The CW finds its new Batwoman: Javicia Leslie

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https://deadline.com/2020/07/batwoma...es-1202980897/

The former God Friended Me star succeeds Ruby Rose in the title role when The CW series returns for Season 2 in January, but she'll play the new character Ryan Wilder, who is about to become Batwoman. Ryan Wilder is nothing like Rose's Kate Kane. “I am extremely proud to be the first Black actress to play the iconic role of Batwoman on television, and as a bisexual woman, I am honored to join this groundbreaking show which has been such a trailblazer for the LGBTQ+ community,” Leslie said in a statement. Batwoman executive producer Greg Berlanti and Warner Bros. TV didn't have to look far in finding a new Batwoman. Leslie is coming off of two seasons on CBS' God Friended Me, which is also from Berlanti and Warner Bros. TV. The CW describes Leslie's new character as "likable, messy, a little goofy and untamed. She’s also nothing like Kate Kane, the woman who wore the Batsuit before her. With no one in her life to keep her on track, Ryan spent years as a drug-runner, dodging the GCPD and masking her pain with bad habits. Today Ryan lives in her van with her plant. A girl who would steal milk for an alley cat and could also kill you with her bare hands, Ryan is the most dangerous type of fighter: highly skilled and wildly undisciplined. An out lesbian. Athletic. Raw. Passionate. Fallible. And very much not your stereotypical All-American hero." Ruby Rose responded to Leslie's casting on Instagram, writing: "OMG!! This is amazing!! I am so glad Batwoman will be played by an amazing Black woman. I want to congratulate Javicia Leslie on taking over the bat cape. You are walking into an amazing cast and crew. I can’t wait to watch season 2 you are going to be amazing !!"

New Batwoman Javicia Leslie is finding inspiration in Eartha Kitt

“I’ve always truly admired Eartha Kitt,” Leslie said of the 1960s Batman star, who played Catwoman, at DC Fandome. “But I admire Eartha Kitt even outside of acting. I love her for her activism and the fact that she used her art for activism, and just her mentality in general — the things that she would say and how dynamic they were, and the power that she had as a woman." ALSO: Showrunner Caroline Dries explains how Leslie's Ryan Wilder will fit in the larger legacy of the Bat.

New Batwoman star Javicia Leslie teases batsuit changes: "She needs to be, like, a sista when she becomes Batwoman"

“It’s important for her to feel like the silhouette of her could still look like that, with natural textured hair and things like that," Leslie said at DC Fandome of her conversations with showrunner Caroline Dries on making the first Black Batwoman distinctive.

New Batwoman star Javicia Leslie previews her new batsuit

"Look out, Gotham, I'm suited up and ready to go... But just wait until Ryan Wilder puts her own spin on the Batsuit," she wrote on Instagam.

Javicia Leslie's Batwoman unveils its first teaser

"Time to be powerful," Leslie's Ryan Wilder says while holding up the Batwoman costume.

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Batwoman reveals Javicia Leslie’s new Batsuit that makes it clear she's a Black woman

The CW superhero series released two new images of Leslie's Ryan Wilder complete with new cowl and hair, new gauntlets and new boots. “I love the fact that Ryan is becoming her own Batwoman — it’s her style, her swag and her moment,” said Leslie, who replaces Ruby Rose, in a statement. “I felt it was important that viewers could tell by the silhouette that Batwoman was a Black girl. With the form-fitting suit and beautiful Afro, we definitely nailed it!”

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Batwoman successfully reboots itself with new lead Javicia Leslie

"The CW’s hit Batwoman was put in a nearly impossible position when star Ruby Rose announced she was leaving after Season 1," says Alex Zalben. "How do you continue a superhero show without the lead, one who is not only plot-wise intrinsically tied to every other character on the show; but also a show identified with Rose’s performance, which brought Batwoman into live action for the first time? The answer, as ably laid out in the first two episodes of Season 2 provided for review, is: you don’t. Instead, what showrunner Caroline Dries and company have smartly done is essentially reboot the show, now with Javicia Leslie as the lead, playing an original character named Ryan Wilder. Though the season premiere far from ignores the absence of Rose — the title of the episode is 'What Happened to Kate Kane?' to give you an idea of how prominent she still is in the plot — it’s Ryan’s show, from the very first scene. Ryan, unlike Kate, is dirt poor and all apologies to Chris Farley, living in a van down by the river. There’s a lot more to her to unspool over the course of the episode, but that opening image is clear, and the show swiftly refocuses to revolve around Ryan. Like Kate, Ryan is an out and proud Lesbian — a flashback with her adoptive mother doubles down on the show’s core mission of putting sexuality front and center without shame or recrimination. She’s also highly trained in combat, and has a strong, though underdeveloped moral compass. She’s also Black, something that is highly important to at least the early going with Ryan."

