Batwoman Showrunner Breaks Down Kate's Continued Struggle With Identity

The CW's Batwoman has, from its very first episode, not shied away from Kate Kane's identity as a lesbian. Audiences learn that, much like the character's comic book origin, Kate was kicked out of the military academy after her sexuality is discovered. From the pilot, it's been clear that not only is Kate Kane gay, but she's comfortable with who she is. However, now that she's taken on the mantle of Batwoman the character is going to start having to deal with questions of identity, both in terms of who Batwoman is and why she's taking it all on.

According to series showrunner Caroline Dries, while Kate may be out and proud, people may assume Batwoman is straight, something that will create a bit of conflict for Kate as she attempts to find something of a work/life balance.

"I want to keep the fact that [Kate's] a lesbian part of the fabric of the show," Dries told CBR. "So she's going to continue to try to have a personal life outside of her superhero-ness or within being a superhero. She's a person who falls in love, she's a human being. So that is definitely going to continue to be a conflict. And also one of the things we're going to explore is this idea that she is a gay woman who's always been comfortable with being gay. It's never been an issue. And now she's literally changing her identity and Gotham is assuming that she's straight. And that's going to be something that starts to irk her."

But that won't be the only thing. As Kate has started to learn after having to end her budding relationship with Reagan earlier this season, being Batwoman takes up a lot of her own life and Kate may find herself starting to question the point of it all, especially with people assuming Batwoman is straight.

"I think it makes her question, 'What am I actually doing?'" Dries said. "'I'm a symbol. What is the point? What am I actually accomplishing being this person that nobody knows who I actually am?' It makes her ask some hard questions."

What do you think about Kate struggling with Batwoman's identity? Let us know in the comments below.

Batwoman airs Sundays at 8/7c on The CW.