can handle, particularly when you factor in 22 episodes of television a year, filmed on a nearly non-stop schedule.

Regardless of the reason, though, Rose is leaving Batwoman, and the show will aim to re-cast Kate Kane with a new LGBTQ+ lead. And that brings us back to where we started, that ultimately Batwoman can, and will continue without Rose. Does Ruby Rose have fans? Sure. Does she probably have more fans starring on a hit series for a year than she did back before nabbing the role of Batwoman? Assuredly. But the series is Batwoman, not The Ruby Rose Show, and part of the reason is that Rose didn’t put in the legwork over the past year to make the role hers.

While Skarsten, Kang and Johnson remained active on social media, connecting with fans, doing the press rounds and participating in behind the scenes features, Rose was mostly missing. It’s not a rarity for a lead to limit their additional commitments, given what they need to do for the show. But Skarsten was, and is, all but co-lead in everything but name only on Batwoman. Her scenes and plots taking up nearly as much of the runtime of the episodes as Rose’s. Fans sparked to that, and have rallied around her as one of the more unique and exciting characters on the Arrow-verse series.

But beyond creating some sort of weird “who did it better” argument between the stars — particularly since we don’t know how present Rose was, or wasn’t on set — there’s the fact of the matter than Batwoman is the icon, not Rose. The role isn’t James Bond level, or even Batman level. But both of those have been recast, repeatedly, and it hasn’t hurt their box office prospects at all (Timothy Dalton aside).

For a more specific example, take a look at Marvel’s Rhodey. Terrence Howard was a cast-member with a seemingly troubled attitude both on set, and off. When it was announced Don Cheadle was replacing him for Iron Man 2, fans immediately got worried for the future of the franchise. “Look it’s me, I’m here, deal with it, let’s move on,” Cheadle says early in Iron Man 2. Other issues with the movie aside, a decade of the biggest box office hits of all time have proven that switching one War Machine for another didn’t do the damage it seemed like it would have, initially. And arguably getting someone like Cheadle who was more prepared to deal with the realities of superhero film production, in the long run, helped the franchise.

And that’s the crux of things: these heroes are the icons, not the actors. It’s dangerous to imply that actors are all replaceable, because they’re not. Would Arrow have worked in the long run if Amell had ditched the show after Season 1? Possibly not, but mostly because superhero TV shows were a rarity back when it launched, and Green Arrow holds nowhere near the cultural cache of the Bat family. A decade on, and Batwoman is one of a number of shows on The CW, including Superman & Lois which will launch in 2021, and DC’s Stargirl, which premiered last night.

But it’s also related to Batman, one of the most recognizable icons in the world. That’s what fans are tuning in for, for the most part; not Ruby Rose, Batwoman. The arch heroics, the groundbreaking lesbian lead, the family dynamics with Alice and Kate. Not any one actress, but the excellent, layered scripts by Dries and company, the ties to the overall universe, the teases and Easter eggs, touching moments and intense action. And when Batwoman Season 2 premieres in 2021, with a new actress playing Kate Kane (Brooklyn 99‘s Stephanie Beatriz already seems to be lobbying for the role, for what it’s worth), she’ll whip off the long red wig, take off the bat cowl, we’ll deal with it, and move on.

Where to watch Batwoman