Batwoman

Batwoman lasted 3 seasons and was cancelled by the CW. Batwoman was one of multiple shows that all received the ax by the network. The reason was due to Nextstar who had purchased the CW. They want to go in a different direction, mostly they want to focus on sports. Batwoman ended last year, spring 2022. By the end of its run, it had 51 episodes. This was a huge shock to fans of the world because Batwoman was part of the Arrowverse that consisted of Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. Black Lightning was predominantly its own thing and DC’s Stargirl has loose tie ins. Superman & Lois was revealed to be its own show. Arrow ended after 8 seasons. Supergirl ended with 6 seasons. Both shows had final seasons and proper series finales. It was expected that Batwoman would get the same not to mention that Batwoman would be on for a while. The CW was known for keeping all their shows and giving them proper endings. Shows that were not the biggest hits would get renewed to get a proper final season. Batwoman is one of two Arrowverse shows to get the ax without closure. DC’s Legends of Tomorrow which was in its 7^th season also got cancelled. The Arrowverse is currently in its final stage with The Flash ending in May.

Batwoman had a crazy 3 season run with big casting changes. The show starred Javicia Leslie as Ryan Wilder aka Batwoman, Camrus Johnson as Luke Fox, Nicole Kang as Mary Hamilton, Meagan Tandy as Sophie Moore, Rachel Skarsten as Beth Kane aka Alice, Nick Creegan as Marquis Jet, Victoria Cartagena as Renee Montoya, and Robin Givens as Jada Jet. The show also starred Ruby Rose as Kate Kane aka Batwoman, Dougray Scott as Jacob Kane, and Elizabeth Anweis as Catherine Hamilton-Kane.

MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT

Ruby Rose was originally Batwoman. She debuted in the Arrowverse crossover Elseworlds. The year after that was when Batwoman premiered. She took part of the final crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths. After the show’s first season which was cut short due to the pandemic, Ruby Rose announced she was exiting the series. There have been a lot of different reports since her exit about why she left the show. She had said it was due to a back injury. Then it was said that she was fired from the show. This caused a problem. This was the first Arrowverse show where the lead left. There have been shows that have lost its stars. This was different because it was Batwoman. The other leads of the Arrowverse have all stayed. When Stephen Amell wanted to end Arrow, it ended. Supergirl did not continue without Melissa Benoist. Even DC’s Legends of Tomorrow which had numerous cast changes, had Caity Lotz as Sara Lance the entire run of its series. Kate Kane was a huge part of Batwoman. Her cousin is Bruce Wayne aka Batman (Warren Christie) who was referenced but not seen during the first season. His face was introduced in the season 1 finale. Tommy Elliott (Gabriele Mann) who became Hush got a new face which was Bruce’s. This storyline got wrapped up in the season 2 premiere. Bruce Wayne also appeared in a dream sequence in season 2. Also at the end of the pilot episode it was revealed that the villain Alice was really Kate’s presumed dead sister Beth Kane. Once Kate learned Alice was Beth, the rest of the season was spent as a back and forth between stopping Alice but also trying to get Beth back. Sophie Moore was also Kate’s girlfriend prior to the show. There was a lot of romantic tension between them when the show kicked off. Kate was away and had returned home to Gotham. Anyone who watches television in general knows they usually try to find a way back to each other. There were obvious moments throughout the first season of Kate and Sophie hinting at their feelings for each other. Mary Hamilton was Kate’s stepsister. Her mother Catherine Hamilton married Kate’s father Jacob Kane who was the leader of the Crows. The Crows was a private security organization that worked alongside the Gotham City PD. There was also one other issue though it was not that major. Ruby Rose’s Batwoman had met all the heroes from the other Arrowverse shows. Season 2 cast Javicia Leslie as Batwoman but she was not Kate Kane. She was a new character Ryan Wilder who dons the suit. The show made the choice to kill Kate Kane off in a plane crash. Later on that season it was revealed Kate was really alive and she was being played by Wallis Day who actually was in the running for the role initially. Kate had a new face because of Black Mask (Peter Outerbridge) who resurrected her from the dead and made her resemble his deceased daughter Circe Sionis and wiped had her memories wiped by Enigma (Laura Mennell). This isn’t that far fetched when remembering it’s a comic book show. There was a huge ripple effect after Ruby Rose exited the show. As for the other cast changes, with Kate Kane off the show, there was not really much else for Jacob Kane especially after learning that his daughter was really alive. He was written off the show the end of season 2. He disbanded the Crows and went to jail after helping Alice. The Crows went outside the lines to achieve their goals. Catherine Hamilton was killed off 8 episodes into the first season. Alice had poisoned Catherine and Mary but only had an anecdote that was enough for one. Catherine insisted Mary take it.

Batwoman may had some complications compared to the other Arrowverse shows but it started to thrive especially in its final season. Season 2 spent a lot of time dealing with losing Kate Kane but also having Ryan Wilder as the new Batwoman. They also brought on some iconic characters such as Black Mask. The first season of Batwoman predominantly focused on Alice as the villain. The season did not have many villains of the week episodes. Season 2 was starting to follow that structure and not only rely on Alice as the overarching villain. Season 3 is really when it seemed Batwoman was starting to find its groove. The whole season used iconic villains with their own spin on it. It was pretty much the next generation type scenario. We also got more of Ryan’s background. Ryan was adopted and we met her birth mother Jada Jett. Jada had a son Marquis who was Ryan’s brother. There were interesting dynamics there.

Batwoman season 3 made some big moves. Nora Fries (Jennifer Higgin) started aging after appearing in the Elseworlds crossover, she was also played by Stephen Amell’s wife Cassandra Jean Amell. A new Killer Croc emerged. The two biggest ones for the season were the OG Poison Ivy (Bridget Regan) and Marquis Jet became the new Joker. There were two Poison Ivys. Mary became Poison Mary. A huge part of the season was dealt with dealing with Poison Ivy and Poison Mary. Once that was resolved, the battle shifted to battling the Joker. The Joker is Batman’s greatest enemy. This Joker was Batwoman’s greatest enemy which made it more personal because the Joker is her brother. It was the best season yet and it was only just getting really good. The show ended on a cliffhanger. The show did believe they would be getting a season 4. The show ended without a lot of lingering questions.

Batwoman had a lot left in it. With the Arrowverse ending, there will not be any more opportunities to try to wrap up anything. Javicia Leslie recently did a few episodes of The Flash. The events of Batwoman were not mentioned at all. Unless there is a surprise from anyone from Batwoman in the remaining episodes of The Flash, this really is the end. There is not really a chance for this to be saved either. With the DCU launching and their plans to have one cohesive world with a few exceptions, Batwoman will most likely not be saved by another network or streaming service. Hopefully the future will be bright for the character in the DCU. There is a new Batman movie in the works called The Brave and the Bold. James Gunn said that the movie would have the batfamily. There is a chance that Kate Kane could be in the films since she is Bruce’s cousin.

Batwoman deserved better and should have been able to last a lot longer than 3 seasons. It is a good show that started to find its footing in the later seasons once the cast changes were put behind them. It may be awhile till getting another Batshow but Batwoman was a good addition to the Arrowverse and which finally brought Gotham City into world.