Batwoman takes a page from Batwing comic with Season 2 changes

June 3, 2020 Jeffrey Lyles 0 Comments Batwing, Batwoman, Luke Fox, Ruby Rose, The CW

It’s ironic that the CW’s Batwoman series has Luke Fox aka Batwing as part of the cast as Season 2 will reflect a key aspect of the character’s comic book history.

Decider reported that the CW is not recasting Kate Keene, the character Ruby Rose played through the Elseworlds crossover and the first season of Batwoman before exiting the series this spring.

The new character to don the outfit may be named Ryan Wilder, described as “female (shocker!), Mid-late 20s, any ethnicity.” I’ll eliminate the suspense and just say Ryan will be a white woman although it would be pretty bold for the CW to make Ryan an Asian or Latinx woman.

Here’s a further break down of Ryan’s personality from the alleged casting notes:

“She’s 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. A girl who would steal milk for an alley cat 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.”

This drastic switch up probably sounds very familiar to Batwing fans.

DC originally had David Zavimbe in the role of Batwing. Zavimbe was unique in that he didn’t operate in Gotham or the United States at all, but from Tinasha. He was created by Grant Morrison in 2011 as a member of Batman Incorporated as the Batman operating out of Africa before getting his own spin-off book as part of the New 52 written by Judd Winnick.

Zavimbe’s adventures were interesting as there were different dynamics at play for a Batman based in Africa. He was a child soldier of the Army of the Dawn who refused to follow his general’s sadistic orders. Eventually becoming a police officer in Tinasha, Zavimbe was recruited by Batman to join his international effort to take down Leviathan.

DC made a drastic switch in issue #19 by replacing David with Luke Fox. The son of longtime supporting character, Lucius Fox, Luke was written drastically different from David and more like Tony Stark’s Iron Man. While a jarring shift in premise, Luke quickly distinguished himself as a solid member of the Bat Family and joined Batman’s Detective Comics squad in the Rebirth era.

Luke got the added bonus of sticking around long enough to be included in the Warner Bros. Animation film Batman: Bad Blood and get an action figure from Mattel’s Multiverse line.

It seems like Batwoman is going to have a similar jarring tonal change, which might be for the better. After all, it seemed doubtful the show could ever pay off having Bruce Wayne and Kate’s letters to her cousin was a plot thread that would lack the same impact with a new actress.

Ryan offers the chance for a fresh vision of Batwoman, which probably will play better since she can forge her own path instead of fighting Alice all season. It’ll be interesting to see how this major character switch affects supporting players like Camrus Johnson’s Luke Fox, Nicole Kang’s Mary and Dougray Scott’s Col. Jacob Kane.

I actually think I’m interested in seeing where the show will go for the first time. What do you think of this news?