‘Batwoman’ Boss Teases How Season 2 Will Handle Kate Kane’s Absence
Batwoman isn’t just going to forget about Kate Kane when someone new puts on the cape in Season 2.
Following Ruby Rose’s exit, the CW superhero drama has ultimately decided to bring on a new character to be the titular hero, rather than recast Kate Kane. But for fans worried about what that means for the character they got to know and love over the first season, don’t worry: She’s not going to just be killed off.
“As a lesbian who’s been working as a writer for the past fifteen years, I’m well aware of the ‘Bury Your Gays’ trope and I have no interest in participating in it,” showrunner Caroline Dries wrote on Twitter Wednesday. (Read her full statement below.)
“We’ll never erase [Kate Kane]. In fact, her disappearance will be one of the mysteries of Season 2,” she continued. “I don’t want to give away any of our surprises, but to all our devoted fans, please know that LGBTQ+ justice is at the very core of what Batwoman is and we have no intention of abandoning that.”
A note from me on behalf of The Bat Team… pic.twitter.com/V6iXjaCrA5
— Caroline Dries (@carolinedries) June 10, 2020
When Rose’s departure was first announced, the plan seemed to be to recast her character. After all, there couldn’t be a Batwoman without Kate Kane, right? However, it was then revealed that instead, a new character, whose name may be “Ryan Wilder,” is going to be coming in to pick up the mantle instead. Doing so allows the series to “respect everything that Ruby put into the Kate Kane character” and not ask the audience to accept a new face (though that’s happened with other characters), Dries explained during an “ATX TV…from the Couch” panel.
So what does the showrunner’s statement mean for what we might see in Season 2? Perhaps it opens up with the Bat Team — Luke (Camrus Johnson) and Mary (Nicole Kang) — in the midst of the search for their missing friend and sister as Gotham wonders what happened to Batwoman.
Maybe Kate’s disappearance will be linked to the introduction of Safiyah, the villain who was teased during Season 1, and who Dries teased will be a “match” for Alice (Rachel Skarsten). What better way to add to their conflict than to have the villain think that Safiyah may have something to do with why she can’t get the revenge she wants on her sister? (Season 1 ended with Alice trying to get her hands on the only weapon— kryptonite — that can penetrate the Bat suit and therefore kill Kate.)
Or perhaps Kate left Gotham on her own. Maybe she decided that she couldn’t stay with her father Jacob (Dougray Scott), head of the Crows, was unknowingly hunting down his daughter because of his hatred for Batwoman, and her sister also after her.
(Katie Yu/The CW)
We’ll have to wait and see how the premiere explains her absence, but at least we know she’s not getting killed off (yet?).
Batwoman, Season 2, January 2021, The CW
