Batwoman Star Ruby Rose Says Fans Are “the Most Important Part” of the Show

Ruby Rose was one of a handful of genre actors who had to unplug from social media last year due to abuse and harassment from “fans.” Still, she is confident that Batwoman will please most fans, and feels prepared to handle the inevitable criticisms that will spring up when the series does not conform to the expectations of certain vocal segments of the audience. Speaking with ComicBook.com at today’s upfront presentation for The CW in New York, Rose described fans as the “most important part of how this works.”

The series will debut in the fall, partnered with Supergirl for a “World’s Finest” night of programming that will shine a light on two of DC’s most recognizable heroines. Along the way, she will face off with some of her famous cousin’s foes, as well as some new villains Batman never had to deal with before. It all starts in the fall.

“I wouldn’t say that they’re opinionated; I would say that they’re passionate. When I’m passionate about something, I can come across as quite opinionated,” Rose told ComicBook.com today. “I think that there are going to be people out there who know this universe, especially right now, better than I do, or people who think they know their version of Gotham. They’re going to project what they want and what their expectations are onto the show. I think what’s really good about The CW and DC and Warner Bros. is that we listen to that kind of thing. It’s not like we’re just doing what we want to do and that’s the end of it. The fans are the most important part of how this works. We have obviously set designers and costume designers and Colleen Atwood, and we have writers and we have actors, and we’re all bringing this world to life, but at the same time we have to honor the fact that this is not something that just got created and that we decided to do. It’s not an original IP. It has existed in many different platforms in many different media with many different actors at many different times. So it’s paying tribute to, respect to, and the honor of having the privilege to [play this role]. It’s everyone’s dream to be in a show or a film where you get to be in Gotham. It doesn’t really get much better than that. That’s iconic. A lot of that’s out of my hands, like how Gotham looks and feels, but my character is entirely my responsibility, as well as Caroline and the writer and the director. But having done the pilot, having lived in it, having done that every day for that month and having felt the emotions of Kate in everything that we all did, I really think people are going to be pleasantly surprised. I think that it has so much heart and so much grit and all the things you expect form Batwoman as well. The arcs and the character arcs and the true feelings and natures of these people is really layered. I’m really grateful to get to play someone that has a full-fledged backstory and real relationships, and trials and tribulations that are dealt with in a way that sometimes is a good way to deal with things and sometimes isn’t, but human and flawed. It’s therapeutic and cathartic to play that role.”

Kate Kane (Ruby Rose) never planned to be Gotham’s new vigilante. Three years after Batman mysteriously disappeared, Gotham is a city in despair. Without the Caped Crusader, the Gotham City Police Department was overrun and outgunned by criminal gangs. Enter Jacob Kane (Dougray Scott) and his military-grade Crows Private Security, which now protects the city with omnipresent firepower and militia. Years before, Jacob’s first wife and daughter were killed in the crossfire of Gotham crime. He sent his only surviving daughter, Kate Kane, away from Gotham for her safety. After a dishonorable discharge from military school and years of brutal survival training, Kate returns home when the Alice in Wonderland gang targets her father and his security firm, by kidnapping his best Crow officer Sophie Moore (Meagan Tandy). Although remarried to wealthy socialite Catherine Hamilton-Kane (Elizabeth Anweis), who bankrolls the Crows, Jacob is still struggling with the family he lost, while keeping Kate –– the daughter he still has –– at a distance. But Kate is a woman who’s done asking for permission. In order to help her family and her city, she’ll have to become the one thing her father loathes –– a dark knight vigilante. With the help of her compassionate stepsister, Mary (Nicole Kang), and the crafty Luke Fox (Camrus Johnson), the son of Wayne Enterprises’ tech guru Lucius Fox, Kate Kane continues the legacy of her missing cousin, Bruce Wayne, as Batwoman. Still holding a flame for her ex-girlfriend, Sophie, Kate uses everything in her power to combat the dark machinations of the psychotic Alice (Rachel Skarsten), who’s always somewhere slipping between sane and insane. Armed with a passion for social justice and a flair for speaking her mind, Kate soars through the shadowed streets of Gotham as Batwoman. But don’t call her a hero yet. In a city desperate for a savior, she must first overcome her own demons before embracing the call to be Gotham’s symbol of hope.

Based on the characters from DC, BATWOMAN is from Berlanti Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television with executive producers Greg Berlanti (“Arrow,” “The Flash,” “Supergirl”), Caroline Dries (“The Vampire Diaries,” “Smallville”), Geoff Johns (“Arrow,” “The Flash,” “Titans”) and Sarah Schechter (“Arrow,” “The Flash,” “Supergirl”). David Nutter (“Game of Thrones,” “The Flash,” “Arrow”) and Marcos Siega (“The Vampire Diaries,” “You”) executive produced the pilot.

Batwoman is coming to The CW this fall, airing at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW before episodes of Supergirl.