Australian actor Ruby Rose has won the role of Katherine “Kate” Kane, Bruce Wayne’s cousin and the crime fighter known as Batwoman. Rose’s Batwoman will debut this fall on the crossover event between ‘Arrow’, ‘The Flash’ and ‘Supergirl’. (‘Legends of Tomorrow’ will sit this year’s crossover out.) The story, which will air in December, will be set in Gotham City and will introduce the fledgling hero, whose journey could continue on her own series which The CW hopes to order in the spring. Should ‘Batwoman’ be ordered to series, that would make Rose’s Kate Kane, “an out lesbian and highly trained street fighter” the first out LGBTQ superhero to headline their own TV series. Producers of the show hoped to hire an out lesbian to star, and they succeeded. Rose came out at the age of 12.
Rose’s big break came when she landed the role of Stella Carlin on Netflix’s ‘Orange is the New Black’. Rose gained immediate notice thanks to her androgynous appearance (there were many comparisons to Justin Bieber). She has gone on to appear in ‘Resident Evil: The Final Chapter’, ‘xXx: Return of Xander Cage’, ‘John Wick: Chapter 2’ and ‘Pitch Perfect 3’. She will next be seen in ‘The Meg’ opposite Jason Statham. Rose nearly drowned while filming the giant shark epic!
The CW’s superhero shows have been inclusive of LGBTQ characters, like Caity Lotz’s Sara Lance/White Canary, her one-time lover Nyssa played by Katrina Law, Sara’s more recent love interest Ava Sharpe portrayed by Jes Macallan, Matt Ryan’s John Constantine, Echo Kellum’s Curtis Holt/Mister Terrific, Patrick Sabongui’s Captain David Singh, Andy Mientus as Hartley Rathaway/Pied Piper, Chyler Leigh as Supergirl’s sister Alex and her ex-girlfriend Maggie Sawyer, played by Floriana Lima, Russell Tovey as Ray Terrill/The Ray and his husband Leo Snart/Citizen Cold played by Wentworth Miller. Tovey and Miller are openly gay. Other actors on these shows are gay, lesbian or bisexual in real life, but play heterosexual characters on The CW, including John Barrowman (Malcolm Merlyn), Victor Garber (Professor Martin Stein), Colton Haynes (Roy Harper/Arsenal) and Keiynan Lonsdale (Wally West/Kid Flash).
In the comics, Kate Kane was dated and later became engaged to Maggie Sawyer. Does that mean Lima could make a return appearance on ‘Batwoman’?
“Armed with a passion for social justice and a flair for speaking her mind, Kate Kane soars onto the streets of Gotham as Batwoman, an out lesbian and highly trained street fighter primed to snuff out the failing city’s criminal resurgence. But don’t call her a hero yet. In a city desperate for a savior, Kate must overcome her own demons before embracing the call to be Gotham’s symbol of hope. Based on the characters from DC.”
Source: TV Line