ALSO:

• Javicia Leslie's introductory episode is scattered and cluttered: "Batwoman didn’t have many great options going into season 2," says Caroline Framke. "Not only did the CW series lose its star when Ruby Rose decided to leave, but the first season wasn’t able to be filmed in its entirety once the coronavirus pandemic shut the industry down last spring. Even though the last episode to air ('O Mouse!') ended with a decently intriguing cliffhanger, it still didn’t have nearly enough time or foresight to wrap up everything that needed wrapping before jumping into another character’s story. In that respect, the premiere of the second season has a series of extremely tough jobs to do, narratively speaking. 'Whatever Happened to Kate Kane?' has to explain the absence of Rose’s Kate Kane, deal with the fact that her psychotic sister Alice (Rachel Skarsten) has outfitted one of her goons with Bruce Wayne’s face (played in this disguise by Warren Christie) and, most crucially, pass the Batwoman torch from Kate to Ryan (Javicia Leslie), who will be wearing the Batsuit until further notice. Any one of those storylines could have individually powered an entire episode, but the extraordinary set of circumstances that brought the show to this point mandates that they all need to collide onscreen simultaneously. The result is messy, as was maybe inevitable — but it’s also not particularly satisfying, which was much more avoidable."
• Leslie brings warmth and humor to Batwoman that Ruby Rose lacked: "Aside from also being gay, Ryan is everything Kate wasn’t," says Jessica Mason. "Ryan doesn’t have money, is burdened by a criminal record that she was unfairly saddled with, and she doesn’t have the support that Kate in terms of family or privilege. But Ryan is also a fighter with a moral core and when she puts on the Batsuit, it’s not just about claiming power, it’s about doing what’s right because no one else will. I really enjoy Leslie as Ryan. She brings warmth and humor to the show that Ruby Rose lacked. And while the emphasis on Ryan’s intersectional marginalization is a bit hamfisted sometimes, it’s still refreshing to see a show that’s willing to confront race, poverty, mass incarceration, and homelessness head-on in a meaningful way. Batwoman isn’t always subtle, but the series is aware of how important it is and the messages it has a duty to promote."
• How Leslie approached working on Batwoman after Ruby Rose cited the challenging schedule for her exit: Leslie didn't talk with Rose before stepping on set. "I was coming from doing two television series at the same time, God Friended Me and The Family Business, and not only was I doing them at the same time, but they were on different coasts, so I came from already busting my ass and really working hard," says Leslie. "So really, this is all of that but without having to do all the flying! It was really just about getting the flow. It’s not difficult in a way where it’s hard, it’s just making sure that I maintain my energy, maintain my health, and our production does a really great job checking in to see how the schedule is treating (me). I think the only difference is, in the other two shows I wasn’t necessarily a lead, but with how often I was working, it’s still very similar. Maybe if we weren’t in the middle of a pandemic my answers would be different because I’d have to fly around to do press and there’d be so much going on in life, but because the world is pretty much at a standstill, all of my energy that I’d normally have to direct in other directions is being directed into the show. It gives me an outlet when it feels like the world is on fire."
• Leslie on playing the first Black Batwoman and Ryan Wilder vs. Kate Kane: "It crossed my mind a few times during the audition, but it really landed after I got the part," Leslie says of her new role. "When I saw myself on a billboard as Batwoman for the first time two weeks ago, I just had to take a minute to live in the moment." As for her character vs. Kate Kane, Leslie says: "They come from different worlds. Ryan has a bit of comedic energy because she’s very flawed. I always think of her as someone who smashes a bowl in a china shop, like: 'Oops, my bad. I didn’t mean to do that, but I’ve done it.' She’s not as smooth as most superheroes are. It wasn’t a situation where I had to try to make her different from Kate — she just is."
• Leslie didn't feel pressure because she was cast in a whole new role: “It doesn’t feel like I’m trying to live up to someone’s reputation,” she says. Leslie adds that she doesn’t read the episodes immediately so she can give each episode room to breathe and certainly feels represented in all facets. “When I read it, all of our voices are so unique and different. It’s a great representation of our communities and each of us, as actors, come from,” she says.
• Leslie wishes she could do a "Super Black" Arrowverse crossover: “I’m so heartbroken about the COVID situation because I know that it’s Black Lightning's last season, and I would have loved to do a crossover with them," she says. "Nafessa (Williams) and Jordan (Calloway) are really good friends of mine, and it would have been great to play with them and be superheroes all on the same show. That would have been epic."
• Leslie turned to acting after working for the government in Washington, D.C. for her first two years after college: “The entire time,” Leslie says, “all I could think was, ‘This isn’t me.’ ... This is not what I wanted to do. I’m not a 9-to-5 kind of person. I feel stifled. I feel small.”
• How the Batwoman cast reacted to their new star
• Batwoman-Superman & Lois crossover scrapped over the pandemic
• Executive producer Caroline Dries confirms Black Mask is Season 2's other big bad
• Dries promises a resolution to Kate Kane's disappearance