Batwoman: Javicia Leslie Says Ryan Wilder Shows a New Side of Gotham City

Batwoman returns Sunday night on The CW, but it’s not just a brand new season for the DC Comics-inspired series. It’s a new Batwoman herself with Javicia Leslie‘s Ryan Wilder donning the cape and cowl thanks to the disappearance of Kate Kane — Ruby Rose, who played Kate, departed the series at the end of Season 1. However, viewers won’t just be getting a new heroine when Ryan suits up. They’ll also be getting a new side of Gotham City, one that’s rarely explored and it’s a side of the story that Leslie says will offer a lot of different perspectives.

During a recent press conference, Leslie explained that her first impression of Ryan was that she was the “very opposite” of Gotham and that she’s not the sort of person we usually see in stories set in one of the most infamous cities in comics.

“She was very opposite of Gotham to me,” Leslie said. “I felt like if I were living in Gotham, in path of glitz and glam of what we see a lot of times when we’re introduced to Gotham in movies and TV shows, we’d find her there. She’s not the person that we see highlighted in a lot of these films and television shows. And so, it’s like, we’re finally seeing a different perspective of Gotham.”

She continued, “Gotham is a … even though it’s a city, it’s a world. And I think it has a lot of different perspectives. And with Ryan, when I first read the character, I felt like this was a very unique and original perspective that we haven’t seen with Gotham yet.”

Leslie also said that one of the things she loves about the character is that Ryan is very much a normal person and that because she’s just a normal person, there’s something more to the story that viewers can invest in.

“You know what I love so much about Ryan? I feel like when I watch superhero shows, they’re so opposite of me as a human being and I’m really watching something that’s very much like a fantasy,” Leslie said. “And that’s cool because we’re able to lose ourselves in it. But what I love about Ryan is she’s like us, and then she enters that fantasy. So, now you can have like … there’s a stake in it for you. There’s something that you can invest in because you understand that you relate to it, you connect to it. And she’s not some rich, wealthy socialite. She is literally like all of us, and she’s now entering this world of fantasy. And it kind of like … I feel like a lot of people will feel this when they watch it, it brings that childhood likeness to it. You can really imagine yourself in that world, through Ryan’s journey.”

Viewers will get to see Ryan’s journey begin with the second season premiere of Batwoman, “What Happened to Kate Kane” on Sunday, January 17th at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.