Batwoman Showrunner Reveals How Season 2 Changed After Javicia Leslie’s Casting

We’re officially less than a week away from the dawn of a new era for Batwoman, as the hit series will soon be making its return on The CW. The return of the series has already been met with quite a lot of fanfare, especially with Javicia Leslie stepping into the series’ lead role, following the departure of Ruby Rose’s Kate Kane. Leslie will be joining the series as an entirely new character, Ryan Wilder, a fact that has been met with quite a lot of discussion amongst the show’s fandom. According to a new report about the series in the Los Angeles Times, Leslie joining the series has already brought about some significant changes — particularly with regards to Ryan’s character. As showrunner Caroline Dries revealed, the notion of Ryan having a past as a drug runner – something that was in initial descriptions for the character – has been changed.

“Once we cast Javicia I wanted to restructure some of the stuff in her past to make sure we’re telling a really authentic and positive story,” Dries revealed. “Putting something good out there that doesn’t feel trope-y or like something we’ve seen before.”

Dries also revealed that, by bringing in an entirely new character to take the Batwoman mantle, the series will be able to explore storylines that wouldn’t have necessarily applied to Kate Kane. Among these will be a “critical look” at The Crows, the security organization that is run by Kate’s father, Jacob Kane (Dougray Scott) and has an increasingly-tight grip on Gotham City.

“The Crows are basically this growing fascist organization that has no accountability in the city,” Dries explained. “They were built for rich people and don’t care about poor people. While we know some of the Crows that are good people, the institution as a whole is flawed. And I struggled to have Kate have a strong point of view about that because it wasn’t really her drama.”

That critical take on The Crows – something that parts of the show’s fandom had already been pointing out – will definitely be interesting when juxtaposed with the larger arc of Batwoman‘s second season. Between Ryan coming into her own as a hero, and the arrival of villains Safiyah Sohail (Shivani Ghai) and Victor Zsasz (Alex Morf), there will definitely be a lot to cover.

Are you excited to see Season 2 of Batwoman? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Season 2 of Batwoman will debut on Sunday, January 17th at 8/7c on The CW.