Batwoman: Javicia Leslie Teases Season 2 Characters Who Will Be Inspired by Ryan Wilder

Batwoman returned Sunday night on The CW and not only explained the disappearance of Kate Kane (Ruby Rose) but saw a new hero step up and put on the Batsuit, Javicia Leslie‘s Ryan Wilder. From Ryan’s perspective, kate left big shoes to fill as a hero in and out of the Batsuit as someone who did a lot for the community and seriously inspired others as well. Now, Leslie teases that Ryan will herself have people that she inspires on her own heroic journey. When asked if Ryan will become a role model the way Kate did for Parker Torres (Malia Pyles), Leslie said she not only hopes we’ll see Parker again but that there would be a character inspired by Ryan as well.

“So, I love that character, side note. I think she’s one, an amazing … the girl that plays her is an amazing actress, but I also felt like that character really stood out in the first season,” Leslie said during a recent press conference. “And I pray, I really hope we can bring her back in some kind of capacity because it was a really dope character. So as for now, there is a character that has just been introduced in the episode that I just read. And I don’t know the capacity of what this character is going to be to Ryan, but I can definitely see this character being impacted by who Ryan is in Gotham, by who Batwoman is in Gotham, especially when we’re living in a world where our quote-unquote police are not being held accountable for their actions. And Ryan definitely is on the side of like, if she were real, she would say, ‘Arrest the cops.’ Like she’ll be on the Breonna Taylor side, you know? Like that’s the perspective that she comes from.”

Leslie continued, “And so, there’s a character that gets introduced that I am assuming may be impacted by Ryan, by Batwoman. But other than that, there is a young girl that Ryan ends up having an interaction with, and this is when she’s still wearing [Kate Kane’s] suit. And so, that suit automatically in Gotham represents a superhero. And Ryan quickly gets this girl out of the way of like her life being in danger. And the little girl looks up to her, and she says, ‘Thanks, Batwoman.’ And Ryan sits down to the ground. she’s just like, ‘Oh, no, no, no, no, I’m not Batwoman.’ And she looks at her, and she says, ‘To me, you are.’”

“And so, I do believe that there are going to be characters throughout this season that will definitely be influenced in impacting by Ryan in her as Batwoman.”

That a character on Batwoman will be so impacted by Ryan as Batwoman ties into what Leslie has previously said about the real-life influence her Batwoman has and the responsibility that Leslie feels in taking on the role.

“I’m constantly reminded about what this means to so many people and how this has really nothing to do with me and everything to do with what putting on that suit means,” Leslie told the Los Angeles Times. “The first time I put the suit on, I immediately felt an immense amount of responsibility to save the world. Me, Javicia. Not even me as Ryan.”

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